Oscar

[yuvala 2,167]

Having a fantastic match so far

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Much better today.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Great today but still lacks the killer pass and more importantly composure on the ball. Should improve with age I guess.

[The_Flash 1,144]

I thought he was pretty poor today and should have been subbed earlier. He have the ball away many times and looked knackered by the end.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

Oscar and hazard play well, we play well

[robdog 2,084]

question for anyone that attends matches. Does Oscar have a chant? If not then we should come up w/ one.

[remains of the day 564]

On the whole burnout point - I've done a lot of work on burnout among elite athletes and it doesn't seem to me that he's going through that. Usually athletes who are burnt out not only show signs of physical exhaustion but also a loss of internal motivation. I don't think that's the case with Oscar. He might have played a lot of matches earlier in the season, but that really shouldn't cause burnout or any sort of long standing fatigue.

My guess as to why Oscar has gone off the boil is that even when he was in form it was very apparent that he had some room for improvement and quite a few areas he had to work on. He started off the season on fire but at age 22, it's very difficult to maintain that form simply because opponents eventually will work out his weaknesses and figure out ways to stop him, which I think is what's happening now. Hazard can still pose some threat even when he's being double triple marked but Oscar can't - at least not yet. His technical skills are not yet as refined as Hazard's nor does he have Hazard's strength to beat off x number of players. So that he's being targeted more by the opposition could be one factor.

I'm also not all that sure it's a coincidence that his performances started to really dip when Jose began playing Willian alongside him instead of Schurrle. It just seems to me that Willian and Oscar essentially duplicate each other's roles in that both are players who facilitate and link-up play but don't counterbalance each other. I think Oscar needs a lot space to work in and Willian isn't the type of player that provides that whereas Schurrle makes a lot of runs off the ball and naturally pulls defenders out of position. So it's possible that Oscar's impact has been reduced because Willian has been occupying the space that Oscar would otherwise be playing in.

Those are just two guesses, totally could be way off mark.....

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Totally agreed with the above post. The boy is young, and I think he is still developing physically. He still could do with a bit of beefing up. Mentally as well, I think he struggles in terms of his confidence.

[Barbara 15,149]

why is this thread so quiet?

Oh right, because he scored a brace and had a good match

As I've been saying for three matches in a row now, he's ascending in form - very clearly - just when we need him to.

@remains of the day has been absolutely brilliant in her analysis. He's much more lively when he's playing with Schurrle alongside him.

This boy - let's not forget he's a boy - has great personality and he's developing a great character too. He knows we need him the most now, so he'll bring his best whatever it takes.

Tactically I don't have words to say how much he's immense. He's still far from his best, but at least now he's there...

[didierforever 7,349]

why is this thread so quite?

Oh right, because he scored a brace and had a good match

As I've been saying for three matches in a row now, he's ascending in form - very clearly - just when we need him to.

@remains of the day has been absolutely brilliant in her analysis. He's much more lively when he's playing with Schurrle alongside him.

This boy - let's not forget he's a boy - has great personality and he's developing a great character too. He knows we need him the most now, so he'll bring his best whatever it takes.

Tactically I don't have words to say how much he's immense. He's still far from his best, but at least now he's there...

Anything to say to lionsden??

[Mohammed Seif 1,451]

Anything to say to lionsden??

LOL....sneaky mate

[Mohammed Seif 1,451]

why is this thread so quite?

Oh right, because he scored a brace and had a good match

As I've been saying for three matches in a row now, he's ascending in form - very clearly - just when we need him to.

@remains of the day has been absolutely brilliant in her analysis. He's much more lively when he's playing with Schurrle alongside him.

This boy - let's not forget he's a boy - has great personality and he's developing a great character too. He knows we need him the most now, so he'll bring his best whatever it takes.

Tactically I don't have words to say how much he's immense. He's still far from his best, but at least now he's there...

I am really happy for the kid. He reminds me a lot of Zico. He has a lot of potential to be amongst the greats. I am happy he is steadily getting his form back and I am betting that he will go up to extreme levels. Jose will take care of him, and haters will always wait for him to slip. Don't think about them really, just keep supporting the kid and enjoy his progress

[Styles 9,790]

It's hard to judge individual performances for most of this game but while it was 11 vs 1 I thought Oscar was playing better than he has done in aaaaages.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

why is this thread so quiet?

Oh right, because he scored a brace and had a good match

As I've been saying for three matches in a row now, he's ascending in form - very clearly - just when we need him to.

@remains of the day has been absolutely brilliant in her analysis. He's much more lively when he's playing with Schurrle alongside him.

This boy - let's not forget he's a boy - has great personality and he's developing a great character too. He knows we need him the most now, so he'll bring his best whatever it takes.

Tactically I don't have words to say how much he's immense. He's still far from his best, but at least now he's there...

Na, it's because you can't make anything from this game. It was over after 8 minutes and Oscar wasn't involved much in that. Like the 8-0 Villa win last year, scoring against a team that has given up (and down to 10 men) is pretty meaningless in terms of a player's form. He played well last game though so hopefully, he is getting back to his early season form.

[Barbara 15,149]

Na, it's because you can't make anything from this game. It was over after 8 minutes and Oscar wasn't involved much in that. Like the 8-0 Villa win last year, scoring against a team that has given up (and down to 10 men) is pretty meaningless in terms of a player's form. He played well last game though so hopefully, he is getting back to his early season form.

oh, so it's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't?

Got it. Thanks for clarifying though

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

oh, so it's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't?

Got it. Thanks for clarifying though

How is that damned if he does or damned if he doesn't? If he plays well consistently like he did early in the year, people will be praising him like they were earlier in the year. Scoring the 4th and 5th goal against a 10-man team doesn't show anybody that he's back in that kind of form.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Hard to take too much from that performance, he still looks a little bit downhearted at times but he's got two goals and an assist this week which is a massive improvement on the last few months. Needs to keep playing his way into form for us to do anything this season.

Encouraging but nothing definitive.

[Jase 43,479]