Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2012/2013

G.K.

kryogen wrote: »

Schurrle is really more of a winger then a striker anyway? (I guess you could play him centrally like Mainz did, but goal return aside he was better as a winger I thought)

AFAIK Schurrle had a better record centrally with Mainz but got shunted out left for Leverkusen and hasn't done so well.

kryogen

G.K. wrote: »

AFAIK Schurrle had a better record centrally with Mainz but got shunted out left for Leverkusen and hasn't done so well.

That's why I said goalscoring aside

G.K.

kryogen wrote: »

That's why I said goalscoring aside

Good to know I can read. :pac:

kryogen

Very important skill for a mod!

TheStook

Hmm....I think we definitely need an out and out striker. The sad fact is Torres is just not consistent enough and we just can't rely on Sturridge and Lukaku as cover, if Torres and Sturridge get injured we're relying on a very inexperienced striker.
We don't need a player of Schurrles caliber, just an experienced striker who knows he is just cover. Personally I would love it if Gudjohnson came back just for this season.

GavRedKing

TheStook wrote: »

Hmm....I think we definitely need an out and out striker. The sad fact is Torres is just not consistent enough and we just can't rely on Sturridge and Lukaku as cover, if Torres and Sturridge get injured we're relying on a very inexperienced striker.
We don't need a player of Schurrles caliber, just an experienced striker who knows he is just cover. Personally I would love it if Gudjohnson came back just for this season.

Gudjohnsin is WAY to old to do a job, I'm all for nostalgia but I'd rather give the young guys a chance then bring back a past it striker no matter how loved he was at the club.

Sgt Pepper 64

completely non reliable but looks like we are trying to snatch Oscar from under the Spuds noses

Oscar is a very talented attacking midfielder who can play on the wing.
This report is confusing because he said after the spurs interest that he wasnt that interested in leaving brazill for a couple of years.
All it says is what we know, that Chelsea are looking to refresh the squad with exciting young players

"According to various reputed brazilian sources, Chelsea are very close to signing Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Júnior or simply Oscar for 30 million.Whether it is in euros or pounds or dollars has not been mentioned.(They tend to use dollars though)
Link: http://blogdoneto.bl...-internacional/
Its from a very reliable brazilian expert José Ferreira Neto(main reason why I believed the story)
Also on twitter, Paulo brito,another brazilian reporter also confirmed about this."

and according to this..
http://zerohora.clic...er-3815100.html

O presidente Giovanni Luigi teria se reunido durante essa semana com representantes do Chelsea para tratar da venda por 20 milhões de euros.

Chelsea's representatives have met with the president Giovanni Luigi to close the deal of Oscar for €20m.

GavRedKing

Not many people running with this today, but JT's trial, been accused of racism is starting today.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-09/chelsea-captain-john-terry-faces-racism-charge-at-london-trial.html

Chelsea captain John Terry will face a criminal charge at a weeklong trial in London over accusations he racially abused Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand during an Oct. 23 Premier League match.

Terry’s trial will begin today at a criminal court in the Marylebone area of London. The 31-year-old was charged in December with a racially aggravated public order offense for using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior against Ferdinand, a defender for Queens Park Rangers, according to prosecutors. Terry denies the allegations.

Alison Saunders, chief crown prosecutor for London, said in December she was “satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case.” The magistrates court trial will be held in front of a judge who will rule without a jury.

Terry was captain of the England soccer team until Feb. 3, when the Football Association stripped him of the role until the racism charge was resolved. Chelsea won the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich in May. England manager Roy Hodgson, who was appointed in May, selected Terry to play in the Euro 2012 Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

Chelsea lost 1-0 in the Queens Park game at Loftus Road. Terry said afterward that he had spoken with Ferdinand and that “it was all a misunderstanding.” Chelsea has said it would support Terry.

Terry has lost the England captaincy once before. Then- England manager Fabio Capello stripped him of the role in February 2010 over allegations of marital infidelity with the ex-girlfriend of former teammate Wayne Bridge. He was then reinstated in March 2011 during Euro 2012 qualifying.

