With Mata's departure our set piece delivery became a concern for me, then Oscar happened.

the funny thing is when people compare Mata vs Oscar. They are essentially comparing Mata under Rafa vs Oscar under Mourinho, which are 2 different circumstances. Mata had a free role last season, with no defensive responsibility to the team, while this season Oscar is the key to the press for Mourinho.<br /><br />Have you guys seen mata under mourinho. If you wanna compare, its a better sample using mata during Mourinho reign vs Oscar during Mourinho reign...

<br /><br />I think that's a good point, however it's hard to compare Mata under Mourinho to anything when the sample is so small.

 

 

The curl he gets on the ball is ridiculous.

mata is a brilliant footballer and this is not a slight but perhaps we should take the views from their respective national managers. 

With Mata's departure our set piece delivery became a concern for me, then Oscar happened.

 

Mata was generally poor at set pieces.

Mata was generally poor at set pieces.

I remember him scoring a few fantastic free kicks, so I would have to disagree with you.

Mata had to take set pieces, he wasn't a threat in the box and he was certainly of no use as defensive cover!

Mata was generally poor at set pieces.

 

Can't agree with that. I think we'll miss his ability on corners a lot.

Mata's corners were average at best. A few good ones aside (especially two very important ones) he really was no better than Lampard at corners.

 

Not unexpected though. From Barcelona to Brazil to Barnsley it seems that there isn't a decent, consistent corner-taker in all of the contemporary game. Watch a highlights package of any given weekend in any top league in the world and you will see supposed set-piece specialists fail to beat the first man or overhit corners with alarming consistency.

 

I suppose you can't really practice corners the same way you can practice penalties or free-kicks, but it still doesn't excuse what I think is a largely untapped source of goals for us. Given the likes of Matic, Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz, Cahill, Mikel and the handy talents of Oscar and Ramires, not to mention an incoming striker, 20+ goals from corners alone should be a realistic target and one that we fall short of.

 

 

Oscar's got a similar problem to Didier Drogba in that he's probably the best in the team in terms of his delivery from set-pieces but he's also one of the biggest potential goalscoring threats. I'd be looking to get Hazard, Willian, Schurrle etc. to be working on that side of their game as much as possible.

Edited January 28, 201412 yr by SydneyChelsea

I don't understand how anyone cannot rate Oscar, for the first time in a few years we finally look like a team with a plan and purpose again, united under one system and everyone knowing their jobs, as opposed to the mess it has been the last 2 seasons, and Oscar has been instrumental to that.

That's an exaggeration. Let's be honest, our attacking plan is still very much "pass to Hazard/Oscar" and hope. 

That's an exaggeration. Let's be honest, our attacking plan is still very much "pass to Hazard/Oscar" and hope. 

 

No it's not. 

 

It's no coincidence that Jose returning and changing our playing style and work rate mentality has seen us have our best league performance in over 3 years. 

 

We're pressing teams more, attacking with more purpose. The passing triangles on the edge of the area that lead to nothing are few and far between.

 

Hazard is being more direct and ruthless with his attacking play than last season. 

 

The attacking midfield has more balance to it. 

 

Our forwards, although still not good enough, are scoring with more regularity. 

 

Every area of the team has improved drastically from last season. 

Apart from those games where we get it wrong such as stoke away, Sunderland away, WHU home.

Yes improvement but 39 shots and no goals is simply not good enough is it

Parking bus plus luck plus fouls plus saves etc yes, but ourshooting was woeful

So let's see what happens at city shall we

That's an exaggeration. Let's be honest, our attacking plan is still very much "pass to Hazard/Oscar" and hope.

I agree. We are a short term team in almost every aspect. Jose and the squad is working towards a thought out system which needs, guess what, time. Last season Mata was our guy to save our arses and it happened time after time. Last time our team functioned well I guess was under Carlo.

No it's not. 

 

It's no coincidence that Jose returning and changing our playing style and work rate mentality has seen us have our best league performance in over 3 years. 

 

We're pressing teams more, attacking with more purpose. The passing triangles on the edge of the area that lead to nothing are few and far between.

 

Hazard is being more direct and ruthless with his attacking play than last season. 

