Oscar vs. De Bruyne: Who Deserves That Third Spot In Chelsea’s Famed Attacking Trio?

By Shayne Dias • July 22, 2013

To say that last season was a turbulent one for Chelsea would be putting it mildly. A season full of ups and downs culminated in Chelsea winning the Europa League and becoming the first team to win both of Europe’s premier competitions in consecutive years. Chelsea also became the 4th club to win all 3 of Europe’s major trophies after Juventus, Ajax and Bayern Munich. Safe to say we have some history now…

Anyway, I digress. One of the major positives to come out of last season was the introduction of the attacking trio of Mata-Hazard-Oscar. “The three amigos” as they were referred to in some quarters of the press were a joy to watch when they were on song, with their slick inter-passing, free-flowing movement and general ability both on and off the ball. As the season wore on, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard established themselves as regulars in the first-team. However, the same could not be said about Oscar.

The young Brazilian seemed to struggle at times and even lost his starting spot to Victor Moses for a short while. The reasons for his struggles are pretty obvious (large no. of games played, first season in Europe etc.) but it doesn’t change the fact that he was, for a certain time period, consistently poor. He did eventually regain his position in the starting XI, but that was mostly due to the fact that Moses experienced a massive dip in form and that competition for his spot was literally non-existent (a.k.a Marin and Benayoun).

However, with Mourinho having confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne will be retained by Chelsea this season, Oscar’s spot in the attacking trio is under threat, and rightly so. De Bruyne had a better 2012/13 season than Oscar did. Last season, Oscar had 12 goals and 13 assists in 64 appearances, which isn’t a massively poor return, not by a long shot. However, De Bruyne had 10 goals and 10 assists in 33 appearances, which is pretty impressive. Those returns seem doubly impressive when you consider the fact that De Bruyne performed so well in a team that was battling relegation.

Aside from the stats, De Bruyne would be a better fit in Chelsea’s attacking trio given his versatility. With Mata having made that #10 position his own and Eden Hazard proving that he is most effective on the left wing, Oscar had to play out on the right a lot last season, and he struggled there. De Bruyne prefer’s playing as the #10 but is equally effective on the wings.

So what does this mean for Oscar?

It would be foolish to write off the young Brazilian, given that he has the potential to be world class. He could fight for a spot in the starting XI next season and given the amount of talent he has, he might just give Mourinho the type of selection dilemma every manager loves to have. Or… he could be used to solve Chelsea’s midfield problem.

Chelsea have lacked a midfield playmaker ever since Michael Ballack left the club. It’s not as if his absence hasn’t been felt before, but given the formation Chelsea currently employ, it’s more evident than ever that the team need someone to pull the strings from midfield. Lampard, despite his ability to pass the ball quite well, struggled to adapt to a deeper role. Ramires brings plenty of energy to the table and has an excellent work-rate, but he’s no playmaker. Oscar could well be that deep-lying playmaker Chelsea are supposedly missing.

Oscar’s game is based around playing quick, short passes to team-mates and ensuring that possession is kept, while he also has the ability to pick out team-mates with accurate long passes. In last season’s Premier League, Oscar completed 40 out of a total of 57 attempted long balls. Aside from being able to distribute the ball effectively, he can also be a goal-threat from midfield given that he likes to shoot from distance. He’s also an efficient dribbler and can thus drive forward and aid in attack whenever necessary.

Defensively, Oscar’s game is pretty sound. He always tracks back whenever possession is lost and doesn’t hesitate to tackle whenever he can. During last season’s Premier League, he attempted 86 tackles, more than double the number of tackles Lampard attempted (36). Indeed, the defensive work he put in during the Premier League game against Arsenal at the Emirates last season meant that Santi Cazorla, Arsenal’s most creative player, was unable to influence the game in any way.

Conclusion 

As a winger/attacking midfielder, Kevin De Bruyne is better than Oscar, at least based on last season’s performances. However, that doesn’t mean both can’t be used in the same starting XI. Picture this: a combination of Oscar and Mikel in midfield and KDB-Mata-Hazard as the attacking trio. One can expect a devastating combination of beautiful football and plenty of goals.

Categorised in: Kevin De Bruyne, Oscar

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