Terry faces a maximum fine of 2,500 pounds ($3,900) if convicted of the offense. Terry’s lawyer, Dan Morrison, declined to comment.

LanceStorm

The only interest I have in the JT story is if he's gonna be suspended for ages or not, if so then so we have enough cover in the CB position to cover?

GavRedKing

I'm not sure if the FA can hand out retrospective ounsihment after the courts decide his faith can they?

If hes found guilty it will be a PR nightmare for the club, if ya look at any of thde clubs official merchandise its usually Lampard, Torres, Cech, Mata selling the stuff and not JT.

LanceStorm

gavredking wrote: »

I'm not sure if the FA can hand out retrospective ounsihment after the courts decide his faith can they?

If hes found guilty it will be a PR nightmare for the club, if ya look at any of thde clubs official merchandise its usually Lampard, Torres, Cech, Mata selling the stuff and not JT.

I always just assumed he would be suspended, if not then great!

not sure what the clubs position would be on it, they've always backed him in the acusations, if he's found guilty would they suspend him themselves to show that its not on?

Would that suddenly mean issues with JT and some of his team-mates?

GavRedKing

LanceStorm wrote: »

I always just assumed he would be suspended, if not then great!

not sure what the clubs position would be on it, they've always backed him in the acusations, if he's found guilty would they suspend him themselves to show that its not on?

Would that suddenly mean issues with JT and some of his team-mates?

If hes guilty the club would have to show some sense of punishment but I'm not sure what they could do TBH. They could strip him of the captaincy I guess but I dont think he'll be suspended or docked wages.

There was a lot of black players on the oitch that day in Chelsea colours and I dont think any of them have probelms with JT or what he was supposed to have said and what context.

Hopefully it is all sorted soon though and we can get on with getting ready for rpe-season.

It will be interesting to see though if the FA will hand out a ban after the courts findings.

greendom

gavredking wrote: »

I'm not sure if the FA can hand out retrospective ounsihment after the courts decide his faith can they?

.

They bloody better - I think he can only get a fine in the courts anyway. If found guilty he should get a longer ban than Suarez, as Suarez at least didn't go to court

LanceStorm

Terry-Gate!

Start from the bottom!

Dan Roan ‏@danroan

way of exaggerated & instant querying of a perceived false allegation."
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10m Dan Roan Dan Roan ‏@danroan

Crown's case is that words were "uttered in response to goading by Mr Ferdinand on the issue of his extra-marital affair, rather than by...
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17m Dan Roan Dan Roan ‏@danroan

Unbroadcast footage now being shown to court from Sky TV and Chelsea FC - filmed for training purposes
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22m Dan Roan Dan Roan ‏@danroan

Based on lip-reading evidence, Crown says Ferdinand said to Terry: "Oih you shagging ya mates missus" - accompanied by 'fist gesture'
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28m Dan Roan Dan Roan ‏@danroan

Court now being shown video compilation of footage of alleged incident on screen
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29m Dan Roan Dan Roan ‏@danroan

Defence case is that words "uttered by way of sarcastic exclamation or enquiry in relation to a perceived accusation by Mr Ferdinand.."
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31m Dan Roan Dan Roan ‏@danroan

..well publicised allegation of an extra-marital affair with a team-mate's wife"
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32m Dan Roan Dan Roan ‏@danroan

Alleged abuse "probably in response to physical gestures being made by Mr Ferdinand which the defendant understood to refer to the ...
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33m Dan Roan Dan Roan ‏@danroan

Crown alleges Terry said to Anton Ferdinand 'f*** off, f*** off.....f***ing black c***, f***ing nobhead' on 23 oct 2011

GavRedKing

greendom wrote: »

They bloody better - I think he can only get a fine in the courts anyway. If found guilty he should get a longer ban than Suarez, as Suarez at least didn't go to court

I think I heard att he time that even if hes founf guilty by the court that the FA cant act as the court ruling would take precedent over anything they can do.

I could be very wrong though.

greendom

gavredking wrote: »

I think I heard att he time that even if hes founf guilty by the court that the FA cant act as the court ruling would take precedent over anything they can do.

