The Chels

Seems that in games against less defensive teams Costa's intelligent runs serve him well. I'm not sure how he'll fare against parked buses because he's not very good in tight spaces.

At least Oscar can score a penalty against Bayern!

Oh I thought you were telling me not to blame her

...Why not?

Not sure that's true. Journalists have said that Shaw wanted to move to United and only United after hearing of their interest in January, i.e. after hearing how much they'd pay him he didn't care about Chelsea (unsurprisngly).

I remember it was Paulinho (lol), Koke and Pogba according to the Telegraph/Guardian.

Really? The Chelsea website itself has quoted him saying it. http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2014/07/first-words--diego-costa.html Edit: just found it. Chelsea mistranslated him then I guess. http://www.marca.com/2014/07/25/en/football/spanish_football/1406286003.html

The Atletico fans have a 31-page thread on one of their forums lambasting Costa because he said Mourinho is the best manager in the world lol... and I thought RAWK was anti-Mourinho! http://www.colchonero.com/diego_costa_mourinho_es_el_mejor_entrenador_del_mundo-itemap-1-141917-1.htm

I was watching a repeat of the Atletico defeat and still can't believe we turned down the opportunity to sign this guy on a free. He is like a hybrid of Matic and Fabregas - defensively sound, great passing and intelligence (exposed Hazard twice with 2 excellent passes that led to 2 goals), a leader and very experienced. He'd have been perfect for a midfield 3 in the big games.

That was from his medical which was a while ago. Strange that they've not signed him yet although I read his girlfriend isn't keen on living in Manchester so that might have stalled the deal.

Mourinho wants Fabregas to 'control' games so I assume he will be playing him as a CM. I wonder how we will line up in the big games though.

Would be a good signing for Atletico. I don't think they're going to be as weakened as many expect.

Mourinho most definitely has a ruthless side as he showed with Cole, Lampard, etc. but I think sentimentality is clouding his better judgement here. I remember he said Drogba was his favourite of all the players he'd managed and having not worked with him for many years I suspect he has long been craving a reunion. Not a good move in my opinion.

I bet the whole "I'm missing my son's final game for this" was typical Jose BS. Good ploy though!

He even removed the 03 from his twitter handle so I don't think he was expecting this change. Good thing it has happened though.

We'd surely have known about Jorge Mendes' share of Tiago before we agreed to sign him. Interesting that we only pulled out after we got Filipe Luis and Costa. Perhaps Tiago did help broker the deals and we went back on our word to sign him afterwards which would be incredibly harsh.

Maybe Jose really thinks this is going to be a successful season and wants Drogba to be apart of it.

A very sentimental signing from Mourinho if it happens. I'd rather he left his last kick as the one that won us our first CL.

Does he actually think he merits £200k/w? Our highest earner? He's not that good lol

All our AMs' corner kicks, including Oscar's, tend not to get past the first man. The younger players like Boga and Baker produce much better crosses. Personally I hated the camera angle, especially when the ball was in the box as you could hardly see what was going on!

A United/City fan bitter that Hazard didn't choose their club?

Potentially very good. Though, modern defenders are expected to be good technically and Zouma is rather poor on the ball

I think Tiago/Mikel would be able to replace Matic to some extent. We have no-one who would realistically replace the role of Fabregas at CM assuming he plays there, which could be quite a problem with injuries/suspensions. Then again if Khedira does come in I reckon Fabregas will play AM where he is more replaceable.

I think the majority view is that Tiago will be a good, experienced squad player with leadership qualities. He's also been in the prem before and almost helped Atletico to a La Liga and CL double. On a free he is a great signing.