Diego Costa

[Mohammed Seif 1,451]

Well it depends what you're looking for..

La Liga is all about Real and Barca (lets count ATM in aswell..).

The PL is much more interesting, although United have been pretty dominant there's always a chance for other teams. Look at the current season, this can never happen in La Liga.

Also even if the table leaders play a bottom team there's a good chance for an interesting match and the bottom team might even win.. this is rarely the case with Real Madrid and Barcelona.

MLS might be competetive but there's not enough talent..

Talent wise I guess La Liga has the edge.

And regarding Serie A - as much as their game is "tactic", let's face it there's not a whole bunch of quality over there.

I agree mate, I have been watching the EPL since my math teacher told me about Eric Cantona's kung fu kick. I was 15 yrs old ( good old days). Till now I have been a fan of the EPL and have been following all of the teams. Not closely but you know what I mean. How competetive the league is changes alll of the time and quickly. There was a time when the spanish league had deportiva, valecncia competing closely with barca and real. There were times when Batsituta' Fiorentina was competing with Milan and Juve and Udinese. There was a time when man was competing with Blackburn and Newcastle. And It changes all of the time. Chelsea became a regularly competetive side when Roman took over. City when that sheikh took over and started pouring millions. Liverpool have been out since Ian Rush. Arsenal's golden days ended with Henry, Ljungberg and Pires and only starting coming back recently.

It is all very subjective if you know what I mean mate

[Eligius 121]

Well as to your question - Mata, Oscar, Hazard etc. - definately not cunts.

And I feel the same way. I like players who fight for the team, warriors and I dont mind them being a bit cunty.. might not live to be my fav players but I dont mind such player in my team if he helps us win matches.

Oscar could be.

Lets go back to Oscar vs Nani.

OR Oscar vs Lucas.

I'll agree with Mata and Hazard though.

[Eligius 121]

I don't think Mario's link up play is "way better" than Costa's. He's surrounded by better players and a better link up play system (he's not as isolated up front as Costa is) so his link up play will obviously look better. Costa is usually isolated upfront on his own, doesn't have as much support as Mario does, so I don't think you can really compare their link up play in that manner.

Diego Costa has more pace/power about him than Mandzukic does, and is also more technically adept. Mandzukic cannot play on the wing, whilst Costa can because he has better technique and is technically in general more adept. If you stick Costa in the Bayern team, he'd also benefit of the link up play system there and IMO would do better. Vice-versa, I definitely doubt Atletico would be challenging for the title if they had Mandzukic up front this season. Costa is definitely a very major reason why Atletico are up there challenging for the La Liga this season.

If I was Pep and you offered me a straight swap; Costa for Mandzukic; I would be out of my mind not to take it IMO.

I think Costa a better player than Mario, but Mario is better for Bayern's setup than Costa.

[The only place to be 11,313]

oh dear. Cant even be bothered to answer such idiotic comments.

In what way is it idiotic? He got booed by some of the Chelsea crowd for diving against City once and he actually stopped diving quite as much and probably became better for it.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I think Costa a better player than Mario, but Mario is better for Bayern's setup than Costa.

My main point was that Costa was a better player than Mandzukic in the Pep analogy.

Regardless, Costa would be better for our set up than Mandzukic would be simply because of Mourinho's counter attacking system which I think Mandzukic would be useless in.

[yuvala 2,167]

I agree mate, I have been watching the EPL since my math teacher told me about Eric Cantona's kung fu kick. I was 15 yrs old ( good old days). Till now I have been a fan of the EPL and have been following all of the teams. Not closely but you know what I mean. How competetive the league is changes alll of the time and quickly. There was a time when the spanish league had deportiva, valecncia competing closely with barca and real. There were times when Batsituta' Fiorentina was competing with Milan and Juve and Udinese. There was a time when man was competing with Blackburn and Newcastle. And It changes all of the time. Chelsea became a regularly competetive side when Roman took over. City when that sheikh took over and started pouring millions. Liverpool have been out since Ian Rush. Arsenal's golden days ended with Henry, Ljungberg and Pires and only starting coming back recently.

