Oscar

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Okay, but maybe it is just me then who wanted to look on the positive side. Oscar scoring has enough to cover all of his 'negative' things (if there any) he did on the rest of his game, as 2 goals was a big contribution in my opinion.

It's as if someone has did 90% and people closed their eyes on that, and rather bitching about 10% he did not do. Yup, it's up to each other perspective I guess

Again, no one is denying the goals and the assists over this season. It's a great return and long may that trend continue.

HOWEVER, is it so wrong not to comment on the frustration of those misplaced passes? It's not something you could've exactly not noticed, even commentary picked up on it.

It's a simple observation of the frustration I feel with Oscar. Could be a world beater, but he needs to concentrate harder on games.

[Barbara 15,149]

Again, no one is denying the goals and the assists over this season. It's a great return and long may that trend continue.

HOWEVER, is it so wrong not to comment on the frustration of those misplaced passes? It's not something you could've exactly not noticed, even commentary picked up on it.

It's a simple observation of the frustration I feel with Oscar. Could be a world beater, but he needs to concentrate harder on games.

He misplaced a total of 11 passes throughout the whole match. Six in the first and five in the second. He had 84% pass completion (not 81%) according Squawka, so what exactly you and the pundits (that are always so spot on anyway) are talking about. What crime is it that a player didn't complete 11 of his passes?

edit: though I do agree he's sloppy sometimes out of lack of concentration

[LDN Blue 7,903]

He misplaced a total of 11 passes throughout the whole match. Six in the first and five in the second. He had 84% pass completion (not 81%) according Squawka, so what exactly you and the pundits (that are always so spot on anyway) are talking about. What crime is it that a player didn't complete 11 of his passes?

edit: though I do agree he's sloppy sometimes out of lack of concentration

Again I mention it before, in the bigger picture you're talking about his concentration in these games. It's not just today, previous games this season his anonymity has been an issue.

I may seem like a hater here, but I'm far from it. Oscar is a very good player, but his concentration must be worked on and his influence has to grow. Especially if he wants to play in these bigger games.

[manpe 10,855]

I've never liked Kaka as a footballer, I think he's one of the most overrated players ever. Not my style of player and I hope Oscar develops into something else (although Kaká was very decisive before his many injuries. I know Oscar said many times Kaká is his idol and he hopes to be like him...

Kaka is the antithesis of what I find attractive in a man. He looks so dumb and slow (his face, because he's actually very smart and well educated), I feel like every time he smiles he'll start drooling. Ugh... please, no more Kaká pictures in my head.

Why so many questions though? (not that I mind, I don't, but people reading the thread might)

Asking questions is the basis of knowledge. I'm striving for intellectual perfection and you are a tool in achieving that.

[Dy-lan 142]

He misplaced a total of 11 passes throughout the whole match. Six in the first and five in the second. He had 84% pass completion (not 81%) according Squawka, so what exactly you and the pundits (that are always so spot on anyway) are talking about. What crime is it that a player didn't complete 11 of his passes?

edit: though I do agree he's sloppy sometimes out of lack of concentration

I dont want to speak for the poster you quoted, but I may be able to shed light on the topic.

First off I want to say I love Oscar and dont consider myself a critic of his, as he's one of the players we have that gives his all and shows fight no matter the circumstance. That goes a long way in my book. But I can also agree to some degree with the faction of fans that consider him fairly frustrating at times. The reason his misplaced passes (whether its 5 or 11 in a match) drive ppl mad at times is because they are usually relatively "simple" passes to make (for a player of his quality) and often come during a potentially good attack build up.

Today while watching the match I observed a few Chelsea fans berate and complain about his passes despite him scoring twice and pressing like a mad man. They basically told me the same thing I outlined above, they get frustrated mostly at the timing of his misplaced passes and the nature of them (i.e he's not misplacing potential defensive splitting balls).

[Barbara 15,149]

Asking questions is the basis of knowledge. I'm striving for intellectual perfection and you are a tool in achieving that.

thanks... being called a tool feels great

@LDN Blue, @Dy-lan, actually my very first post after the match in this thread I said I agree with the critics of him that complain about consistency (I'm one of them btw) and that he needs to play like today way more often.

I may have lost those stupid misplaced passes today. I thought he was okay passing... His first half against Newcastle though was a horror show, one I won't be able to forget any time soon

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

But I can also agree to some degree with the faction of fans that consider him fairly frustrating at times. The reason his misplaced passes (whether its 5 or 11 in a match) drive ppl mad at times is because they are usually relatively "simple" passes to make (for a player of his quality) and often come during a potentially good attack build up.

hmm, why Willian's name pop up in my head, when reading that.

[remains of the day 564]

I guess the problem I have with most of these criticisms of Oscar is that too much significance and value is being placed on something that doesn’t really make a huge difference to the team’s success when looked at in the larger context of the player’s overall contributions. Oscar’s passing can be frustratingly sloppy sometimes, that’s a fair assessment but on the other hand his productivity has been mightily impressive. So while Oscar might be ”failing” in one or two aspects of his role as a number 10, he’s also highly performing in many other aspects of his job. The positives very much outweigh the negatives so I’m confused why so much more importance and value is being placed on him misplacing 10 or so passes than on his excellent output this season. I just think that there’s something very frivolous in complaining about the sloppiness of a player’s passing when that player's direct contributions to 13 goals in the league has helped the team maintain a title challenge. Ultimately, his input in 13 goals is so much more valuable to the team’s success than him being able to complete 85% of his passes in every game.

