A lot of Chelsea fans have been wondering why Oscar, our talented Brazilian youngster, isn’t featuring as regularly as he was at the beginning of the season. Why would he benched when he had such great performances in the CL, especially in the game against Juventus? The answer is simple, his performances just haven’t been good enough, compared to his Belgian and Spanish teammates.
Chances Created
| Player | Chances created |
| Oscar | 18 |
| Mata | 41 |
| Hazard | 34 |
As you can see, there is a vast difference between the amount of chances Eden Hazard and Mata created against the amount Oscar created. With both nearly creating twice as much chances, and given Oscar’s CAM position, it is easy to see why he has not featured regularly. In his the position he is currently playing at Chelsea, he is expected to compete with Juan Mata and Hazard in terms of chances created.
Chelsea need width
Chelsea desperately need width in the past few months, most of our attacks have been direct, straight through the middle. With Hazard, Oscar and Mata constantly interchanging positions, it rarely leaves any of them drifting out wide. Chelsea need someone with the pace, strength and agility to cut through the flanks and hassle off defenders in order to put in the right cross and Oscar simply does not do that. Which is why, under Rafa Benitez, we are seeing Moses starting to get more chances. Moses, unlike Oscar, has the strength and the pace to cut through the flanks. Although, Moses can improve on his finishing and his cross accuracy, he does get the job done and I believe this will improve with more game time for him.
Attack not his best position
Maybe Oscar is better suited to be playing in the double pivot role.
| Player | Pass Accuracy |
| Oscar | 86% |
| Ramires | 86% |
| Mikel | 90% |
As evident, Oscar has very similar passing accuracy to that of Ramires and Mikel. This is important because in that role, it is very important to be very accurate in your passes and make sure that your passes don’t lead to mistakes. We’ve seen Oscar play in the midfield before and he has impressed.
| Player | Pass Length |
| Oscar | 15m |
| Ramires | 16m |
| Mikel | 17m |
Oscar likes to play the short pass, which in the double pivot role, is very important as most of your passes are either to the defenders in the back, or to the attackers in front. With his passing accuracy and his lack of chances created, it is evident that Oscar prefers to pass the ball intelligently to other more capable players of providing assists then providing the assist himself. What better other position to do so then the double pivot role?
| Player | Average Defensive Actions per game |
| Oscar | 2 |
| Mata | 1 |
| Hazard | 1 |
Oscar has an average of 2 defensive actions per game – that includes blocks, interceptions and clearances. Compared to Mata and Hazard he is obviously superior. Hazard and Mata don’t have one blocked shot this Premier League season – Oscar has 4. This shows that unlike Mata and Hazard, Oscar tracks back alongside Mikel to defend, whereas Mata and Hazard prefer to stay more up front. If played in the double pivot role, he will definitely help the team.
Final verdict: Play Oscar in double pivot
It’s obvious that Rafa Benitez currently prefers width rather than being direct, and Oscar simply does not provide that. What he does offer, however, is the ability to play in the double pivot role, where he can defend and at the same time provide quality assistance to the attackers upfront. Obviously, once played in the role, Oscar will need time to adapt. It is worth noting that all the stats mentioned above were of him playing in the CAM position. If played in the double pivot, his defensive stats will definitely get better and most importantly help the team. Oscar is too good of a player to be a substitute, if played at the double pivot role, he will provide much more to the team. Oscar hasn’t been featuring regularly because I believe Chelsea are integrating to much wider play under Benitez. If Oscar is played in the middle he will definitely succeed. All stats are to his favour.
*all stats were taken from www.squawka.com
*all stats mentioned above were for the Barcalys Premier League only.
Follow me on Twitter: @TheChelseaTalk
John.
didnt buy this,,,i’ll pick oscar ahead of moses anytime any day
I never picked Oscar ahead of Moses. I simply said that Chelsea need width – which Oscar does not provide. And I said that his creating chances stats are not in the same standard as Hazard and Mata. He would be better in the middle.
all the best to CFC team
I dont think we need width, if we realy need width we could use Marn, Oscar should start rather than mosses, Oscar has good understanding with Hazard and Mata, he is better in closing, and creating chance than Mosses, I dont understand why Rafa cant see this, RDM did see this and we enjoyed footbal,
It is worth mentioning that he is also only 19 and his talent needs to be nutured. If you look at how great managers look after their young , they only use them sparingly to avoid over exposure at too early a stage in their careers. See SAF !