I could be very wrong though.

That would be marvellous :rolleyes: - they can't act at the time of the incident as it's a matter for the courts and they can do anything after as it was dealt with by the courts.

GavRedKing

Thats my understadning of it but I could be VERY wrong.

Either way the FA bottled it when they ahd a chance to deal with it months ago.

kryogen

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

completely non reliable but looks like we are trying to snatch Oscar from under the Spuds noses

Has there been a change since he came out and rubbished the reports linking him to Spurs then?

kryogen

gavredking wrote: »

Thats my understadning of it but I could be VERY wrong.

Either way the FA bottled it when they ahd a chance to deal with it months ago.

I don't think the FA could do anything when it became a police matter as any punishment or lack there of could have prejudiced the case against him from a legal point of view.

They have to wait till the court case is complete to act themselves.

GavRedKing

IMO they should have banned him when it happened, it wouldnt have got this far then but they bottled it IMO.

SlipperyPeople

i'm too lazy and hungover to google. when's our first friendly?

GavRedKing

hungoverbunny wrote: »

i'm too lazy and hungover to google. when's our first friendly?

Livign up to your username so

18th July in 'Merica is our first game.

Sgt Pepper 64

kryogen wrote: »

Has there been a change since he came out and rubbished the reports linking him to Spurs then?

Money talks i guess. If they want Ganso, then they need to sell Oscar to raise the funds
Most players when asked will say "I am happy to stay", very few actually mean it when offered big pay rises etc

I'm not taking it that seriously, just repeating the word on the web!

kryogen

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Money talks i guess. If they want Ganso, then they need to sell Oscar to raise the funds
Most players when asked will say "I am happy to stay", very few actually mean it when offered big pay rises etc

I'm not taking it that seriously, just repeating the word on the web!

Oh i am not saying he won't leave, he simply said the reports linking him with Spurs were not accurate.

Even if they come up with a transfer fee acceptable to Santos I am not convinced they would be able to pay the wages he is demanding

what a day

Id love us to sign Schurrle but for me he is an out and out striker. He reminds me of a Young Torres that can play off the shoulder of a defender and use his pace. He can also beat a defender one on one and creat space for a shot. Also much like Torres he can hold on to the ball and he is calm infront of the goal. He can play wide(like torres) but he would be wasted IMO.

Oscar iv never seen him play but we do need another creative playmaker and what iv heard of Oscar he fits that bill plus he can also play as a winger?

We have got to sign a wide right hand side forward/Winger. Sturridge is too greedy out wide and he does have the ability to play trough the middle. Id like us to keep him but if we can get Schurrle and Sturridge wants to leave id let him go for no less then 15m.

GavRedKing

Pick your all time Chelsea XI.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2835947,00.html

Be interesting to see whats suggested.

Personally I can only pick players I've seen regaurly since about '92-93 if I was picking.

grumpymunster

Talk about lazy reporting the "newshound" most certainly does not live up to his name in this piece.

http://www.caughtoffside.com/2012/07/09/bolton-owed-chelsea-player-loan-trotters-request-oriol-romeu/

If it is true they may have a problem getting a player of Romeu's quality seen as they are now a Championship side.

MUSEIST

Can't wait for the pre season games getting under way next week. Really looking forward to seeing hazard, de bruyne, marin and lukaku in pre season. Cahill was back in training today, will be good for him to get a pre season under his belt, he was thrown into the limelight in january without too much time to settle in.

Sgt Pepper 64

Already posted this but

Daily Mail exclusive tomorrow http://yfrog.com/odxjctvj

'Chelsea win the Oscar'

25 million - not cheap but exciting if true

smuckers

If true about Oscar reckon we don't want Modric.

Sgt Pepper 64

smuckers wrote: »

If true about Oscar reckon we don't want Modric.

Full article here

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2171174/Chelsea-beat-Tottenham-sign-Oscar-Internacional.html

Wonder what this means for Piazon after him saying he is living the dream and hopes to break into the first team?

