BlueLyon

Why was he not playing last 2 games for saint etienne? If he wants to play some role next year here, he will have to be in good form and condition.

He wont like to be second choice, but if situation between new striker and Lukaku would be same as Etoo and Torres (where you cant tell who is realy #1 and #2), that could work. But I still think that 'top striker' would get all major games.

We certainly dont need to buy another DM, thats for sure, but a new CM is required though. Someone who can create ala Gundogan or someone who can bomb forward ala Vidal/Pogba. Before you say it, Pogba offers much more than typical DM (or Luiz); he has amazing touch, passing and long shots. Luiz could become great DM, but he will never be allround midfielder, some people were saying he could be our own Vidal, but his passing/ball control for a CB is realy good, but for a CM not that great. He has moments of brilliance with some nice runs or long passes or goals, but going forward is way to much inconsistent. However he would be fine DM (and even CB) if he can get more consistent and concentrated on game.

Tbh he wasnt 'bad' in all these years. But he never fullfiled those 50mio at all and never realy looked to be part of our team. Wasted too many chances and put little effort in several games. But I would be happy to see him leave, he reminds me of what would be if could be...at least his departure will mean new top striker arrival and that is most important.

There will be world cup and Luiz might just prove how good/bad CB he is. I hope we dont sell him before WC if Mourinho decides to sell him. His price could go even higher after good tournament and might be his chance to prove himself to Mou.

Well thats maybe because he has house 5min away from CC. Probably would get there faster on foot than with bus.

The reason why so many english players play in NT is because top teams dont produce/buy english players enough. That is one and only reason. Every top team in england rather buys foreign player instead of english one. Thats because foreign are mostly better or at least offer more for price. Reason why english league is more competitive is only because top teams are less good and consistent not because smaller teams would are better. Real and Madrid are class above all others in spain, that doesnt mean others are bad, but Real and Barca are simply much better. Thats why there isnt as competitive as in England. Spanish teams (even smaller ones) are generaly better than English top ones in europe, it means that PL as whole isnt on level as La liga. I personaly watch PL higher because its more entertaining, but La liga is actualy higher ranked. Real and Barca would probably dominate english league if they were used to play in england for whole season. One of examples is best city team ever vs worst barca of last few years and they still lost 2:0. Or that game between Manu and Atletic Bilbao few years ago when Manu was actualy english top team and they still lost to spanish 4th? team back then. Sociedad or Atletico or Bilbao atm are all very good teams and would defeat most english teams. Problem to play vs english teams is due to their strength, not so much the quality. If City, Chelsea, Arsenal etc would produce good english players and buy top english players from smaller teams (like Barca and RM are doing), there would be no chance that Soton would have 4 players in NT. Problem is that there are no real quality players that smaller teams would produce (with very few exceptions), while top teams dont put much faith in HG players. On the other hand, spain is producing top young players every year; Isco (Malaga), Koke (AM), Javi Martinez (AB), Alba, Carvajal, Jese, Thiago,... Players in NT dont prove that Soton is such great team because they have 4 players there (while Atletico almost has no players in spain nt). That doesnt mean Soton is better than Atletico, or mean that they are making league competitive. It means only that top teams dont have enough hg players in PL, and coach has to get players from soton. While Atletico who has better players than soton doesnt have any players in nt (except for Juanfran and Koke recently, while Costa isnt spanish realy) because top teams have better players.

Well PL in europe realy sucks for couple years now...more than La liga.

He played last week vs Maribor in EL. But only as sub in both games...

He is too one dimensional player to suceed at top club. He has pace, but no strength, only decent passing, good dribbling but bad ball control. And his decision making is not the best. Give him time I will, but wouldnt bet he will succeed properly here. Hope Im wrong though.

Well well dont throw all apples in one basket. Negredo was also one of top strikers and did very well in City so far didnt he? Besides Soldado had 24 goals, not 30. And Costa did quite well in CL, he scored 5 goals despite playing there for first time. He scored many game winning goals like the one vs Milan recently or Real few months ago. He is also different type than Soldado, Soldado is not that strong while Costa is much stronger, just like Negredo. And if Costa is such average striker why did both Spain and Brazil fight for him?

He scores winner against Lpool at anfield and then leaves us in summer. That would be about perfect.

I dont get thib 'bes real ever' thing either. They seem to lose or draw most bigger games and even their overall play apart from goals is nothing special. They dont play connected passing football. It realy is funny how people say this is best real ever.

The only down side is that Costa scored 23 goals in 22 games before New Year and only 4 in 15 games after New year. He isnt in best scoring form atm, his overall play is still very good though. It could indicate that he had 'luck' in first half of season, but doesnt mean he is average striker at all. Atletico isnt in their very best for a month or two aswell.

I agree he needs to prove further, but he isnt average striker at all.

Too soon to make any predictions but this would be quite perfect summer (only realistic targets) ST: Costa LB: Shaw CM: Vidal/Gundogan/Pogba/Kroos CM is tricky one because Vidal loves Juve too much and will stay there for quite some time, Gundogan has back problems, Pogba might not want to join us, Kroos will probably stay in Bayern. But I still hope one of 4 will arrive, most preferably Vidal (who is basicaly a couple times better Ramires) or Gundogan (who will add control to our midfield).

