Chelsea need to work out how to get the best out of their “not typical” striker

Former Chelsea and Brazil star Oscar has been on Jon Obi Mikel’s podcast this week, and we really liked what he had to say about his countryman, summer signing Joao Pedro.

Oscar on “not typical” Joao Pedro

Joao Pedro in the Champions League. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

“I like the way he plays, and I think he’s the player that is the face of Chelsea. I like the way he plays. He’s not a typical number nine,” Oscar said.

“He fights. He has a good personality. Yeah. I like the way he plays. I really like him. Let’s see. I hope he can keep going this way, you know.”

After a superb start to his Chelsea career when he arrived at the Club World Cup, Joao Pedro has struggled for form, especially in the las month. The departure of Nicolas Jackson on loan and losing Liam Delap to injury has meant that Enzo Maresca has been forced to run JP into the ground.

As was pointed out today, it’s insane we don’t have a proper plan B.

How Chelsea get the best out of Joao Pedro

Oscar is right – JP is not a typical striker in many ways. He’s built like a number 9 but plays more like a number 10. That is a unique combination which can be really effective – but we have to change things to get the best out of him.

It was pretty clear from early on that Maresca is keen to use him playing with another striker – but if that was the case, it was even more crazy to go into the season with just Joao Pedro and Delap as our striker options.

The fact that he will get a break over the next fortnight after not being called up for Brazil is a major boost. We hope he looks refreshed and renewed after that.