🇪🇸 Diego Costa

[Special Juan 28,141]

He doesn't need to be a bully to be good, he needs to be him, the goal scorer, the difficult to play against and the all round good player.

If we see this consistently we see better results.

[Barbara 15,149]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

What Hiddink is doing with Costa now is what Mourinho should have done with him - tell him to focus on his game, use his strengths to cause damage and score goals...NOT asking Costa to fight with every player out there and look to get them sent off. Could probably still have his job here had he done that.

don't remember Mourinho ever saying this to Costa... especially when he was still in Atletico and had done the same there.

He's an emotional guy, he riles up opponents, but he's easily riled up too depending on how he's feeling on one particular game.

Also just two games ago we were fearing he'd be sent off. He's the same old Diego he has always been, before, during and after Mourinho, the thing is I guess they had a fallout and Diego just couldn't play anymore, exactly because he's an emotional guy. He's happier now and the goals started coming, so he has his confidence back. But I don't think Hiddink and Mourinho said opposite things regarding how he reacts on the pitch. I think Hiddink is helping him regain his confidence, something Mourinho did help him lose this season.

Seriously, you guys just assume things that really make me wonder if you don't work for Daily Mail...

[robdog 2,084]

Diego Costa is clever and has got two of our players sent off in two games - le voyeur

[Stats 7,142]

4 hours ago, Barbara said:

don't remember Mourinho ever saying this to Costa... especially when he was still in Atletico and had done the same there.

He's an emotional guy, he riles up opponents, but he's easily riled up too depending on how he's feeling on one particular game.

Also just two games ago we were fearing he'd be sent off. He's the same old Diego he has always been, before, during and after Mourinho, the thing is I guess they had a fallout and Diego just couldn't play anymore, exactly because he's an emotional guy. He's happier now and the goals started coming, so he has his confidence back. But I don't think Hiddink and Mourinho said opposite things regarding how he reacts on the pitch. I think Hiddink is helping him regain his confidence, something Mourinho did help him lose this season.

Seriously, you guys just assume things that really make me wonder if you don't work for Daily Mail...

TBH, if you exclude West Brom, Costa has refrained from getting into petty fights and arguments and that must be something down to the manager. I mean he has the occasional moan when things don't go right for him but that is not a problem. However the fighting with other players has seemed to stop even though they all seem to try and get under his skin. Palace tried roughing him up but he remained composed and today was similar. He got stick by the home fans and they gave him a couple rough challenges to provoke a reaction but he let the football do the talking.

[illmatic 901]

I don't know what makes me more happy. If see him in a good footballistic shape, scoring, making good moves, fast, or the fact doesn't have to stand see him all the time fighting and making stupid things, Was just insupportable.

I think that at the end, one thing is consequence to other. He stop focus all the time in  a stupid fights, and start to play football, again.

We need him at this level to can fight for some title.

[Barbara 15,149]

14 minutes ago, Stats said:

TBH, if you exclude West Brom, Costa has refrained from getting into petty fights and arguments and that must be something down to the manager. I mean he has the occasional moan when things don't go right for him but that is not a problem. However the fighting with other players has seemed to stop even though they all seem to try and get under his skin. Palace tried roughing him up but he remained composed and today was similar. He got stick by the home fans and they gave him a couple rough challenges to provoke a reaction but he let the football do the talking.

but that's exactly what I mean... depending on what kind of day he's having, how his relationship with manager and team mates is, he'll react in a certain way.

I have no doubts Hiddink has been good for him, but even more sure Mourinho's departure is the biggest difference. The two things can happen exclusively - although they happened at the same time. I was just refuting the idea that Mourinho turned Diego into that raging bull. He's always been like that and when his relationship with Mourinho changed, than one of the scenarios for him to lash out just presented itself. The other is his lack of form. He was frustrated with himself, with Mourinho, the fans against him and gosh knows who else. Now he's confident again and seemingly has a good relationship with Guus and has been benefiting from our new manager's profile of people management - which is thousand times better than Mourinho's has been recently.

[Hybrid Angel 2,130]

I seriously fucking love this guy. So clutch, so amazing, such a warrior.

I just can't believe the people who were asking for him to be sold. A rough patch of form is very common in strikers, especially when everybody around you is playing terrible and there is a toxic atmosphere within the dressing room. 

Keep it up future legend.

[Jase 43,479]

6 hours ago, Barbara said:

don't remember Mourinho ever saying this to Costa... especially when he was still in Atletico and had done the same there.

He's an emotional guy, he riles up opponents, but he's easily riled up too depending on how he's feeling on one particular game.

Also just two games ago we were fearing he'd be sent off. He's the same old Diego he has always been, before, during and after Mourinho, the thing is I guess they had a fallout and Diego just couldn't play anymore, exactly because he's an emotional guy. He's happier now and the goals started coming, so he has his confidence back. But I don't think Hiddink and Mourinho said opposite things regarding how he reacts on the pitch. I think Hiddink is helping him regain his confidence, something Mourinho did help him lose this season.

Seriously, you guys just assume things that really make me wonder if you don't work for Daily Mail...

We're not assuming things, Barbara. We're only saying things based on what we see on the pitch.