It is all very subjective if you know what I mean mate

I guess you have a point there

Oscar could be.

Lets go back to Oscar vs Nani.

OR Oscar vs Lucas.

I'll agree with Mata and Hazard though.

Oscar is a sweetheart .. I really dont think these incidents make him a cunt.

But anyways you got my point ..

[Eligius 121]

The problem with acquiring Costa is what happens to Lukaku?

[Mohammed Seif 1,451]

Those aren't emotions about Didier, it's the truth. The fact that you can't admit that and want to live in a fantasy world where Saint Didier can do know wrong is up to you, but the guy dived to the extent that his own supporters were getting very pissed off with it.

Lol. Chill out dude. Drogba is a human not a religion

[yuvala 2,167]

The problem with acquiring Costa is what happens to Lukaku?

He can be 2nd choice.

A Costa, Lukaku strike force would be very good for us. And Lukaku will be here under the guidance of Mou and will get enough chances as 2nd option.

[didierforever 7,349]

I don't think Mario's link up play is "way better" than Costa's. He's surrounded by better players and a better link up play system (he's not as isolated up front as Costa is) so his link up play will obviously look better. Costa is usually isolated upfront on his own, doesn't have as much support as Mario does, so I don't think you can really compare their link up play in that manner.

Diego Costa has more pace/power about him than Mandzukic does, and is also more technically adept. Mandzukic cannot play on the wing, whilst Costa can because he has better technique and is technically in general more adept. If you stick Costa in the Bayern team, he'd also benefit of the link up play system there and IMO would do better. Vice-versa, I definitely doubt Atletico would be challenging for the title if they had Mandzukic up front this season. Costa is definitely a very major reason why Atletico are up there challenging for the La Liga this season.

If I was Pep and you offered me a straight swap; Costa for Mandzukic; I would be out of my mind not to take it IMO.

Dude. Seriously. I am sorry but this has to be the most hyped up post about costa.

First thing. Costa is never isolated upfront. That RM match was a one-off. Normally villa used to start with costa upfront. Otherwise garcia almist plays like a second striker. How are u saying costa is isolated is beyond me.

Secondly why do u want our no.1 striker on the wing? Why? I admit costa has more pace /power. As for technical ability, I think u are massively underating mario's ability.

As far as link up play os concerned, u need to be good at it to play in a system which relies in link up play and definitely to be successful among other world claa players. Their link up play is a no brainer and no comparision to me. Which is also the primary aspect of our striker along with finishing and workrate, in which I don't think there is much of a difference.

[Eligius 121]

He can be 2nd choice.

A Costa, Lukaku strike force would be very good for us. And Lukaku will be here under the guidance of Mou and will get enough chances as 2nd option.

I doubt it...

Lukaku couldnt beat out Torres or Ba or Schurrle....

[The only place to be 11,313]

The problem with acquiring Costa is what happens to Lukaku?

He plays a back-up role maybe alongside Torres, although I wouldn't be totally surprised if he was sold. Ba is gone and Eto'o's contract is up too.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

are u trying to prove my point? PL is suffering cos of many reasons. The schedule with 2 domestic cups leading to fatogue. Plus the compwtition is IMMENSE in PL. Every match is compwtitive compared to what we see in bundesliga and la liga. Add to that the number of teams in which all the talented players can go to. Their will be atleast 3/4 title challengers to 3/4 title pretenders next season. That can only be possible if and only if each and evry team can boast a couple of world class players atleast. Conpare that to la liga or bundesliga where all the talent is centralized mainly in the top 2/3 teams. I think 100% of spain's NT team players who are playing in la liga would be from the top 3. Same goes for germany. Can u say the same about PL? With the likes of shaw, lambert, lalana, baines, jagielka etc.