People have every right to criticize him, but others also have every right to say that these people criticizing Oscar are nitpicking. 23 years old, 6 goals and 7 assists, and here we are complaining that he routinely misplaces 5-10 easy passes, hmmm...

I saw @Barbara's post stating that Oscar's pass completion rate was 81% but I'd be interested to see his numbers for attempted key passes, that is his stats with the routine passes removed. My feeling is that his numbers would fall dramatically. I agree of course that no one is going to have high completion rates for such passes; they are challenging, space is limited, time is short, angles are tight and defenders are everywhere. Even so, a difference maker, a player ready to make a full contribution to his side's attacking play, should be succeeding with more of those passes than an average player might. Eden does, Cesc does, Oscar does not. Indeed my impression (not statistically verified I admit) is that Oscar almost always fails with such passes.

I realise that, in writing so forthrightly about this, I'm going to get pegged as disliking Oscar. That really is not how I see myself at all, but I'm sad to say that I virtually never see performances from Oscar which convince me that he is is the right man for the Chelsea job or even any which give me hope that this situation will change.

Well, in an ideal world yes but in the real world you have average players who are excellent passers of the ball and excellent players who are average passers. Nuances like that exists. Assessing a player's contribution to his sides's attacking play only by how high his pass completion is seems like a very skewed way of judging a player's talent.

[Dion 2,476]

While I think the passing thing is being overblown given the recent contributions Oscar has given to the team, I also believe those frustrations are completely acceptable because we're talking about pro footballers here. They eat, sleep, and breath football, it is reasonable to expect them not to misplace easy passes that even amateurs wouldn't, especially if they're misplacing them in a regular basis. It's just a matter of frustrated expectations.

If a player can't execute 40-yard passes consistently he won't get bashed for it, maybe for trying them too often when it's clear those are not his thing. But basic passing is just something every player is supposed to have, and if a player is struggling at that he'd better work on it because that's a really serious issue. Whether it is technical or mental it must be fixed as soon as possible, especially when we're talking about a young player.

[DYC. 7,542]

Even if he beat Shurrle to the 5th goal and scored his hat-trick, his overall contribution would have been poor.

So, so harsh LDN. Playing some poor passes can never turn your overall contribution poor in a performance like Oscar's yesterday.

Ultimately, his input in 13 goals is so much more valuable to the team’s success than him being able to complete 85% of his passes in every game.

Found myself nodding when I read this. (Funny thing is, Oscar's average pass completion rate is 84% according to WhoScored.)

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Oscar isn't the most technically competent midfielder. That's why Fabregas is in the side. Oscar is an absolute work-horse and that's his role in the side.

[CFC888 219]

Oscar isn't the most technically competent midfielder. That's why Fabregas is in the side. Oscar is an absolute work-horse and that's his role in the side.

Very good point. Something a lot of the detractors seem to gloss over is the concept of roles within a football team. The success of great teams comes from 11 men playing their individual roles, and Oscar does his very well as far as I'm concerned.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

People forget oscar is just 23. Interesting stat from Jake Cohen on twitter.

Jake Cohen @JakeFCohen

In Lampard's age 23 season, he had 7 PL goals + assists (5G 2A). In Oscar's age 23 season, he already has 13 PL goals + assists (6G 7A).

[CFC888 219]

People forget oscar is just 23. Interesting stat from Jake Cohen on twitter.

Jake Cohen @JakeFCohen

In Lampard's age 23 season, he had 7 PL goals + assists (5G 2A). In Oscar's age 23 season, he already has 13 PL goals + assists (6G 7A).

They sure do forget that. In a funny kind of way, scoring those 2 goals against Juventus (including the GotY) and being Man of the Match in his first ever start for Chelsea (not to mention plenty of other strong performances so early in his career) has to an extent burdened him a bit with unnecessarily and unfairly high expectations for a player so young.

I love that stat from Jake Cohen, I think it tells you everything you need to know about how far this boy can go in the future.

[Jase 43,479]

Oscar isn't the most technically competent midfielder. That's why Fabregas is in the side. Oscar is an absolute work-horse and that's his role in the side.

That I believe people can see but what can't be comprehended is that, how he be so average at short distance passing? Sometimes, he couldn't even get a five-yard pass to someone right.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

That I believe people can see but what can't be comprehended is that, how he be so average at short distance passing? Sometimes, he couldn't even get a five-yard pass to someone right.

I call it "Ramires Syndrome", which we can safely ascertain is contagious.

[bababoom 4,478]

IMO he was excellent yesterday, people are nitpicking saying he misplaced a few passes... so? Cesc and Hazard has those days as well, it happens. I just hope he stays consistent now.

[Jase 43,479]

IMO he was excellent yesterday, people are nitpicking saying he misplaced a few passes... so? Cesc and Hazard has those days as well, it happens. I just hope he stays consistent now.

But with Oscar, it tends to happen more often than Hazard and/or Fabregas.