Hailed As The Next Kaka, Remained Inconsistent; How Will Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Junior Be Remembered At Chelsea?

“In this moment, Oscar is my number 10 and if somebody tells me that Oscar is not Chelsea’s best player since the beginning of the season (2013/2014), i’d have to disagree.”
“I want to build with Oscar as my number 10,” were the words of then Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho when asked the reason for his preference of Oscar to Juan Mata by the press.
Fast-forward to the present day and you realise Oscar dos Santos Emboaba never lived up to his promise and talent having moved to Andre Villas Boas Shanghai SIPG for £53 million after failing to nail down a starting berth in Antonio Conte’s starting eleven.
Oscar was signed from Internacional (11 goals in 36 leaguer games in two years) for £25 million with much funfair and expectation by Chelsea In the summer of 2012 after impressing with the Brazil U-23 side during the London Olympics winning Silver.
In Chelsea, Oscar showed he had all the talent and discipline required to make it to the top coupled with his comparison with Kaka considering his vision, eye for goal and ability to create chances for teammates. Having scored a brace on his debut for Chelsea in the 2012/2013 Champions League Group stage match against Conte’s Juventus in Stamford Bridge, the first a contender for the competition’s goal of the season, a lot was expected of the former Internacional midfielder as he showed through his displays that he could compensate for his slightly small physique with his technical abilities. Under Mourinho, Oscar became more physical, attempting tackles , pressing higher and harder making him a more complete player at the same time making him fade out so early in the 2013/2014 season. Though he would later pick up with his performances the next season as Chelsea won the double (League Cup and Premier League), it was still clear even to the most optimistic of fans that Oscar was still struggling to live up to the billing unlike fellow promising teammate Eden Hazard who was so devastating that season that he ended up winning the PFL Player of the Year Award. Things will go sour the next season not just for him but for the whole Chelsea squad except for Willian as Chelsea dropped to 15th in the table at a time before the sacking of Mourinho in December finishing 11th at the end of the season.
This season, Conte tried to play the Brazilian as a box- to- box midfielder along the likes of N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic In the middle of the field before dropping him after four starts adopting a 3-4-3 formation with Chelsea winning 11 straight games scoring 25 goals and conceding just two.
To be precise, Oscar’s problem lies in the fact that he sacrificed himself for his teammates, often making a pass or trying to play to their strengths rather than take responsibility and show his talent. Make no mistake, there is a difference between being selfish and taking the mantle of being the attacking verve of a team an example which is clearly illustrated with the fact that Eden Hazard is already on eight goals after 16 games as he now plays more to his strengths, shooting more and taking on defenders rather than assisting or passing the ball when faced with difficulties. Though Oscar’s work-rate and energy level increased in his later years at Chelsea, his talent suffered as he became a shadow of himself opting for quantity rather than quality.
It is difficult to blame the midfielder for choosing to move to China at 25, considering he is going to earn more than £385,000 a week a massive upgrade from his £90,000 at Chelsea which will tempt any player more especially those not having much playing time.
Even though the likes of Kelvin De Bruyne and Mata were sold by Chelsea with the hope that he was going to be better than them, a decision that looks ill-adviced, the midfielder still departs Stamford Bridge a fans favourite having won Europa League, FA Cup and Premier League as well as Double winner of Chelsea’s goal of the season award.
For now, Oscar will always be remembered as one of the most promising Chelsea players who did not just fit into the club’s style of play due to technical issues rather than injury or indiscipline.
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