 

The attacking midfield has more balance to it. 

 

Our forwards, although still not good enough, are scoring with more regularity. 

 

Every area of the team has improved drastically from last season. 

While that's all true, none of that really disputes what he said. When Hazard isn't in the team, not playing well, marked out the game, etc we look devoid of ideas when attacking. There's only so much Oscar can do on his own as we've seen this season already. 

 

The midfield is more balanced but until Willian starts contributing or Schurrle starts getting more game time, we will always be relying on Hazard and Oscar.

 

I'm willing to bet most of the goals scored by the forwards was down to Hazard or Oscar, baring some individual persistences from Eto'o and his creeping.

 

Every area has improved from last season, we have more suitable players and a better manager. However, as solid as the team is when it comes to work rate and defending, it's still clear that we rely on individuals when attacking. Of course that will improve in time, I'm not expecting radical changes within 6 months, but let's not act like we are there already and everyone is contributing equally. 

But you could point to most teams and say they are reliant on X player(s). To get them goals and wins.

United - van Persie and Rooney

Liverpool - Suarez and Sturridge

Barca - Messi

Madrid - Ronaldo

PSG - Ibra

That's what happens when you have exceptional players in your team, the majority of your good play is going to come from them.

But I honestly don't believe our game is centred around giving the ball to Hazard or Oscar and hoping for the best.

Hopefully with salah coming in, we won't have to rely on the others as much to create, assist and score goals.

But you could point to most teams and say they are reliant on X player(s). To get them goals and wins.

United - van Persie and Rooney

Liverpool - Suarez and Sturridge

Barca - Messi

Madrid - Ronaldo

PSG - Ibra

That's what happens when you have exceptional players in your team, the majority of your good play is going to come from them.

But I honestly don't believe our game is centred around giving the ball to Hazard or Oscar and hoping for the best.

 

That's true but Oscar hasn't achieved the same level of ruthlessness in front of goal - compared to the rest of those players. 

 

If he continues to add that to his game he will easily become Lampard's heir - there are certainly things Oscar excels in but spotting the run in the box is something he needs to continue working on. 

 

Just needs a few more notches on what he is already capable of and I'd be able to say he is in the same league as the rest of the players you mentioned and Hazard. Hazard was in a similar position but over the last few months he has improved his consistency if Oscar can improve his consistency in terms of finishing than that would be wonderful. 

But you could point to most teams and say they are reliant on X player(s). To get them goals and wins.

United - van Persie and Rooney

Liverpool - Suarez and Sturridge

Barca - Messi

Madrid - Ronaldo

PSG - Ibra

That's what happens when you have exceptional players in your team, the majority of your good play is going to come from them.

But I honestly don't believe our game is centred around giving the ball to Hazard or Oscar and hoping for the best.

That's true and I would put us among those teams as well. We are no different, which is what you seem to be suggesting. 

 

There's nothing wrong with it, like you said, that's just what happens when you have top players like Hazard. Perhaps "hoping for the best" is a bit harsh as we are clearly more organised than last season but the vast majority of our attacking play comes through them nonetheless.

Doesnt deserve to be a starter IMO

Edited February 12, 201412 yr by Lane

Doesnt deserve to be a starter IMO

 

He's been out of form the last few games. 

 

Slowly seeing him more of a goal scorer rather than a creator though.

Doesnt deserve to be a starter IMO

Agreed. Gone off the boil a little and when hes on the ball i dont get the feeling like hes going to do anything cutting edge with it like i get when Hazard and to a certain extent Willian get it.

 

Schurlle/salah - Willian - Hazard for me. Still got the work rate etc

Agreed. Gone off the boil a little and when hes on the ball i dont get the feeling like hes going to do anything cutting edge with it like i get when Hazard and to a certain extent Willian get it.

 

Schurlle/salah - Willian - Hazard for me. Still got the work rate etc

What a step down this is from Hazard-Mata-Oscar/Willian if Oscar isn't playing well.

 

:(

Not sure what's been wrong with him these past few games. Hope he gets back to form soon (and develops a bit of creativity please..) 

Hazard's really stepped up to the plate but Oscar hasn't, which is odd because he seems like the sort of player who relishes responsibility.