Public opinion about Costa is a bit wrong imo. He is seen as big guy who has good shot, but thats it. He does much more in game. He doesnt do fancy dribbles but his ball control isnt as bad and in the end its all about passing his opponent. He does it with combination of good ball control, speed and strength. His link up play is not as good as Suarez or Aguero, but he is still very good in that area. He has 3 assists so far (Aguero has 5 for example and he has much better finishers around). But statisticaly they produce similar amount of key passes which is important. You can see that Costa is type of player who works for the team. In most cases he will pass if there will be player in better position. I agree with you that he doesnt have powerfull shot on him, he never scores outside pen area (which is quite sad considering he has over 20 goals already). But that might change, I mean he is big strong man and can surely takes powerful shots. However I disagree on your Benzema/Balo part. As much they have better tehnique, they are amazingly frustrating to watch and Benzema today (as usual) was hot-cold again. He scored simple goal and made few nice runs, but there were several moments where he was making stupid dribbles and lost ball, Modric passed ball to Alonso, but Benzema intercepted it and lost it imediately when he tried to dribble. Should have just left it to Alonso. Also he doesnt have same presence as Costa. Costa is much more determinated to score than Benzema. As goes for Balo, he would be best option, even ahead of Cavani if he could be more consistent and mature. Unfortunely he isnt and makes mistakes because he rushes too much and thinks he can do everything on his own. In certain games he completely dissapears. And I doubt he is mature enough to lead our attack. EDIT: And maybe I missed one of probably best atrubutes that Costa has: using his speed and strength, he is amazing in making runs and positioning. Same like Schurrle did vs Fulham with those amazing runs; Costa does on regular basis. He has amazing positioning and un-marking ability. Would absolutely work amazing in our counter-attacks. But such thing wont work if we dont have players who can cross or play through balls on regular basis.

Sissoko...that guy would be very good bench option I think...relatively unexpensive and improvement over what we have. Should have gone after him in january as Mata 'replacement'. He is very versatile and also underrated footballer imo. Something different than what we have.

As good Real is this season, they have failed in all three biggest games of the season so far. Lost to Atletico and Barca early and now only draw vs Atletico again...

Some people here mention that he is massive cunt as description of Costa. Realy? Yes he is massive cunt, who dives, fights, provocates etc. But in the end of the game, he always shakes hands with Ramos or whoever he almost kills in the game. He is very temperament player and will literaly fight for every ball and help team as much as he can. Suarez is proper cunt, but everyone would take him in second. If Costa goes to Arsenal (lets just pretend) and he becomes star, forum would literally crying for not getting him for such low price in today market when everything that can kick the ball costs 50mio...This is risk, but reward could be massive. The physical presence of Costa as our striker would fit in perfectly. He is kind of player that wont get bullied ever, he can ''protect'' other team mates and he can lead the attacking line. His all-round play is quite brilliant, he tracks back, puts lot of pressure on back 4 and creates space for others. However, his finishing (heading and long shots specifically) are just decent. His finishing in pen area is almost top, but he aint causing fear among defenses because of his deadly precision but more because of his strength. His off ball work is simply amazing for a striker, certainly cant complain about his defensive contribution. Most importantly, he would add leading figure in our attack that has been missing since Drogba. People were sceptic when Mou bought Drogba back then for big money, a striker who was not realy skillful, but we all know what happened... What I find negative about him is his mental presence. I doubt he can learn tactical/strategic role in certain games. He relies on strength, not intelligence and that might be problem. His dribbling isnt world class ala Suarez, but still good enough to make the difference. Just look at Mandzukic who isnt tecnique marvel, yet he scores in almost every game. What could be worrying is his lack of potential improvement. Drogba for instance improved massively since age 26 when he was good in France, but in few years he become world class. Physical presence will always stay in Costa as well his fighting spirit, something that might fit well to PL. If certain striker relies on dribbling, that could get learned by opponent. But strength is strength. A proper tank ala Costa will have no trouble bombing through with his speed and strength. Still, I doubt his finishing will ever be on level of RVP, Falcao, Cavani,... --- To conclude, we dont need striker who will score 30 goals per season, but someone who can link up well with team, plays as part of team and contributes more than just goals. Such striker will make Hazard even more dangerous and vice-versa. He aint perfect, Cavani would be absolutely best choice, but in no world we will pay 60/70mio (he wont go for less, thats for sure) on striker. First because of FFP and secondly because we need other areas to improve aswell. Costa on field with less diving and punching (something Mourinho can teach him) would be fine. He might not be perfect striker, but for 35mio and considering REALISTIC options, he looks like the best choice. Another reason that it could work is because Simeone is big ''fan'' of Mou. Atletico play counter football and with us getting proper LB and maybe even more creative CM, he would have plenty of support. Second reason is that Hazard will 99,9% be our main guy in next few seasons. We dont need another main star in striker, but more someone who can finish those chances inside pen area and still contribute a lot to the team. If Mou decides this is the guy, I will welcome him with open hands. He could either flop or be what we realy missed all these years in striker department. But one thing is certain; Atletico produced some fine strikers ala Aguero or Torres (lpool) who got into PL very well. If the trend continues, we will have one beast of striker for peanuts (considering other top strikers cost 50mio+). I hope we dont get Falcao who is not our type, injury prone, old and ridiculously expensive. Id rather have Costa than Falcao.

People are comparing similar styles, not quality of DD and Costa.

Yeah Costa is pretty much Drogba 2.0 without long shot ability. He realy puts lot of effort in game, not just typical striker. And Im sure that everyone in spain dives more than he would in England. Its nature of the league.

He sure puts lot of effort in the game, you can feel his strengh and motivation. But he is cunt and realy doesnt know how to take a powerful shot in upper corners. Always tries with low shots inside pen area, I never saw him score goal outside pen area, maybe Im wrong...

He has a date with Ramos today...

Their attack and Gerrard. Thats about it. They have terrible defence. Sure they are on nice run, but our defence should hold them of and we will do them on counters. Stoke, Sunderland, Spurs games will be more tricky. Arsenal is beatable at SB and as I said, Lpool is beatable due to their tactics. Btw City will have to play PL games every 3/4 days cuz they have missed couple of them lately. Shame they will fall out of CL, it will be their gain against us, they will fully concentrate on PL then...