Oscar

[The Skipper 20,593]

^^^ I think oscar and mata combo in a three man midfield wuld b splendid they both have incredible intelligence in space but based on work rate ramires is a first team player and what do we do with luiz who is emerging as one of the best footballing DM.

They really wouldn't. It would be exactly the same as playing Oscar in the pivot because Mata will naturally drift further up the pitch a lot more due to Oscar being more solid defensively. It'd be suicide IMO. It'll also require a lot of defensive cover from our wingers, which is fine with Moses but not for Hazard - I think it would limit the ability he has in the final third.

And Luiz is not emerging as one of the best footballing DMs at all. He'd need a couple seasons in that role to fully become accustomed to it, something we can't really afford at CFC IMO.

[meetdoscar 335]

They really wouldn't. It would be exactly the same as playing Oscar in the pivot because Mata will naturally drift further up the pitch a lot more due to Oscar being more solid defensively. It'd be suicide IMO. It'll also require a lot of defensive cover from our wingers, which is fine with Moses but not for Hazard - I think it would limit the ability he has in the final third.

And Luiz is not emerging as one of the best footballing DMs at all. He'd need a couple seasons in that role to fully become accustomed to it, something we can't really afford at CFC IMO.

Well....that's your opinion

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Well....that's your opinion

Not really. I don't think anybody would consider Luiz anywhere near one of the best footballing DMs. He's played a handful of games at DM and has had mixed results. It's possible he'd excel there with more time, but to claim that he's a top DM right now is just silly.

@the skipper. Unfortunately, Moses really hasn't been very good defensively either. He does offer us width, directness, and physicality though.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Where Oscar excelled for Brazil in the games I saw was basically running that central channel and moving the ball forward by bringing wider players into the game. You have to build the team around him (literally) for him to shine in my opinion.

Mata is a great player, but I think Oscar has the potential to be a real worldie.

Kind of, Brazil is everything but built around Oscar. All he really needs is space, he cant have Mata and Hazard stuck in the middle with him...

[The Skipper 20,593]

@the skipper. Unfortunately, Moses really hasn't been very good defensively either. He does offer us width, directness, and physicality though.

I think Moses is quite decent defensively in all fairness just because he does the job of covering for his man properly - he isn't as excellent as let's say Valencia (who's pretty much in a league of his own) but he's still at a acceptable level.

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

Putting Oscar in the pivot would be a waste, I think when he plays in the role similar to the one Mano Menezes gave him for Brazil hes at his best, like we saw against West Brom. If he was played in the pivot, he'd be restricted from roaming about and finding pockets of space in more advanced positions, which is in my opinion is one of his biggest strengths, as it 1) opens up room for other players by dragging opposition players out of position and 2) offers a good option to his team mates as well.

He might step back into a deeper role in 8-9 years but I think anything before that would be a very very very big waste.

I would also like to add my 2 cents about playing Oscar and Mata both as central MF players in a 4-3-3. Would never work in a month of Sundays. Whoever played as the deeper/holding MF player would be seriously overrun due to Mata's tendancy to push further up and even with Oscars work rate to get back still a team playing with 3 or 5 in MF would outnumber us and win the MF battle easily. Our MF would also be extremely lightweight and as good as it may be going forward we'd be fucked going back the way.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Oscar has been our consistently-best player thus far in 2013. Really impressed with him. His transition into this team has been nigh-on faultless.

[Styles 9,790]

Too bad there's the Confederations Cup this summer. I really would have liked Oscar to work on his stength during the summer break. He's never going to be Essien but if he just works on his core strength for a few months it could add a lot to his game. His balance, acceleration and other things would get a boost.

Oscar is faily quick but hasn't been able to show it (maybe because of too many games). I remember a run he made against Wigan on his debut that shocked me. He is quite quick once he gets going, hopefully we'll see more of that.

[Land 331]

He has played a total of 64 games this season including friendlies with Internacional and the Olympics, which means he will end the season with 70+ games.Damn.

