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Diego Costa’s Spain Performances Are Irrelevant


CHOULO19
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“If Chelsea had a 20-goal striker up front, there is no doubt that they would have won the Premiere League.” One of the very few things you’ll ever find the fans agreeing with the ‘experts’ about. The statement is almost a football fact; but it’s little consolation to the Stamford Bridge faithful. If anything, it only adds to the woes of going so close to the perfect reunion season with Jose Mourinho and coming out just short of.


The issue goes beyond this past season. The club has failed to find the appropriate man to lead the line since the dramatic departure of Chelsea legend, Didier Drogba. From the fiasco of the Shevchenko signing to arguably the worst transfer in the club’s history that is Fernando Torres, passing through the controversial Sturridge who still divides Chelsea fans and (the very talkative) Romelu Lukaku whose chances of ever putting on a Chelsea shirt seem to be diminishing with every passing day.


Therefore, it was only natural that Chelsea fans rave about the prospects of signing the top strikers in Europe, in particular, Diego Costa. That is because, first and foremost, Diego has arguably been the most in-form striker in Europe, finding the target 27 times in 35 matches in La Liga alone this season and propelling Atletico Madrid to an unlikely league title ahead of Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid. Secondly, he’s always seemed like the most likely to end up at the Bridge this summer for various reasons. Apparently, he’s “Jose-type” player (whatever that means), been linked to us all season by reputable sources such as Skyand BBC and has been odds on to move to Chelsea by everyone. Just look at the odds the top betting sites are offering about Costa joining Chelsea at GamblingSites.org.


So, typically, when Diego Costa’s transfer to Chelsea was all but confirmed, we, as Chelsea fans, proceeded to tear down the man we’ve been dreaming about signing all season, breaking the record for the quickest a fan base has ever deemed a signing as a flop: Before he has even signed!



I realize that the above introduction is very broad and rather long, but I feel the context of the signing of Diego Costa after years of striker woes and desperate need for a top goal scorer, adds immensely to the absurdity of our hastiness (and sick need?) to bring down the Spanish/Brazilian striker.


Diego has had a bad World Cup (all 120 minutes he’s played so far!). He’s failed to register a single shot on target so far and has missed chances that could have saved his (chosen) country from an embarrassing early exit. There’s no denying that, and I’m not trying to. But passing judgment on the guy based on this tournament alone is just ridiculous. If you’ve been against this signing from the start, then fair play and you of course have a right to your opinion. I’ve personally had my doubts and reservations in the past and still retain some of them, but some of the fickle 180 degrees have been frankly embarrassing for the rest of us, Chelsea fans.


First of all, Diego is far from 100% fit. He had suffered a hamstring injury at the back end of the past season that had practically kept him out for over a month and that was made worse by Simone’s (and I expect Diego’s) insistence on starting games that he was not fit for, only to be subbed out minutes after the start. He was even a doubt for the group stages of the World Cup but decided to play despite being far from full fitness.


Secondly, this lack of fitness has meant that he’s been unable to complete the 90 minutes in either of Spain’s matches. As eluded to above, he’s only played around 120 minutes. No footballer in the world hasn’t had a sub-par 120 minutes in his career, especially right after returning from injury. 2 hours is no sample to judge a player on.


Moreover, and probably most importantly, Diego is, in my opinion, simply the wrong striker for the current Spain NT. He’s playing in a side that has undoubtedly great individuals with different playing styles and even philosophies that just can’t seem to work together at the moment. On one hand you got the bunch that look lost in the aftermath of the fall of the tiki-taka football that won them 3 consecutive major trophies, and on the other there are the players that are trying, and so far failing, to introduce the styles that have won the Real and Atletico the CL and La Liga this season. The product is a team that has played collectively very poorly and looks without an identity of its own. In short, Diego has not had the conditions in the team necessary for him to do well in this WC. How can we single him out when the whole Spanish team has been abysmal?


And finally, the Spaniard has come under immense pressure for choosing to be so. Away from all the discussion of whether or not it was the right one, his decision to play for the Spanish NT instead of the Brazilian NT has obviously contributed to his WC form. No matter how professional you are, it has to be unnerving to hear 60000 fans rocking the stadium with boos every time you touch the ball. And it has affected him mentally as is clear in a couple of the chances he missed which we’ve seen him dispatch in the net throughout the past season.



I am not completely excusing Costa’s performances in the WC, so far, I’m just saying that, given the circumstances explained above, his potential move to Chelsea should not be judged based solely on them.


So, in conclusion, if I were the Chelsea board, I’d wait a bit before putting Diego Costa up for sale.




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I just hope Diego Costa has a positive impact on our team (assuming the deal is pretty much done)

I've been critical of Diego Costa in my previous posts...but considering the other realistic options are Balotelli and Mandzukic, signing Diego Costa seems like the best option.

Physical player, good header of the ball, solid finisher, has that edge in his game

As for the World Cup...I don't know the full back story but Diego Costa never seemed like the right fit into Spain's style....he would of been a nice plan B for Brazil's NT

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I just hope Diego Costa has a positive impact on our team (assuming the deal is pretty much done)

I've been critical of Diego Costa in my previous posts...but considering the other realistic options are Balotelli and Mandzukic, signing Diego Costa seems like the best option.

Physical player, good header of the ball, solid finisher, has that edge in his game

I've had my doubts as well, and frankly it's more fear than doubts because of all that we've went through with striker in the past. I think it's only normal. But with looking so likley, I think the best thing is to be hopeful and supportive.

As for the World Cup...I don't know the full back story but Diego Costa never seemed like the right fit into Spain's style....he would of been a nice plan B for Brazil's NT

Yeah, I think it's just bad timing to join the Spanish NT because as I said, I think they're going through some sort of identity struggle. I'm sure that he has his sentimental or otherwise reasons to join Spain, but purely technically speaking, Brazil would have been the much better fit for him, imo.

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Well, Simeone already stated that Del Bosque has used him wrong. But its a double edge statement. What if only Simeone could make Costa that good?

But jose seems to trust him,even its not official yet. Lets hope it'll be exactly like Hasselbaink transfer :lol:

But we definitely have to buy another striker if we really want to be EPL winner next season. Costa alone (even if he have good performance in Chelsea) wont solve our striker problem 100%.

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Well, Simeone already stated that Del Bosque has used him wrong. But its a double edge statement. What if only Simeone could make Costa that good?

But jose seems to trust him,even its not official yet. Lets hope it'll be exactly like Hasselbaink transfer :lol:

But we definitely have to buy another striker if we really want to be EPL winner next season. Costa alone (even if he have good performance in Chelsea) wont solve our striker problem 100%.

It's not that he's used him badly, but that he does not have the players to bring the best out of him, especially that he's far from his best form due to his injuries. The other striker depends on the Lukaku situation, imo, which looks very complicated at the moment. But if Lukaku is sold, then I definitely think we need a third striker along with Costa and Torres, because I can't see either of Eto'o or Ba staying beyond the summer (although, if I had to choose one of them to stay it would probably be Ba).

Fantastic article and agree with most of it.

Cheers :)

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