Diego Costa

[Barbara 15,149]

Using this to once again post the footballing brain that is His Highness Didi Hamann's pronouncements back in August :

"Costa is overrated. He had a couple of good years for Atlético Madrid, but his biggest asset is his physicality and while he could bully defenders in Spain, in England they will not be scared of him; as we saw at the World Cup, he is not a ball-playing striker. He was badly found out for Spain. They should have kept Samuel Eto'o for another season and I do not see Diego Costa offering them much."

That's not all ...

"Cesc Fábregas is obviously a very good signing. I played against him a few times and he is gifted. But is he dominant enough to change Chelsea's style? Can he do that on his own? Has he got the players around him to bring out the best in him? I am not so sure."

But wait, there's more ...

"Forget about Chelsea, I have a feeling that Van Gaal's United will be the biggest threat to City."

Fascinating. Go on, Didi ...

"I am happy with the players Liverpool have signed, although they still need a centre-forward. Lambert and Adam Lallana have shown they can play in the Premier League; Emre Can and Lazar Markovic still have to do that but they are very exciting. Dejan Lovren will also improve the Liverpool defence, although the criticism of them was too harsh last season. They have moved to strengthen the full-back positions and are better defensively than people make out."

Okay, one more ...

"Arsenal look like the best London team"

that's some outstanding football knowledge. It rivals a few things we read here (not necessarily this thread). But no one here is a paid pundit so we at least have an excuse to say all kind of BS we want. Sort of.

[Dion 2,476]

Using this to once again post the footballing brain that is His Highness Didi Hamann's pronouncements back in August :

"Costa is overrated. He had a couple of good years for Atlético Madrid, but his biggest asset is his physicality and while he could bully defenders in Spain, in England they will not be scared of him; as we saw at the World Cup, he is not a ball-playing striker. He was badly found out for Spain. They should have kept Samuel Eto'o for another season and I do not see Diego Costa offering them much."

That's not all ...

"Cesc Fábregas is obviously a very good signing. I played against him a few times and he is gifted. But is he dominant enough to change Chelsea's style? Can he do that on his own? Has he got the players around him to bring out the best in him? I am not so sure."

But wait, there's more ...

"Forget about Chelsea, I have a feeling that Van Gaal's United will be the biggest threat to City."

Fascinating. Go on, Didi ...

"I am happy with the players Liverpool have signed, although they still need a centre-forward. Lambert and Adam Lallana have shown they can play in the Premier League; Emre Can and Lazar Markovic still have to do that but they are very exciting. Dejan Lovren will also improve the Liverpool defence, although the criticism of them was too harsh last season. They have moved to strengthen the full-back positions and are better defensively than people make out."

Okay, one more ...

"Arsenal look like the best London team"

That's some next level fail. The only thing he didn't predict completely wrong was City being a strong contender but that was the easiest one to predict and I bet he thought they would be #1 in the EPL right now ("will be the biggest threat to City"), and not playing the catch up game with us

[BlueLion. 21,491]

But wait, there's more ...

"Forget about Chelsea, I have a feeling that Van Gaal's United will be the biggest threat to City."

To be fair, he was spot on with this.

The biggest threat to City for second place

[Nero 1,794]

Using this to once again post the footballing brain that is His Highness Didi Hamann's pronouncements back in August :

"Costa is overrated. He had a couple of good years for Atlético Madrid, but his biggest asset is his physicality and while he could bully defenders in Spain, in England they will not be scared of him; as we saw at the World Cup, he is not a ball-playing striker. He was badly found out for Spain. They should have kept Samuel Eto'o for another season and I do not see Diego Costa offering them much."

That's not all ...

"Cesc Fábregas is obviously a very good signing. I played against him a few times and he is gifted. But is he dominant enough to change Chelsea's style? Can he do that on his own? Has he got the players around him to bring out the best in him? I am not so sure."

But wait, there's more ...

"Forget about Chelsea, I have a feeling that Van Gaal's United will be the biggest threat to City."

Fascinating. Go on, Didi ...

"I am happy with the players Liverpool have signed, although they still need a centre-forward. Lambert and Adam Lallana have shown they can play in the Premier League; Emre Can and Lazar Markovic still have to do that but they are very exciting. Dejan Lovren will also improve the Liverpool defence, although the criticism of them was too harsh last season. They have moved to strengthen the full-back positions and are better defensively than people make out."

