It may have been rough going so far in the early season for the defending Champions of England, but we have had some semblance of success while Oscar's been in the lineup. He personally has 2 goals in 2 starts, even; unfortunately, the 24-year-old has missed most of the season. He was sacrificed with Chelsea leading 2-1 against Swansea in the opening match and then picked up an injury in training that's kept him out until last night.
With his much anticipated return and a renewed emphasis on a high press -- coincidence? probably not -- Chelsea looked a much more proactive and positive team out there.
"The game was not easy for us as we had a little bit of pressure on us because we hadn't won the last few games. I came back from injury last night and the team changed a little bit. We came to win the game and we did."
"I don't think the team didn't press the last few games. But in this match we pressed well, we recovered possession and when we do that it is better for us, especially when we were close to their goal. Jose told us to press and that's what we did, and we did it good."
-Oscar; source: London 24
Obviously, Maccabi aren't exactly Premier League quality, and they may be the weakest team in the group, but they've had plenty of success this season in Europe already. We've had our fair share of European shocks in the last few years, too (home loss to Basel, anyone?). But we took this one quite seriously and not even the early penalty miss could derail us. The high active press forced the visitors into mistakes repeatedly and eventually we made our chances count.
Now, we must build on this.
"Everyone was feeling a little sad before the game because we haven't been winning games and we need to win for everyone to stay happy. Now we have won again, everyone is happy and are easy to prepare for the next game against Arsenal."
"Everyone has changed. When we win games, everyone is happy now. The confidence is coming again. This team won the Premier League last season and it is the same players now. We just need to take our confidence into games and win them."
-Oscar; source: London 24
Confidence has been the big theme over the past couple weeks. But given its apparent fragility, yesterday's win must be reinforced with a much bigger win this weekend. Beating Maccabi is all good and well, but even a four-goal win is basically an expected outcome. The major confidence boost, the one to restart the season properly must come this weekend.