Oscar

[sparkie]

Who would have thought a few weeks ago that we would be unbeaten, especially against sides away like Reading/Qpr, with a supposedly weaker midfield.
No Liam or Orlandi, and JFC and Ince playing in big games, yet still they did not let us down. What a lovely position to be in, all the options in midfield.
Take the game against Bolton, a midfield with Crofts, Ince and a below par Dave at the beginning of the season would have seemed very worrying, but with the rest of the team gelling and a superb defence which should not go unnoticed, then it was fine.
Oscar has a happy squad, and a happy club right through, he is settling in very quickly and did not have time to get things sorted in the first few games, as the performances/results showed.
I think Oscar has sussed how to get the best out of KLL, Crofts and other players as well. Maybe it is down to man management like fans of his previous club stated after we signed him as manager. He took a little while to get the best out of his previous club.
Hopefully he will get the best out of CMS when he comes back, now that would be a bonus and could be like a new signing.....hopefully.
At the moment it shows what a good transfer window we had, signing Upson, keeping hold of players, and bringing in quality to the squad like Ward and Andrews.
When the whole squad is fit, what a bench we will have and the odd suspension or injury will not harm us too much.
With the new training facilities to come, then the future looks very promising.

That is a brilliant post. I agree, the future does seem bright.

 

[brightonrock]

I think Oscar has sussed how to get the best out of KLL, Crofts and other players as well.

I agree with a lot of what you've said there. The biggest difference for me is our wide players; Gus wanted a big pitch and wingers getting chalk in their boots. Garcia's formation is a little narrower, Buckley tucks in as a strike partner fir Ulloa and it gives Lualua more freedom to drift inside and run at centre backs instead of *just* full backs, almost operating in a floating in a no10 role.

Crofts however by his own admission was rarely fit last season, and was rightfully below LB, AO, DL & GD in the CM pecking order. I'm sure whether his form is more to do with fitness & confidence than Oscar's work, remember he was excellent under Poyet before moving to Norwich.