Diego Costa

[Strike 6,965]

shame. ryan is a twit

[1chelsea 864]

shame. ryan is a twit

Who is Ryan??

[ulsterchelsea 3,213]

I assume he's connected to diego costa in some way...

[bethos1 802]

If World Cup players are getting three weeks off (as they have previously), then we could see Cesc, Azpi, Torres and possibly Costa at some point this week. They were eliminated 20 days ago.

The one player I could see having longer than the rest is Oscar, if its true hes played 156 games in two years then give him an extra 7-10 days.

Why should Oscar need 7-10 days more? I'd say 3 weeks is plenty of time to recover physically.

[DavidEU 2,023]

Why should Oscar need 7-10 days more? I'd say 3 weeks is plenty of time to recover physically.

Because the kids poor form over the last seven months is probably due to pure exhaustion. Rushing him back isn't going to help anyone.

I remember Mata had a similar situation 2 years ago having had the Euro U21 tournament in 2011 and the Olympics and Euro 2012 a year later, practically playing 2 years non stop. Di Matteo chose to give him an extra week or so off in September.

--

Gotta feel sorry for Atletico fans, they've ended up selling their three strikers from last season as Adrian Lopez has now joined Porto. Going to be very interesting to see their starting 11 next season.

[bethos1 802]

Because the kids poor form over the last seven months is probably due to pure exhaustion. Rushing him back isn't going to help anyone.

I remember Mata had a similar situation 2 years ago having had the Euro U21 tournament in 2011 and the Olympics and Euro 2012 a year later, practically playing 2 years non stop. Di Matteo chose to give him an extra week or so off in September.

--

Gotta feel sorry for Atletico fans, they've ended up selling their three strikers from last season as Adrian Lopez has now joined Porto. Going to be very interesting to see their starting 11 next season.

He probably is exhausted but shouldn't that be over after 3 weeks of resting?

[We Hate Scouse 10,261]

Who is Ryan??

Ryan Davidson...A member of the forum. Spike put it in the tag because Ryan is a twit.

[Jype 6,398]

Gotta feel sorry for Atletico fans, they've ended up selling their three strikers from last season as Adrian Lopez has now joined Porto. Going to be very interesting to see their starting 11 next season.

Can't see them missing Adrian at all, 3 goals in 39 games simply put it is not enough and to get €11m from selling Porto 60% of the player is fantastic business by Atletico. Sure, he was a substitute in most of those games but still should have done a lot better to earn a future at the club.

Atletico have already replaced the Costa - Villa partnership with the purchases of Mandzukic and Correa who will probably be their starters, now they just need to get someone to replace Adrian as the backup forward and they're set to go as far as the strikers are concerned. Replacing Luis with Siqueira and Courtois with Oblak will be much bigger losses for them than the forwards IMO.

[DavidEU 2,023]

Can't see them missing Adrian at all, 3 goals in 39 games simply put it is not enough and to get €11m from selling Porto 60% of the player is fantastic business by Atletico. Sure, he was a substitute in most of those games but still should have done a lot better to earn a future at the club.

Atletico have already replaced the Costa - Villa partnership with the purchases of Mandzukic and Correa who will probably be their starters, now they just need to get someone to replace Adrian as the backup forward and they're set to go as far as the strikers are concerned. Replacing Luis with Siqueira and Courtois with Oblak will be much bigger losses for them than the forwards IMO.

Absolutely, and I think they've signed good players. But, having won the title for the first time in what was it, 18 years? To then go and lose the three forward players that delivered it must be gut wrenching for a football fan.

Heard they're pretty close to signing Rodrigo from Benfica who will be another good option for them.

[Pizy 17,860]

So after being in Spain for so long and switching nationalities I wonder if Costa speaks Spanish or Portuguese in everyday situations.

I've never even heard him speak.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

So after being in Spain for so long and switching nationalities I wonder if Costa speaks Spanish or Portuguese in everyday situations.

I've never even heard him speak.

Same here. Does he speak English well?

[1chelsea 864]

Ryan Davidson...A member of the forum. Spike put it in the tag because Ryan is a twit.

Thanks but this thread need rest since there is no news ATM

[Jype 6,398]

Absolutely, and I think they've signed good players. But, having won the title for the first time in what was it, 18 years? To then go and lose the three forward players that delivered it must be gut wrenching for a football fan.

Heard they're pretty close to signing Rodrigo from Benfica who will be another good option for them.

Yeah, no chance of them winning the title again this season. To lose roughly half their starting lineup (Costa, Villa, Tiago, Luis, Courtois) will be too much no matter how good the replacements.

