Jose Mourinho Criticism Makes Oscar's Summer Exit from Chelsea More Likely
It's been a talking point for some time and now Jose Mourinho has finally hinted at it: Oscar's future as a Chelsea player is looking uncertain.
The Brazilian was hooked again at half-time during Chelsea's 2-1 victory over Stoke City on Saturday and his manager had some choice words for reporters.
"No, I don’t think he had a bad performance, I just think he was not good enough, which is a huge difference," Mourinho stated when asked why Oscar was substituted so early into the game.
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It was a polite way of the manager showing his disappointment. Yet just as it was genteel, it was no less true.
Oscar wasn't just poor for Chelsea at the weekend, he hasn't been good enough since Christmas.
And it's a problem. A big problem.
Diego Costa wasn't injured against Stoke because of Oscar, although he aggravated his troublesome hamstring as a consequence of him.
It's cause and effect.
Mourinho didn't want to use Costa so early in the game, but with Oscar's subpar display, he felt he had no choice but to introduce him at the interval.
So much so, his inclusion was described as a "risk" in the manager's post-match press conference.
Chelsea have a Premier League title to win, and Mourinho's in a hurry to ensure Arsenal's late-season surge doesn't catch up with his team.
Stoke were there for the taking on Saturday and Mourinho needed his team to strike and kill the game. They eventually did, but no thanks to Oscar, and they paid the cost with Costa's injury.
It's not out of the ordinary for Mourinho to make early changes when things aren't going to plan.
Indeed, during his first spell in charge at Stamford Bridge, he once made a double substitution before the first half was even out against Fulham.
It took just 26 minutes for Mourinho to swap Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips for Didier Drogba and Damien Duff.
Chelsea were well below par that day and despite Mourinho's early attempt to change the flow of the game, they still lost 1-0 to their local rivals.
It was March 19, 2006, and Wright-Phillips would make just five more appearances in the rest of the campaign.
The following year—which was Mourinho's last at Chelsea—Wright-Phillips made 19 starts in a season when Chelsea played 64 games. That's a less than a third of their outings.
Despite forking out £21 million for him, SWP had become surplus in Mourinho's eyes. He lost his faith and the winger became a squad player.
The gamble in signing him hadn't paid off. Just three years after he joined from Manchester City, Wright-Phillips was back at Eastlands. Chelsea sold him for a significant loss of £12 million.
It happened for many reasons, namely not many other clubs were interested in inheriting an expensive problem.
Not only that, from being the bright young thing of English football, Wright-Phillips' stock had dropped significantly to the point that a club of City's standing—Sheikh Mansour's billions were yet to arrive at this point—could afford him.
The lesson Mourinho and the club learned back then was that every player has a value and the more their demise continues, the more that value depreciates with it.
It's why Mourinho was so quick to cash in on Andre Schurrle in January.
The German had offered so much last season, yet a disappointing spell between October and January this term was enough to convince his manager that he didn't have a future in west London.
So where does that leave Oscar? It was the same in 2013/14 under Mourinho and history is repeating itself.
Rumours of Juventus' interest refuse to go away. The Mirror was the latest newspaper to report on a potential summer move to Turin.
When the gossip lingers as long as it has, there's normally some truth to it. And when said player is performing as inconsistently as Oscar has been, it only heightens the expectation that something will happen.
Whereas Chelsea were once willing to hold on to their assets regardless, the club is willing to cash in their chips these days. Were Wright-Phillips around under the current regime, it's debatable whether he would have lasted a full season, let alone the three he did.
Are Chelsea willing to allow Oscar's value to decrease with another poor season at Stamford Bridge? Or will Mourinho sell high like he has done with Juan Mata, Schurrle and Kevin De Bruyne?
Leading the Premier League from Day 1 this term, Chelsea have shown their superiority in England. Next season, that will not be enough. Mourinho knows he must translate that dominance into Champions League success.
The only way he will do that is with some more shrewd additions this summer. He can't afford to have half a team out of form when it really matters.
Mourinho can't afford to risk Oscar disappearing once more.
The reality is Chelsea must sell before they buy and of those in Mourinho's squad, Oscar is looking the most dispensable with every game.
He's not good enough says Mourinho. And he's right.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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