Closed Chelsea 2-1 Sunderland

[Weckerz 3,781]

poor performance, great result... oscar needs to step up or get out!!!

Can't write him off in his first season, he hasn't been crap like Marin (and Moses in my opinion). He's bursting with talent, but needs to bulk up big time. He should be in the centre permanently, out wide he's crap.

Mata and Hazard were equally bad today.

[DDA 9,941]

poor performance, great result... oscar needs to step up or get out!!!

Give the little guy a break. He has been over played this season for club and country. Wait until he is back from a summer break and I'm sure you won't be feeling as short tempered with Oscar as you are now!

[Alabama 1,992]

d most important thing is the victory and 3solid points....we are back into 3rd position with a game in hand....ow i wish we can be having dis kind of consisitent results....Black Cats trampled!!!

[bushman 2,043]

Oscar has more talent in his one leg than most players. The kid played in just about every game recently.

To say, he should get out is just plain clueless.

[Chels 238]

Just got back from the game,

Very scrappy first half, seconed half a bit better still to many missed placed passes.

Torres looks a different player, chased everything which was nice to see.

Over the moon with the 3 points.

Oh yeah spurs drew get in there.

We hate Tottenham.... we hate Tottenham.

[Drogzola 283]

Ramires put in some great tackles today and really worked hard on defence.He was a bit sloppy with his pases but he makes up for it with energy. Oscar was poor but you can just tell he is going to be a classy player soon.

Victories gained in the manner we did are invaluable as we got away with three points. Man United do it all the time.

[didierforever 7,349]

Give the little guy a break. He has been over played this season for club and country. Wait until he is back from a summer break and I'm sure you won't be feeling as short tempered with Oscar as you are now!

Can't write him off in his first season, he hasn't been crap like Marin (and Moses in my opinion). He's bursting with talent, but needs to bulk up big time. He should be in the centre permanently, out wide he's crap.

Mata and Hazard were equally bad today.

the "get out" part was for this instant and the starting XI, not out of the squad to be sold. we have tons of dead wood in the squad that needs to be chipped off but oscar's not it.

but as far as his performances are concerned, he has been average this season on the whole. do see potential in him but to be honest, after watching 4-5 games of werder bremen, i feel KDB could have done a better job.

i might be willing to overlook the performances and give him the benefit of doubt as its his 1st PL season and he is only 20 years old, but sometimes its his attitude which bugs me. even if mata and hazard have bad days (like today), u ll still see them in the center of things, TRYING to make things happen where as oscar just rolls over and does not try to assert himself.

he has a long long way to go yet.

[Special Juan 28,141]

The more I watch Ramires the more I actually think his passing is becoming worse.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Torres isn't back, but he was MOTM today. He changed the game with a bit of direct running and he worked his bollocks off which got the crowd into it too.

Luiz and Ivanovic were solid but Sunderland were completely toothless going forward. They still created some opportunities but they never looked like scoring after the opening excitement. Mikel looked great going forward, Toure-esque at points and maybe we need to look to let him go forward more rather than staying back and shielding the defence.

But a good day, except for the Quins result.

[Azpinator 2,325]

Please don't underrate Brana's performance. Forget the goal, he showed us the beast from 2/3 years ago and it was probably his best of the season so far (after some horrendous moments which we all know).

I just loved how Azpi got it together and stepped it up after that OG. Great that he always shows passion out on the field.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Torres isn't back, but he was MOTM today. He changed the game with a bit of direct running and he worked his bollocks off which got the crowd into it too.

Luiz and Ivanovic were solid but Sunderland were completely toothless going forward. They still created some opportunities but they never looked like scoring after the opening excitement. Mikel looked great going forward, Toure-esque at points and maybe we need to look to let him go forward more rather than staying back and shielding the defence.

But a good day, except for the Quins result.

LOOOOOOL at "Torres isnt back", always good to make that clear!

Overall it was a very Manure win and we always complain we never have those types of game, so I am not too bothered with our performance. The 3 points is what ultimately matters.

Credit to Benitez though, he has been decent in this marathon we are having. Now we got to travel to Moscow, comeback to play City in Wembley and then another final's like games at Fulham and Liverpool...

[Billy. 2,742]

not pretty but got the job done

[Jase 43,479]

Wasn't a great performance but perhaps it was understandable given it was our 4th game in 9 days! Nonetheless, we pick up a big big 3 points, which is the only thing that matters at this stage of the season.

[Kezza 1,965]

Fuck I love the league! So much excitement, ups and downs. This battle for fourth cant get anymore close!

I think it'll be decided by our game with spuds.

Please rafa, just don't do anything you'd normally do and we'll be sweet.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Didn't watch today's game but great to see we got the win. We win against Spurs and we have 4th spot secured IMO.

[Rupert 130]

the "get out" part was for this instant and the starting XI, not out of the squad to be sold. we have tons of dead wood in the squad that needs to be chipped off but oscar's not it.

but as far as his performances are concerned, he has been average this season on the whole. do see potential in him but to be honest, after watching 4-5 games of werder bremen, i feel KDB could have done a better job.

i might be willing to overlook the performances and give him the benefit of doubt as its his 1st PL season and he is only 20 years old, but sometimes its his attitude which bugs me. even if mata and hazard have bad days (like today), u ll still see them in the center of things, TRYING to make things happen where as oscar just rolls over and does not try to assert himself.

he has a long long way to go yet.