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/7884927/Piazon-living-Chelsea-dream

pistolpetes11

Oscar who ?

TerryTibbs!

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

Oscar who ?

Sgt Pepper 64

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

Oscar who ?

Never played FM then?

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GavRedKing

TerryTibbs! wrote: »

Rubbish joke........:p

kryogen

Aquila wrote: »

Has anyone seen this guy play?

*Puts hand in the air confidently* "I have!"

GavRedKing

kryogen wrote: »

*Puts hand in the air confidently* "I have!"

Copa Libertadores?

Sgt Pepper 64

Must admit, I only knew him first from FM, and thats what makes me watch these players

Saw him play against Denmark and part of the Argentina match where he scored. Looks like a Fabregas clone to me!


Heres the Sky report, I reckon we will get it done this week.
Of course its a chance signing him direct from Brazil, but we could have Ramires and Luiz in the starting line up as well as the other Brazilites - plus he's in "swinging" London

Chelsea have made a move to beat Tottenham to Brazilian ace Oscar after tabling an offer for the playmaker.
Tottenham were thought to be leading the chase to sign the Internacional hot-shot with new boss Andre Villas-Boas identifying Oscar as one of his top transfer targets.
However, Chelsea have now stolen a march on their Premier League rivals by tabling a €25million (£19.8m) bid for the Brazil international who will represent his country at the 2012 Olympics.

One of Oscar's agents, Carlos Meinberg Neto, has confirmed Chelsea have made an offer for the 20-year-old, but says no agreement has been reached between the clubs as yet.
"Chelsea did offer 25 million euros, but there is still no agreement between the clubs, that will probably happen within the next days," Neto told Terraa.
Neto also revealed he expects Oscar to choose a move to Chelsea ahead of Tottenham and that the move could be finalised in the next few days.
"Giuliano Bertolucci (Oscar's main agent) will travel to England to finalise the remaining details," he said.
"Tottenham also made an offer, but he should accept Chelsea's offer as there is more exposure there".

However, Oscar has played down talk of a move claiming he will stay at Internacional.
"I will stay," Oscar told Globo Esporte.

GavRedKing

One of his agents?

Bloody South Americans and their multiple party interests.

If we dont get Modric and he goes elsewhere it would be perfect to nick his replacement. :pac:

Sgt Pepper 64

gavredking wrote: »

One of his agents?

Bloody South Americans and their multiple party interests.

If we dont get Modric and he goes elsewhere it would be perfect to nick his replacement. :pac:

Club is denying any offers received yet

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11675/7885411/Internacional-deny-Oscar-offers
Internacional insist they have not received any offers for Oscar, but have not ruled out a move away for the playmaker.

Reports have suggested Chelsea have stolen a march on Premier League rivals Tottenham by making an offer for the highly-rated 20-year-old.

Oscar's agent, Carlos Meinberg Neto, claimed Chelsea had tabled a €25million (£19.8m) bid for the Brazil international and that a deal could be done soon.

However, Internacional president, Giovanni Luigi, claims there have been no offers for Oscar or his team-mate Leandro Damiao, who also been linked with a move to Tottenham.

Luigi admits Internacional may be forced to sell a player before the close of the transfer window, but is adamant they have yet to receive an offer for any player in their squad.

"There have been no offers for Oscar and Leandro Damiao," Luigi told Radio Gaucha.

"Internacional have the practice of selling one or two players every transfer window.

"This system has been working and we will keep it, developing players, then finding replacements if they are sold while the window is open.

"So we might sell a player, but right now no offer has been made for any player in the squad."

kryogen

gavredking wrote: »

Copa Libertadores?

I watch a fair bit of South American football for betting purpoese, and tbh it is great to see two teams just attack each other non stop for 90 minutes (in the majority of games)

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Club is denying any offers received yet

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11675/7885411/Internacional-deny-Oscar-offers
Internacional insist they have not received any offers for Oscar, but have not ruled out a move away for the playmaker.

Reports have suggested Chelsea have stolen a march on Premier League rivals Tottenham by making an offer for the highly-rated 20-year-old.

