Diego Costa

[The Skipper 20,593]

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 21,733]

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.

[Jase 43,479]

10 hours ago, Tomo said:

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.

Cavani? Doesn't seem like he'll stay at PSG for much longer.

[The Skipper 20,593]

28 minutes ago, Jason said:

Cavani? Doesn't seem like he'll stay at PSG for much longer.

Costa is honestly the better player. 

[Jase 43,479]

8 minutes ago, The Skipper said:

Costa is honestly the better player. 

Considering all the others strikers - such as the ones mentioned by Tomo above - aren't available, can you name a better option though? It's not like Cavani is terrible and he still has a good goal scoring record.

[Cosmin 2,484]

Indeed, there aren't many better options. So why not stick with him? He has killer instinct, he just needs to be right mentally and he's top class. 

[It's too big 625]

Costa is still a very good striker, but i would love, love, love to see Lewandowski in a Chelsea shirt. Gundogan, Reus or Dybala (if Hazard leaves) and Lewandowski in the summer. C'mon Roman, get negotiating I jest of course, but wouldn't this be fantastic? 

[CHOULO19 24,332]

11 hours ago, Tomo said:

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.

That's obviously the hard bit. Cavani has been mentioned. Kane? Doubt Levy would sell to us. My fantasy is Benzema but that's near impossible. We could go for either Morata or Mandzukic from Juve. Higuian? Griezman can play striker as well. There are options if we want to consider it seriously.

 

50 minutes ago, The Skipper said:

Costa is honestly the better player. 

Yeah but for how many matches in the season? How often will Diego be more concerned about scoring than starting a fight? If Costa can play like he did against Arsenal for just 70% of the time, then we would not need to buy another top striker. 

[Jase 43,479]

14 minutes ago, CHOULO19 said:

Yeah but for how many matches in the season? How often will Diego be more concerned about scoring than starting a fight? If Costa can play like he did against Arsenal for just 70% of the time, then we would not need to buy another top striker. 

Shouldn't forget about Costa's injury record either. Seems to be suffering one after every few games.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

12 minutes ago, Jason said:

Shouldn't forget about Costa's injury record either. Seems to be suffering one after every few games.

True. His hamstring is still a problem. I think we all expected him to undergo surgery in the summer but he didn't. Maybe that was one of the reasons that Jose was upset with the medical team..

[mccg 1,528]

Just hope we look after him when we can and he keeps doing what he does best 

 

 

 

 

[Kieran. 6,317]

DIEEEEGOOOOOOOOOOOOO DIEEEEGOOOOOOOOOO DIEEEEGOOOOOOOOOO

Love this lad.

[The Skipper 20,593]

14 hours ago, CHOULO19 said:

Yeah but for how many matches in the season? How often will Diego be more concerned about scoring than starting a fight? If Costa can play like he did against Arsenal for just 70% of the time, then we would not need to buy another top striker. 

You're being a bit short sighted Choo! Costa is a very consistent player, don't take what's been going on earlier this season as proof that he isn't. It's an anomaly really. Costa will still end this season with 15-20 goals and that's impressive considering the season we've had as a club here. 

During his time here at CFC, apart from before Guus arrived this season, Costa has been a consistent player that has played at a high level. It's unfair to say he hasn't. 

[CHOULO19 24,332]

7 hours ago, The Skipper said:

You're being a bit short sighted Choo! Costa is a very consistent player, don't take what's been going on earlier this season as proof that he isn't. It's an anomaly really. Costa will still end this season with 15-20 goals and that's impressive considering the season we've had as a club here. 

During his time here at CFC, apart from before Guus arrived this season, Costa has been a consistent player that has played at a high level. It's unfair to say he hasn't. 

No he isn't! Apart from a few exceptions, he was sub-par and at times awful throughout all of 2015! 

How is it short sighted? He's been here for a season and a half and during that time, between the second half of last season and the first half of this, he's probably had more poor games than great ones for us. 

Everyone who's worked with him describes Diego as 'very emotional'. I'm sorry, but that's not AT ALL a positive quality for a professional footballer. It's unprofessional and a recipe for inconsistency. We can't afford to have him as our only top striker. 

[The Skipper 20,593]

4 hours ago, CHOULO19 said:

No he isn't! Apart from a few exceptions, he was sub-par and at times awful throughout all of 2015! 

How is it short sighted? He's been here for a season and a half and during that time, between the second half of last season and the first half of this, he's probably had more poor games than great ones for us. 

Everyone who's worked with him describes Diego as 'very emotional'. I'm sorry, but that's not AT ALL a positive quality for a professional footballer. It's unprofessional and a recipe for inconsistency. We can't afford to have him as our only top striker. 

He was injured lots throughout the second half of the season last year, so that stopped his momentum. He still had a 1 in 2 goal ratio back then though. He wasn't amazing but he was decent. Not sub par though. 

I can say Costa is consistent usually because of how consistent he was at Atletico and how he was here last season for the most of it. Now he's gone through a very bad patch for the first time in years... With obvious reasons as to why... It's unfair to call him inconsistent. He's been our most consistent player under Hiddink whether you like that or not. 

Getting another top striker in to compete with Diego is entirely another argument tbh. I'm not disagreeing with you on that.