[meetdoscar 335]

Not really. I don't think anybody would consider Luiz anywhere near one of the best footballing DMs. He's played a handful of games at DM and has had mixed results. It's possible he'd excel there with more time, but to claim that he's a top DM right now is just silly.

@the skipper. Unfortunately, Moses really hasn't been very good defensively either. He does offer us width, directness, and physicality though.

Javi martinez cost 40million and he is unproven, less talented as a footballer than liuz but is considered by many to be world class so when I say luiz is one of the best emerging footballing DM's I know wat I mean I hope you do too.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Javi martinez cost 40million and he is unproven, less talented as a footballer than liuz but is considered by many to be world class so when I say luiz is one of the best emerging footballing DM's I know wat I mean I hope you do too.

Ugh...there's no point really, but what the hell. Nobody, and I mean, nobody with any knowledge of football thinks David Luiz at this point in time is a world class defensive midfielder. Luiz has played about 5 games at the position Even if they were five fantastic games, that's not enough games to be considered a top class player. Javi Martinez has nothing to do with this discussion. He's a very good defensive midfielder for years in La Liga so he is not unproven at all. HMartinez' price tag and Luiz's quality as a defensive midfielder are not even remotely related in any way. It's like your comparing a a rhinoceros to a bag of twizzlers and saying "see!!!" No, I don't see.

[Special Juan 27,103]

Javi martinez cost 40million and he is unproven, less talented as a footballer than liuz but is considered by many to be world class so when I say luiz is one of the best emerging footballing DM's I know wat I mean I hope you do too.

Neither should be branded 'World Class' It's a tag that is used far too often and given to the majority of wrong choice of players.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Oscar has been our consistently-best player thus far in 2013. Really impressed with him. His transition into this team has been nigh-on faultless.

Yeah, but he still never had an absolute jaw dropping performance in Europe. He had very good ones, but not like he used to for Brasil (and I am not talking about shit games, I mean Argentina, etc).

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Yeah, but he still never had an absolute jaw dropping performance in Europe. He had very good ones, but not like he used to for Brasil (and I am not talking about shit games, I mean Argentina, etc).

So the best is yet to come?

[Rmpr 8,977]

So the best is yet to come?

Yes, he had better performances than the ones he put up in England.

I think his last game was up there, had he only made a couple of goals. It left a bitter feeling, I dont know...

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Yes, he had better performances than the ones he put up in England.

I think his last game was up there, had he only made a couple of goals. It left a bitter feeling, I dont know...

That's good to know

[Korea 734]

Javi martinez cost 40million and he is unproven, less talented as a footballer than liuz but is considered by many to be world class so when I say luiz is one of the best emerging footballing DM's I know wat I mean I hope you do too.

When I watch Bayern play Arsenal, I thought to myself, mang, imagine if Javi and Bastian were Chelsea two cmfs...

Yeah, but he still never had an absolute jaw dropping performance in Europe. He had very good ones, but not like he used to for Brasil (and I am not talking about shit games, I mean Argentina, etc).

Was Argentina really a game.. I mean the game was played in the Meadowlands, so I'm not sure if the game had big game implications or if it was serious at all.

Anyways, I mentioned before how I always thought Oscar was world class when I saw him play in the Olympics and that he probably has the highest peak out of any Chelsea player on the squad. If he does well in WC 2014, you can bet Barca and real madrid to be calling for him.....

[Rmpr 8,977]

Was Argentina really a game.. I mean the game was played in the Meadowlands, so I'm not sure if the game had big game implications or if it was serious at all.

Anyways, I mentioned before how I always thought Oscar was world class when I saw him play in the Olympics and that he probably has the highest peak out of any Chelsea player on the squad. If he does well in WC 2014, you can bet Barca and real madrid to be calling for him.....

No, it was a Fifa game that became a reality thanks to Tron...

I understand your concern, but two things. First, do you know anything about Brazil vs Argentina? Second, I think Oscar has already played in 4 or 5 Argentine games, so it is really vague when people talk about his performance against Argentina!