Oscar's agent, Carlos Meinberg Neto, claimed Chelsea had tabled a €25million (£19.8m) bid for the Brazil international and that a deal could be done soon.

However, Internacional president, Giovanni Luigi, claims there have been no offers for Oscar or his team-mate Leandro Damiao, who also been linked with a move to Tottenham.

Luigi admits Internacional may be forced to sell a player before the close of the transfer window, but is adamant they have yet to receive an offer for any player in their squad.

"There have been no offers for Oscar and Leandro Damiao," Luigi told Radio Gaucha.

"Internacional have the practice of selling one or two players every transfer window.

"This system has been working and we will keep it, developing players, then finding replacements if they are sold while the window is open.

"So we might sell a player, but right now no offer has been made for any player in the squad."

Ramires, Luiz and Piazon would make it feel like home if he was to join.

Ramires and Luiz shoudl also be in the WC squad, injury permitting, so its not like the Brazilian management team would be over looking him if he left Brazil.

Hopefully a deal can be sorted out.

GavRedKing

kryogen wrote: »

I watch a fair bit of South American football for betting purpoese, and tbh it is great to see two teams just attack each other non stop for 90 minutes (in the majority of games)

Some dodgy South American bets you say?

I got to get into this market I reckon.

Although one of my buddies use the FotMob app for his phone nd will bet on ANY team playing regardless of his knowledge of the team or league, resulting in bets on Finnish teams and the like, needless to say hes not raking in the cash. :pac:

kryogen

gavredking wrote: »

Some dodgy South American bets you say?

I got to get into this market I reckon.

Although one of my buddies use the FotMob app for his phone nd will bet on ANY team playing regardless of his knowledge of the team or league, resulting in bets on Finnish teams and the like, needless to say hes not raking in the cash. :pac:

Christ I hate Finland, Finland is the one league that is consistently black listed for me, I will bet on more or less any other league, have to be very careful in places like Estonia etc, if you watch the odds movements the week of a game it normally points to who is going to win

I think Oscar would be a good signing for ye for the record, he does not have the trickery of a Lucas Moura or electric pace, but he has a good brain, has two good feet and has a cracking shot on him, he would be comfortable in any of the 3 posittions in a 4231 imo, best centrally but could do a job from the right no problem, the left too as a third position.

GavRedKing

kryogen wrote: »

Christ I hate Finland, Finland is the one league that is consistently black listed for me, I will bet on more or less any other league, have to be very careful in places like Estonia etc, if you watch the odds movements the week of a game it normally points to who is going to win

I think Oscar would be a good signing for ye for the record, he does not have the trickery of a Lucas Moura or electric pace, but he has a good brain, has two good feet and has a cracking shot on him, he would be comfortable in any of the 3 posittions in a 4231 imo, best centrally but could do a job from the right no problem, the left too as a third position.

I usually stick with the main European leagues, way to many variables that could effect my decisions on betting on the smaller leagues.

I'll admit I've only seen glimpses of him so far as well as the odd Youtube clip but he seems to be highly thought of by those in Brazil and in the know so if it gets done for around €25 Million that seems good enough for me.

GavRedKing

Anyone going to the Super Cup?

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2836785,00.html

The latest ticket selling arrangements for our UEFA Super Cup match against Atletico Madrid on Friday 31 August in Monaco are as follows:

Ticket allocation and prices
We have received 5,400 tickets for the match, which will be priced at £25, £37, £58, £66 and £115.50. Tickets will be sold using the loyalty points from 2011/12.

Tuesday 10th July: Season ticket holders with 148 loyalty points or more can purchase one ticket.

Wednesday 11 July ONLINE ONLY until 5pm: tickets will be sold to season ticket holders on a loyalty point basis. The number of loyalty points required will be released on Tuesday 10 July by 6pm.

Thursday 12 July ONLINE ONLY until 5pm: tickets will be sold to season ticket holders on a loyalty point basis. The number of loyalty points required will be released on Wednesday 11July by 6pm.

