Oscar Takes Chelsea Plaudits, but Cesc Fabregas Still Pulling the Strings
STAMFORD BRIDGE, LONDON — Jose Mourinho said he wasn't happy with his Chelsea team after watching them overcome Queens Park Rangers 2-1 on Saturday, as they lacked consistency.
The Chelsea manager had a point, as this game should have been wrapped up long before Charlie Austin snatched an equaliser in the second half to cancel out Oscar's sublime opener, leaving Eden Hazard to bail out his teammates with a 75th-minute penalty.
"No [I'm not happy]," Mourinho told reporters. "Because my team didn't play well, or well enough or as well as I was expecting. [They didn't play] so well during long periods of the game.
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"We had periods of good football, not consistency. I was expecting more. Obviously I'm happy with the points, I think we deserve. But one thing is to deserve and another thing is to deserve and play very, very well, which we didn't."
In the periods when Chelsea dominated, it was down to the combinations of Oscar and Cesc Fabregas in midfield.
The duo have been linking up effectively this season, rotating from attacking midfield to the pivot and causing mayhem with opposition defences in the process.
Mourinho may well be unhappy with his team's overall display, but he can show a bit more love for Oscar and Fabregas, who were influential in getting Chelsea back to winning ways in the Premier League.
Without the pair, there was a real risk QPR would come away from Stamford Bridge with a point. The visitors were compact, resolute at the back and frustrated Mourinho's team early on.
There appeared no way through the nine-man defence Harry Redknapp had fielded from the outset, suffocating space in the final third.
It meant there was no room for Diego Costa—making his return from a much-reported hamstring injury—to get in behind, and whenever Hazard found himself in possession, the Belgian was quickly smothered by a swarm of white shirts.
On the half hour, though, Oscar arrived. Linking up well with Fabregas, he found a yard free on the right and bent a fantastic effort around Rob Green, hitting the post on it's way into the net.
"I think Oscar was our best player," Mourinho continued.
"For 90 minutes I think he was our best player, not for the goal, but for the dynamic, for the intensity, for the transitions. When the team recovered the ball he was always sharp and fast. When the team lost the ball he was always sharp to recover positions or to press.
"I think he was fantastic."
With Fabregas alongside him, Oscar has rediscovered the form that convinced Mourinho it was he who should take the No. 10 role in this team ahead of Juan Mata.
A year ago it was a big debate and the Chelsea boss made no secret of his regard for the Brazilian.
When Mata joined Manchester United in January, Oscar's form dipped considerably to the point he was no longer a first choice come May.
Now, though, he is repaying that faith shown him.
Bleacher Report asked Mourinho if this is the best form he has seen Oscar in since he took charge of Chelsea.
"He is playing very well," Mourinho replied. "His form is coming up, he's giving a lot of balance to the team and creativity."
When discussing a player's impact, there is plenty that goes unseen in matches—the tackles, the tracking back, the closing of space, the runs off the ball to give his teammates time.
Sometimes there needs to be tangible proof to support the theory, though, and Oscar provided that with his phenomenal opener.
"That goal is only possible by a very talented boy," Mourinho added.
It was also only possible because of Fabregas who, with nine assists to his name this season, seems content to take a back seat when it comes to taking the glory.
Fabregas is loading the gun, his teammates pulling the trigger and Chelsea are all the better for it.
The Spaniard is what Chelsea missed last season. Too often Mourinho's side were confronted by a wall against so-called lesser opposition and too often they failed to scale it.
Now it's different. Fabregas gets Chelsea moving, he keeps them on the front foot and makes it difficult for the opponent, as he showed again when QPR visited Stamford Bridge.
The beauty of Fabregas is the simple approach he has to the game. It's pass and move, spotting the gaps and the right moments to release the ball.
He makes his job appear easy.
Against QPR, it wasn't the all powerful, domineering Chelsea we have seen this season, so Mourinho was right to avoid getting too carried away.
That shouldn't take away from Oscar and Fabregas, though.
*All quotes taken firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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