He is being protected and I think this is a major influence on his limited appearance time. MC
Oscar is same age as Hazard, and has first team experience even at national level.
I think Oscar should be played in the cm along side Luiz, I think they will establish such a fabulous patnership. What do you think dudes?
RDM sees what and we were dumped out of ucl? dude if you dont know what to say, then keep ur mouth shut. thanks for the analyses THECHELSEATALK
se equivoca benitez , lo que quire hacer es darle mas minutos a los españoles y por eso a mata lo pode de 10
well playing in the pivot is not a bad idea buh he’s not suppose to be on the bench nice analysis
Oscar is truly a better player than Moses but Rafa decides who plays and who sits on the bench. Since he is trying to rotate the team, Oscar will have his chances too. Rafa need to continue on the integration of Piazon as well. By the way, its a nice job u guys are doing, keep it up. #cfc
Our team is evolving i presume with the best tactics and which players suits which positions appropriately this will take time before we witness the dream team we all dream. Having said Oscar is one of my favourites in the team. He is too good to sit on the bench as well. I hope he gets his chance on most occasion since is a long season. From: Norway, Martin.
oscar is an excellent player he should not be frustrated by a myopic coach…. players like piazon and marin should be well integrated too… at a point we might lose oscar to another team by then we will now know wat a gem we have lost… Mak t from Nigeria
Someone said we don’t need width and that under RDM we enjoyed the footy on display. Yes we did enjoy it but only until a point when teams found us out. We played possession football by committing lots of bodies passing it around (always ended up at the right back who had no choice but to swing in a cross knowing well the team isn’t tall anymore) with no end result. I’ve backed Rafa since day one because I knew what he would do. With the three amigos in the same line,there is definitely no width. Mata wide right would cut in on his left foot and Hazard wide left cutting in on his right foot. When Rafa started Marin at Leeds,he played him on the right where he wouldn’t cut in like he would always do on the left. Remember the preseason games? Marin is a one trick poney who cuts in and looks to shoot. Width is such an important part of the game and I don’t understand why Annonymous said we don’t need it. You have to stretch a narrow defense and even Barca do it even though they play ultra possession football. Torres’ goal against Villa is kind of an example. The ball was wide on the left where the opposition saw Hazard and Cole,then Lampard switched play to the right quickly to Mata who then layed it off for Azpilicueta to make an early cross for Torres. After that move,their defense was in shambles and disorganised and that enabled Torres to head it in with absolutely no pressure on him at all.
On the Oscar issue. I think it’s too early to say. For me,he is still a trequarista just behind the striker. Remember,the team is still in transition so it isn’t the complete product yet. We’ll see in the future,probably next season.
The moment i read the first part of your article my mind said he shud play in d lampard role.. Your next pt was exactly that.. I would not read too much into this Oscar being benched thing.. He is still not ready for the daily rigours of english football.. Have u noticed he tends to lose the physical battles?? its jusy a matter of time before he becomes a regular.. CM or CAM wont matter.. He will be brilliant..
I feel he should be playing in the CAM role. If we need width then mata and hazard can provide that.. Oscar if you see in the games he played for brazil in the olympics was great in that role. He is more direct and is very adept and giving that straight ball to the striker and also distributing it out to the flanks
There’ll be too many players fighting for the pivot roles. David Luiz is showing he can do a fantastic job in that position and I can’t see Chelsea put both ramires and mikel on the bench
all dis talk abt oscar not been able to create chances n all what not is jst nonsense talk, pls rafa, do give him a play time, don’t b a racist.
Stupid article to be frank. Just because he does more defensive work than Mata and likes short passing doesn’t mean he is suited for the pivot. Seems as if its been written for the sake of writing something.
Look at it this way, if a player is better defensively, prefers assisting other players in providing goals, tracks back more and plays up front – don’t you think he’d be better suited in the middle?
Also playing at a club where their new manager wants more width, which Oscar doesn’t provide. Don’t you think he’s too good to be on the bench and would be better suited in the middle. Oh well, I guess I just wrote this for the sake of writing something, according to you.
then if he is not providing width .. why not play him in CAM instead of pivot role … we will waste his talent in that position
rubbish article…
Why can’t we play Oscar and David Luiz in the midfield? There is no harm in trying.