Friday 13 July ONLINE ONLY until 5pm:
tickets will be sold to all remaining season ticket holders.
Further announcements will be made if tickets are available after season ticket holders have purchased their tickets.
Supporters who visit the box office can purchase a maximum of 10 tickets per person and must carry all season ticket TeamCards to do so.

The Box Office and Call Centre will be closed on the following days:

Saturday 14 July
Saturday 21July

The Call Centre will be closed on Saturday 28 July, although the Box Office will be open for personal callers from 9am until 12noon.

Duplicate tickets and collection procedure
We regret to inform supporters there will be NO duplicate tickets available for this match.
All tickets must be collected from the box office in person with the fully completed declaration forms by Thursday 2 August at 5pm.

Declaration forms
The standard UEFA away declaration form will need to be completed in order to collect the ticket.

Packages with Thomas Cook
Official flight and coach packages will be available from Thomas Cook. These packages will be on sale from the Thomas Cook website. Packages will also be sold in line with the club's ticketing policy. Supporters travelling with Thomas Cook will NOT need to complete a declaration form and will need to secure a match ticket with Thomas Cook.
As per the club's ticketing policy, tickets will be sold from 7am online and from 9am at the box office/call centre, 95 per cent of tickets will be sold online and the remaining five per cent will be sold at the box office and call centre.

All ticket sales are subject to availability.

Sgt Pepper 64

Good article here on this Oscar chappie

http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/the-playmakers-oscar.html

Telegraph getting all excited!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9388957/Chelseas-signing-of-Oscar-will-bring-a-touch-of-class-to-Roberto-Di-Matteos-team.html

what a day

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Good article here on this Oscar chappie

http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/the-playmakers-oscar.html

Telegraph getting all excited!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9388957/Chelseas-signing-of-Oscar-will-bring-a-touch-of-class-to-Roberto-Di-Matteos-team.html

Any chance of posting the first link Sgt, no access to it in work

Delighted to see we are still after another creative/attacking midfielder!!
If we sign him and he is as good as some report we should have an excellent squad next season and we should be in for another trophy.

.............Once we sign a right forward and defender that is

LanceStorm

what a day wrote: »

Any chance of posting the first link Sgt, no access to it in work

This is the first part in a series I want to do profiling each potential playmaker Brazil has for the 2014 World Cup: Oscar, Ganso, Hernanes, Diego, and Kaka. (I’m discounting Ronaldinho because I refuse to consider him a viable option.)

We’ll start off with everyone’s darling of the moment, Oscar.

Oscar is the most fundamentally sound player in the Brazilian national team.

Quick qualification on that statement – I’m not counting players who Mano hasn’t called up yet. But of all the many players who’ve donned the yellow jersey in the last 3 years, Oscar is more versatile and more well-rounded than any of them. Different players can do individual things better, and he’s not the first I’d pick to build a team around, but after re-watching the USA and Argentina matches, and parts of Denmark and Mexico, I’m going to make a prediction.

Oscar will be the team’s starting number 10 for the 2014 World Cup.

Now, granted, I’m not saying anything revolutionary. And I’m not saying that, if the World Cup were tomorrow, Oscar would be the one I would pick. (I’d still pick Hernanes or Diego; maybe even Kaka.) But after re-watching those matches, I was curious to see if his level of play would hold up on second inspection.

It did.

I wasn’t sure if I would do this article because it’s hard to talk about what makes a player play so well on pictures alone, but then I discovered that videos of every single one of Oscar’s touches in the Denmark, USA and Argentina matches were posted to YouTube.

So without further ado…

Let’s discuss some of the things that make Oscar such an effective player:

Ball control/body control

One of the things that make Oscar so fantastic is that he has immense control over both his body and his feet. When watching the videos, watch the Denmark match at the 0:38 mark and 3:14 mark, or against Argentina at the 1:48 and 2:11 marks. Not only does he usually display a good first touch on the ball, but watch his body. It’s almost always completely vertical. He has great balance when he moves, rarely learning one way or another. It’s this quality that allows him to get by his man without having to perform a complicated trick or rely on sheer pace; it’s also this quality that allows him to pull off some spectacular one-touch passes, like the one to Hulk starting at 2:11.