I think Rodrigo would be amazing for them. Atletico have history of developing world class strikers and Rodrigo at the moment is a rough diamond, a player who's got all the talent to be one of the best players in the world but so far hasn't really been able to fulfill his potential playing in the low-level Portuguese league so Atleti would be a perfect team for him. Hope they get him, I like Rodrigo and would be nice to get to see him more often. He's way too expensive for Atletico though because he's owned by a third party who earlier this year bought his rights for €40m from Benfica but with the rules being what they are in Spain I think Atletico could just buy a part of him with the majority of his ownership still remaining with the investment group but to buy 100% of his rights is too much for a team like Atletico.

[DavidEU 2,023]

Yeah, no chance of them winning the title again this season. To lose roughly half their starting lineup (Costa, Villa, Tiago, Luis, Courtois) will be too much no matter how good the replacements.

I think Rodrigo would be amazing for them. Atletico have history of developing world class strikers and Rodrigo at the moment is a rough diamond, a player who's got all the talent to be one of the best players in the world but so far hasn't really been able to fulfill his potential playing in the low-level Portuguese league so Atleti would be a perfect team for him. Hope they get him, I like Rodrigo and would be nice to get to see him more often. He's way too expensive for Atletico though because he's owned by a third party who earlier this year bought his rights for €40m from Benfica but with the rules being what they are in Spain I think Atletico could just buy a part of him with the majority of his ownership still remaining with the investment group but to buy 100% of his rights is too much for a team like Atletico.

Depends how much prize money they are able to reinvest from winning La Liga and getting to the CL final I guess. Isn't the distribution of TV money in Spain changing quite dramatically this season or something too? But they've bought for big price tags before so I wouldn't be surprised to see them do it again.

Turan, Mandzukic and Rodrigo is an interesting front 3 for sure and they'll give every side in La Liga a tough job. Oblak and Siqueira are really good replacements for Courtois and Luis whilst the rest of their defence and midfield should be the same as before. I think they'll do well again next year.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

If World Cup players are getting three weeks off (as they have previously), then we could see Cesc, Azpi, Torres and possibly Costa at some point this week. They were eliminated 20 days ago.

The one player I could see having longer than the rest is Oscar, if its true hes played 156 games in two years then give him an extra 7-10 days.

156 games in two years? Now that's a lot of numbers

[lucio 5,401]

Absolutely, and I think they've signed good players. But, having won the title for the first time in what was it, 18 years? To then go and lose the three forward players that delivered it must be gut wrenching for a football fan.

Heard they're pretty close to signing Rodrigo from Benfica who will be another good option for them.

rodrigo is part owned by peter lim (valencia owner) i think he will go there

[Jype 6,398]

Depends how much prize money they are able to reinvest from winning La Liga and getting to the CL final I guess. Isn't the distribution of TV money in Spain changing quite dramatically this season or something too? But they've bought for big price tags before so I wouldn't be surprised to see them do it again.

Turan, Mandzukic and Rodrigo is an interesting front 3 for sure and they'll give every side in La Liga a tough job. Oblak and Siqueira are really good replacements for Courtois and Luis whilst the rest of their defence and midfield should be the same as before. I think they'll do well again next year.

They haven't really been spending big in the past, maybe on paper someone like Falcao looked expensive but in reality Atletico only paid a small portion of the €40m with the majority of his rights owned by an investment group led by Jorge Mendes. That's all well and good because unlike in England, in Spain such things are allowed and it gives teams like Atletico a chance of attracting top players with relatively little risk but then again the downside is that they can't keep hold of such players for too long and when they finally move on Atletico don't receive much of the transfer fees. That's what I predict will happen with Rodrigo too if he ends up there and I think Atletico are happy to agree deals like that because it at least gives them a shot of going up against Barcelona and Real Madrid who, no matter if it has changed a little in recent times, still earn at least three times as much money from broadcasting revenue than Atletico do.

But yeah, one thing people can always count on is Atletico having a world class front line. Players come and go but they always seem to find the perfect replacements to suit their needs and I think this time it will be no different. Correa is another interesting prospect and it will be great to finally see him in a European league playing for a big team, been hearing good things about him for a while now but never really watched the Argentinian league so can't say if he's as good as they say he is.

They'll definitely do well again next year but I think it's still safe to say Atletico getting back-to-back titles won't happen. Would love to be proven wrong though.

[Jype 6,398]

156 games in two years? Now that's a lot of numbers

And almost true. Since June 2012 Oscar has played 111 games for Chelsea, 4 games for Internacional, 6 games for Brazil U23s in the Olympics and 33 games for the senior Brazil side. A total of 154 official games and if we include pre-season games there as well I'm pretty sure we'll end up with around 160 matches. Crazy numbers really, got to be some kind of a record.