Yes, Costa has always been an emotional guy but the difference between the Costa we saw under Mourinho and the Costa we're seeing now under Hiddink is clear for everyone to see. He is focusing on what every striker should be doing out there week in week out which is to wreak havoc in the opposition's defence and score goals and he also appears to be a lot calmer these days. Sure, there's still a few moments where he argues with the referee or opposition players but he has not been anywhere near as combustible as the Costa we saw in the first half of the season - there was practically a danger of him getting sent off every time. He's arguably at his most calmest in a Chelsea shirt right now and as Stats rightly pointed out above, he's refrained himself from getting into fights, even when others are trying to rile him up. We didn't see that under Mourinho and for one reason or another - be it Mourinho telling Costa to rile up opponents (which I wouldn't put it past him considering the former's confrontational nature and/or his insistence that there's a campaign against Chelsea) or not man managing Costa - he certainly didn't help the his own cause, the player's cause and ultimately the team's cause.

[Costa19 858]

6 hours ago, Hybrid Angel said:

I seriously fucking love this guy. So clutch, so amazing, such a warrior.

I just can't believe the people who were asking for him to be sold. A rough patch of form is very common in strikers, especially when everybody around you is playing terrible and there is a toxic atmosphere within the dressing room. 

Keep it up future legend.

Same. 

I bursted out laughing yesterday when he ran offside but kept running so Arsenal players had to chase him down to get the ball. I promise you that he heard the first whistle 

Or when he found out he was laying down outside the sideline and rolled on to the pitch (think it was against Everton). 

 

 

 

[The Skipper 20,609]

Pretty sure the majority of you wanted him sold two or three weeks back haha... 

Got to love the fickle nature of football!

[Cosmin 2,484]

42 minutes ago, The Skipper said:

Pretty sure the majority of you wanted him sold two or three weeks back haha... 

Got to love the fickle nature of football!

 

A lot of us wanted basically most of them out, but it was because of the toxic atmosphere created by... we know who. It's obvious that Mourinho taught him to focus his emotions on the opponents. Just like he did with Pepe. 

[CHOULO19 24,332]

1 hour ago, The Skipper said:

Pretty sure the majority of you wanted him sold two or three weeks back haha... 

Got to love the fickle nature of football!

I still want him sold, btw. But why I want him sold never had anything with his ability to produces excellent performances, but rather our desperate reliance on his moody performances.

We undoubtedly have great individuals in this team, but our performances as a team, and largely our results, are VERY reliant on the performances of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa. And that's not particularly a good thing, imo. 

[TheIceMan 596]

He's done it again, he's done it again Oh, Diego Costa he's done it again!!!

[BlueLion. 21,491]

He's back to how he was last season.

 

A c*nt.

 

But he's our c*nt, and we all love him when he's being c*ntastic. 

[BlueLion. 21,491]

9 hours ago, Hybrid Angel said:

I seriously fucking love this guy. So clutch, so amazing, such a warrior.

I just can't believe the people who were asking for him to be sold. A rough patch of form is very common in strikers, especially when everybody around you is playing terrible and there is a toxic atmosphere within the dressing room. 

Keep it up future legend.

Agreed, especially regarding form. Costa has almost always been a Lampard-esque "score en masse" type of goalscorer. Lots of goals in a short spell, then nothing for a little while. His form in front of goal will dry up soon, but Hiddink has reinvigorated him, as he did Drogba in 2009. 

[The Skipper 20,609]

34 minutes ago, CHOULO19 said:

I still want him sold, btw. But why I want him sold never had anything with his ability to produces excellent performances, but rather our desperate reliance on his moody performances.

We undoubtedly have great individuals in this team, but our performances as a team, and largely our results, are VERY reliant on the performances of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa. And that's not particularly a good thing, imo. 

Fair enough for sticking to your guns Choo, but surely the fact that we're overreliant on Costa has more to do with tactics and the way we set up our team than anything? Costa isn't as limited as Fabregas as a player, he's a very good all round player and can play in lots of different systems because he's got good football IQ. Saying we should sell Costa because we're overreliant on him is like saying we should sell Hazard of last season as well because we relied on him too much. 

Costa doesn't really harm the team when he's off form unlike someone like Fabregas. I can see this being a valid reason for selling Cesc, not Costa though. 

[lucio 5,418]

[Tautvix 1,321]

This is Costa I think we all wanted. Calm, not looking for fights, concentrating on what he can do best. On the other hand, his injuries are now becoming annoying

[CHOULO19 24,332]

8 hours ago, The Skipper said:

Fair enough for sticking to your guns Choo, but surely the fact that we're overreliant on Costa has more to do with tactics and the way we set up our team than anything? Costa isn't as limited as Fabregas as a player, he's a very good all round player and can play in lots of different systems because he's got good football IQ. Saying we should sell Costa because we're overreliant on him is like saying we should sell Hazard of last season as well because we relied on him too much. 

Costa doesn't really harm the team when he's off form unlike someone like Fabregas. I can see this being a valid reason for selling Cesc, not Costa though. 

Tbf, Skip, I agree with all the above. I think Cesc needs to be sold. I don't think we need to sell Costa but I do think we need to get a striker who is on par with Costa but more consistent. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing him sold if we do get a top striker. 

[Tomo 21,751]

1 hour ago, CHOULO19 said:

Tbf, Skip, I agree with all the above. I think Cesc needs to be sold. I don't think we need to sell Costa but I do think we need to get a striker who is on par with Costa but more consistent. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing him sold if we do get a top striker. 

Problem is, who can we get on Costa's level or close?

Aguero, Suarez and Lewa is no chance, Auba wants Spain, possibly Morata or if we push it Laccazette but beyond that I cant think of anyone who we could realostcially get.