When a player is off balance in any sport, it makes it much harder for them to control themselves. Off-balance shots are much harder shots in basketball, make for harder strokes in tennis, and make for more inaccurate passes and shots in football. But Oscar’s balance – in part – is what allows him to be so effective. It was a factor in his absurdly high pass-completion rate in the four friendlies, and it prevents defenders from knowing what he’s going to do. The balance gives him the time to wait until the last possible second before passing or dribbling past his man. The 2nd clip against Denmark is the perfect example of this.

During the U20 World Cup, I also wrote that Oscar has superb turning ability. He was able to use his ability to turn on the ball to great advantage in that tournament, even against much more athletic players. In addition, while Oscar is not a very fast runner, he has an excellent first step. Johan Cruyff always used to say that it wasn’t about who was the fastest, but rather who moved first. Oscar’s quick first step allows him run with the ball at speed for a longer period of time than you’d expect. You won’t see him go on any long solo runs, but it adds an extra dimension to his game so that he’s not always just making passes at a standstill (like Ganso often seems to do.) Contrast this with Kaka, who was one of the fastest players I’ve ever seen, once upon a time. Now that Kaka’s pace has deserted him, his ability to run with the ball is greatly diminished – and he doesn’t have a particularly quick first step to rely on. (His pace always was built around the fact that he could pick up speed the longer he ran, not how quick he was out of the gate. Lucky for Kaka, though, that he is also possesses excellent balance.)

Comfort in every area of the pitch

I said after the U20 World Cup that one of the things I loved about Oscar was his ability to range all over the pitch and contribute no matter where he was. He demonstrated the same ability in spades in the last four friendlies. For example, look at 1:04 against Denmark. A lot of players, when on the ball that deep in their own territory, will panic and just boot the ball down field, or try to win a throw-in. But Oscar keeps his composure and sends a perfect long ball up to Leandro Damiao. In addition, in all four friendlies he consistently would drop deep to either help defend, or, in possession, would drop deep to help the build-up. Watch in the videos how often he will fall back, collect the ball, and then quickly pass and move.

Of course, we know how comfortable he is in the center of the pitch, as that’s his primary home. But check out 0:33 against the USA to see how good he is in congested positions (keeping the ball even in traffic, before slipping a perfect, casual through-ball to the marginally-offside Hulk.) He showed how comfortable he can be on the wing, popping up on the right wing, easily evading the Argentine leftback, before firing in a very dangerous cross that could have resulted in a goal for either Damiao or Neymar. (2:00 in the Argentina video.)

And of course, he’s also got no problem playing in the box itself. (2:59 in the Argentina video.)

Passing skills

There’s a bit of ’82 legend Falcao in Oscar, due to the things I mentioned above, like his comfort in all areas of the pitch. Another similarity is his underrated passing. To put it short, it’s very accurate. More importantly, it’s very intelligent: you always see Oscar playing the percentages when he has the ball. He’ll usually choose the more conservative option when given the choice, hoping to develop a more clear-cut scoring chance rather than try to make something out of nothing. But there seems to be a myth in some places that Oscar doesn’t really ever play killer passes, or attempt defense splitting through balls.

Well, witness 1:00 against Argentina (gorgeous long-ball to Hulk, who should have scored) or 1:18 against Argentina (diagonal lofted-ball over the top of the defense to Neymar, who should have been awarded a penalty) 1:54 against Argentina (perfectly lofted through-ball to Hulk) or 1:08 against the USA (another lovely lofted through-ball to Damiao who should have scored, or 3:19 against the USA (through-ball to Neymar, who crossed to Pato who hit the post.)

A little while back, I wrote a long post to Zetona about the fact that playmakers, despite their reputation, aren’t really creators. You can’t really create a chance to score with a pass – you can only exploit chances. It’s the movement and positioning of your teammates, a long with the defenders, that create chances. A good playmaker is one who recognizes a chance and then tries to seize it. (To this day, Zidane is the best I’ve ever seen at this.)