Okay, one more ...

"Arsenal look like the best London team"

well, this is awkward

[rantdeville 195]

Using this to once again post the footballing brain that is His Highness Didi Hamann's pronouncements back in August :

"Costa is overrated. He had a couple of good years for Atlético Madrid, but his biggest asset is his physicality and while he could bully defenders in Spain, in England they will not be scared of him; as we saw at the World Cup, he is not a ball-playing striker. He was badly found out for Spain. They should have kept Samuel Eto'o for another season and I do not see Diego Costa offering them much."

That's not all ...

"Cesc Fábregas is obviously a very good signing. I played against him a few times and he is gifted. But is he dominant enough to change Chelsea's style? Can he do that on his own? Has he got the players around him to bring out the best in him? I am not so sure."

But wait, there's more ...

"Forget about Chelsea, I have a feeling that Van Gaal's United will be the biggest threat to City."

Fascinating. Go on, Didi ...

"I am happy with the players Liverpool have signed, although they still need a centre-forward. Lambert and Adam Lallana have shown they can play in the Premier League; Emre Can and Lazar Markovic still have to do that but they are very exciting. Dejan Lovren will also improve the Liverpool defence, although the criticism of them was too harsh last season. They have moved to strengthen the full-back positions and are better defensively than people make out."

Okay, one more ...

"Arsenal look like the best London team"

Hope he's not a gambling man.

[bababoom 4,478]

Hope he's not a gambling man.

Hamann in trouble over £600,000 gambling debt

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Worst part is that I used to really like Hamman as a player #TCConfessions

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Worst part is that I used to really like Hamman as a player #TCConfessions

As did I xD

I loved when he took Joey Barton apart on Twitter

[the wes 7,212]

147 - Diego Costa has now scored five and assisted one in 147 minutes of Premier League football against Swansea. The former Atletico striker scored more goals (16) in his 19 domestic appearances this season than any Chelsea player managed throughout the entirety of last season.

[DH1988 1,194]

Had his faults this year, bookings and hold up/link up play wasn't the best and was actually frustrating at one point but he's sorted that sharpish and its now much much much better.

Not sure how else this guy improves? Except gain height/weight he's tiny!

[Barbara 15,149]

Had his faults this year, bookings and hold up/link up play wasn't the best and was actually frustrating at one point but he's sorted that sharpish and its now much much much better.

Not sure how else this guy improves? Except gain height/weight he's tiny!

Tiny? He's no Hulk but far from tiny

[DH1988 1,194]

Tiny? He's no Hulk but far from tiny

It was a tongue in cheek joke but I was shocked how small he was in real life compared to on TV when I saw him.

[iceboy 992]

When he doesn't score most of the time he is shit. IMO.

[Cosmin 2,484]

When he doesn't score most of the time he is shit. IMO.

Exactly. Poor first touch, slow and predictable. If he's wide, he will surely lose the ball. Needs to improve a lot. Finishing won't save him forever.

[Beepu 1,714]

Am I the only one that think Costa's all-round play is massively underrated? He's not as good as Drogba in hold up play but who is? And that is not saying Costa is bad at it! He looks like he will stumble when dribbling the ball but he showed a couple times this season that he can dribble, hold up well enough, find a pass like the one to Oscar against Swansea and not to mention that he is essential in our pressing play with Oscar and Willian. He is no Chicharito.

And to be fair, everyone was pretty bad against Liverpool. Thought Costa was abit isolated and had to go to the wings to get more involved.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

When team are struggling, usually he will struggling too. When team are comfortable, he will be deadly.

He need support and supply from others, we're rare to see Costa intercept or win the ball by his own, and then dribbling here and there and shoot.

[DH1988 1,194]

Genuinely thought this was a game for Remy with the space they leave in behind and he surely needs a rest? Hindsight is a wonderful thing but.. its ok to rest players..

[CeleryFC 373]

Genuinely thought this was a game for Remy with the space they leave in behind and he surely needs a rest? Hindsight is a wonderful thing but.. its ok to rest players..

He'll rest Costa for the Bradford game though. Too much rest and he won't be as sharp. It is unfortunate that Remy doesn't get more playing time though, he really is talented.