A good comparison is with Coutinho 20 years old and a Brazilian. In January this year Liverpool bought him for 8 + million pounds from InterMilan on Rafa's recommendation. (Oscar was 20 + million). He has only played about 7/8 games has scored 2 goals and has about 5 assists. He is far more incisive than Oscar, some of his passes into the box are out of this world and he is not afraid to shoot. He is fast and direct. He runs with the ball at his feet and usually beats his man. His passes are hard and accurate. He rarely loses the ball.

In contrast, Oscar runs badly with the ball at his feet, does not have many ideas about beating a man and very frequently gives the ball away to the opposition allowing them to counteract when Chelsea is stretched. He is not a genuine playmaker his passes are soft and hit and miss. When all is going well and he has plenty of space and is not being pressured by defenders, he can swing in a good kick. He has flashes of promise but altogether is not good enough yet.

[The only place to be 11,313]

A good comparison is with Coutinho 20 years old and a Brazilian. In January this year Liverpool bought him for 8 + million pounds from InterMilan on Rafa's recommendation. (Oscar was 20 + million). He has only played about 7/8 games has scored 2 goals and has about 5 assists. He is far more incisive than Oscar, some of his passes into the box are out of this world and he is not afraid to shoot. He is fast and direct. He runs with the ball at his feet and usually beats his man. His passes are hard and accurate. He rarely loses the ball.

In contrast, Oscar runs badly with the ball at his feet, does not have many ideas about beating a man and very frequently gives the ball away to the opposition allowing them to counteract when Chelsea is stretched. He is not a genuine playmaker his passes are soft and hit and miss. When all is going well and he has plenty of space and is not being pressured by defenders, he can swing in a good kick. He has flashes of promise but altogether is not good enough yet.

This RAWK troll has some stamina I'll give him that.

[The Skipper 20,609]

A good comparison is with Coutinho 20 years old and a Brazilian. In January this year Liverpool bought him for 8 + million pounds from InterMilan on Rafa's recommendation. (Oscar was 20 + million). He has only played about 7/8 games has scored 2 goals and has about 5 assists. He is far more incisive than Oscar, some of his passes into the box are out of this world and he is not afraid to shoot. He is fast and direct. He runs with the ball at his feet and usually beats his man. His passes are hard and accurate. He rarely loses the ball.

In contrast, Oscar runs badly with the ball at his feet, does not have many ideas about beating a man and very frequently gives the ball away to the opposition allowing them to counteract when Chelsea is stretched. He is not a genuine playmaker his passes are soft and hit and miss. When all is going well and he has plenty of space and is not being pressured by defenders, he can swing in a good kick. He has flashes of promise but altogether is not good enough yet.

Definitely a Liverpool fan.

Tell me then, why does Oscar start for Brazil whilst Coutinho isn't even near breaking through to the Brazilian NT?

[hazardous 7]

Forget Falcao, we got Torres back!

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

A good comparison is with Coutinho 20 years old and a Brazilian. In January this year Liverpool bought him for 8 + million pounds from InterMilan on Rafa's recommendation. (Oscar was 20 + million). He has only played about 7/8 games has scored 2 goals and has about 5 assists. He is far more incisive than Oscar, some of his passes into the box are out of this world and he is not afraid to shoot. He is fast and direct. He runs with the ball at his feet and usually beats his man. His passes are hard and accurate. He rarely loses the ball.

In contrast, Oscar runs badly with the ball at his feet, does not have many ideas about beating a man and very frequently gives the ball away to the opposition allowing them to counteract when Chelsea is stretched. He is not a genuine playmaker his passes are soft and hit and miss. When all is going well and he has plenty of space and is not being pressured by defenders, he can swing in a good kick. He has flashes of promise but altogether is not good enough yet.

Coutinho (2) has more goals than Oscar (1) but Oscar has 4 assists where as Coutinho has 3 in the PL. The difference is Oscar has played 28 PL games (19 starts, 9 sub appearances) and Coutinho has played 7 since he signed (6 starts, 1 sub apperance) but you have to remember Liverpool have scored 28 goals since the arrival of Coutinho where as Chelsea have scored 22 goals since he arrived. Coutinho has started every game for Liverpool since his move where as Oscar has also been rotated in and out of the team.

As a footballer I'd personally say Oscar edges it in terms of ability but hes not used to the rigors of a 50-60 game season where as Coutinho has played for Inter since he was 18, experiencing CL football for a few years and 50 games a season before even though he was loaned out to Espanyol half way through last year. Both are great prospects, I've followed Coutinho since Rafa gave him his debut at Inter, he was one of the better young players in Europe at that time before he lost his form due to injuries and managerial changes. Oscar has been good for us this year but is tired and failing to play well every week and the fact hes being moved to the right to compensate for Mata doesn't help. He needs to play centrally for us to see the best of him as he isn't quite as explosive as Coutinho is. The two years of European experience Coutinho has gives him a slightly advantage in terms of fitness and physicality of the European game compared to the South American game.

Oscar will be the better player though. Just give him time. His all round game is better than Coutinho's. Oscar has incredible footballing intelligence, which I feel Coutinho doesn't have. He also doesn't or didn't at Inter, work hard enough out of possession where as Oscar as we've seen against countless times, does work off the ball when he loses it.