Oscar seems to understand this basic principle well. He rarely tries overambitious things that can’t be pulled off. But he’s also excellent at recognizing a chance, and then attempting to seize it. Watching the replays of these friendlies, I didn’t I see a single time when there was an obvious scoring chance created by his teammates that he failed to recognize and exploit. There were a few times where Oscar should have attempted to swing the ball to the opposite flank, instead of a more conservative layoff to a teammate close to him, but this is a minor issue.

Another aspect of Oscar’s passing skills is that he can basically complete every type of pass there is. What I mean by that is:

- He’s two-footed, so he can pass with both feet

- He’s adept at both the long-ball, the through-ball, the lofted-ball, and simple diagonal passes along the ground

- He can pass while on the run

- He can pass with every part of his foot. This one cannot be overstated. A lot of players can only pass with the inside of their foot, but Oscar can pass with his toe, with his backheel, and, most importantly of all, with the outside of his foot. This actually is not very common. Have you ever watched a match on TV where you see passing angles open to the dribbler, who makes no attempt to exploit them? It’s often because it would require passing with the outside of your foot, a skill many players don’t possess. But Oscar does it on a routine basis. The reason why the outside of your foot is difficult is because you get less feel for the ball, and it’s harder to generate power. Just as a backhand is a harder shot in tennis or hockey, passing with the outside of your foot means moving your leg away from your body rather than across. It’s a more awkward – and thus, more difficult – movement.

Other fundamentals

I’m running out of time on this article (I can hear my kids waking up) so I’ll be brief. While watching the videos above, pay attention to the following:

- Oscar’s work rate. He is constantly moving around the pitch, pressing the centerbacks, dropping back to defend, or harrying the dribbler in the midfield. It’s this quality that led to Hulk’s 2nd goal against Denmark.

- Oscar’s grasp of the pass and move idea. After every pass he makes, especially in the center of the park, you’ll see him immediately run forward-and-diagonally off the ball, to create a passing angle and catch the defenders napping. Pass and move is so simple and so fundamental, it always drives me nuts when players don’t do it. This was one of the single biggest flaws with Mano’s team in the Copa America. No one was doing it. (In retrospect, isn’t it incredible that Oscar wasn’t called up for that tournament? I mean, we knew Mano wasn’t going to call Hernanes or Kaka, and Diego hadn’t yet found his game in Madrid yet. But Oscar was a domestic player playing for a huge club. You’d have expected Mano to at least give him a look.)

- Oscar always plays with his head up. 1:04 against Denmark is a perfect example of this. He wins the ball off a Dane, drops deeper to evade any challenges, and then fires a perfect ball up the touchline to Damiao. He could have only done this if his head was up the whole time, and it was.

So, in short, while Oscar may not be quite as obviously dynamic as some of the other potential #10’s in the Selecão, he’s the most fundamentally sound. A lot of players are heavily weighted in one or two areas, meaning they suffer in others. So just as they can help the team with the skills, they can hurt the team with their flaws. That really isn’t the case with Oscar.

Now, the one thing to watch out for though is that Oscar came into these friendlies as a relative unknown. Of all the young phenoms playing in Brazil today (Neymar, Lucas, Damiao, Ganso, even Dede) Oscar is easily the least heralded. So it’s probable that all four teams didn’t know much about him, choosing to focus their attention on the more famous names.

I expect that, very soon, Oscar will start receiving a lot more attention from defenders, so I don’t expect him to play this well all the time. In fact, I expect we’ll see him struggle a bit in the next round of friendlies. But given the fact that Oscar is a domestic player, an extremely skilled player, a fearless player (look how comfortable he was playing against a senior European side in his first start for the Selecão!) and a young player (he’s only going to get better and better), I’m going to hold to my prediction:

Oscar will be the starting #10 for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup. Whether he’ll be the most deserving remains to be seen. But it’s heartening to see a young player perform so intelligently and maturely. All you can ask of a player is that they seize the chances given to them, and Oscar has definitely done that.