Hence I say that the gap between top teams and bottom teams is MASSIVE in those leagues.

The reason why so many english players play in NT is because top teams dont produce/buy english players enough. That is one and only reason. Every top team in england rather buys foreign player instead of english one. Thats because foreign are mostly better or at least offer more for price.

Reason why english league is more competitive is only because top teams are less good and consistent not because smaller teams would are better. Real and Madrid are class above all others in spain, that doesnt mean others are bad, but Real and Barca are simply much better. Thats why there isnt as competitive as in England.

Spanish teams (even smaller ones) are generaly better than English top ones in europe, it means that PL as whole isnt on level as La liga.

I personaly watch PL higher because its more entertaining, but La liga is actualy higher ranked. Real and Barca would probably dominate english league if they were used to play in england for whole season.

One of examples is best city team ever vs worst barca of last few years and they still lost 2:0. Or that game between Manu and Atletic Bilbao few years ago when Manu was actualy english top team and they still lost to spanish 4th? team back then. Sociedad or Atletico or Bilbao atm are all very good teams and would defeat most english teams. Problem to play vs english teams is due to their strength, not so much the quality. If City, Chelsea, Arsenal etc would produce good english players and buy top english players from smaller teams (like Barca and RM are doing), there would be no chance that Soton would have 4 players in NT. Problem is that there are no real quality players that smaller teams would produce (with very few exceptions), while top teams dont put much faith in HG players. On the other hand, spain is producing top young players every year; Isco (Malaga), Koke (AM), Javi Martinez (AB), Alba, Carvajal, Jese, Thiago,...

Players in NT dont prove that Soton is such great team because they have 4 players there (while Atletico almost has no players in spain nt). That doesnt mean Soton is better than Atletico, or mean that they are making league competitive. It means only that top teams dont have enough hg players in PL, and coach has to get players from soton. While Atletico who has better players than soton doesnt have any players in nt (except for Juanfran and Koke recently, while Costa isnt spanish realy) because top teams have better players.

[yuvala 2,167]

I doubt it...

Lukaku couldnt beat out Torres or Ba or Schurrle....

Torres and Ba should be gone.

Schurrle is not an option for a ST .. (according to Jose)

[didierforever 7,349]

The reason why so many english players play in NT is because top teams dont produce/buy english players enough. That is one and only reason. Every top team in england rather buys foreign player instead of english one. Thats because foreign are mostly better or at least offer more for price.

Reason why english league is more competitive is only because top teams are less good and consistent not because smaller teams would are better. Real and Madrid are class above all others in spain, that doesnt mean others are bad, but Real and Barca are simply much better. Thats why there isnt as competitive as in England.

Spanish teams (even smaller ones) are generaly better than English top ones in europe, it means that PL as whole isnt on level as La liga.

I personaly watch PL higher because its more entertaining, but La liga is actualy higher ranked. Real and Barca would probably dominate english league if they were used to play in england for whole season.

One of examples is best city team ever vs worst barca of last few years and they still lost 2:0. Or that game between Manu and Atletic Bilbao few years ago when Manu was actualy english top team and they still lost to spanish 4th? team back then. Sociedad or Atletico or Bilbao atm are all very good teams and would defeat most english teams. Problem to play vs english teams is due to their strength, not so much the quality. If City, Chelsea, Arsenal etc would produce good english players and buy top english players from smaller teams (like Barca and RM are doing), there would be no chance that Soton would have 4 players in NT. Problem is that there are no real quality players that smaller teams would produce (with very few exceptions), while top teams dont put much faith in HG players. On the other hand, spain is producing top young players every year; Isco (Malaga), Koke (AM), Javi Martinez (AB), Alba, Carvajal, Jese, Thiago,...

Players in NT dont prove that Soton is such great team because they have 4 players there (while Atletico almost has no players in spain nt). That doesnt mean Soton is better than Atletico, or mean that they are making league competitive. It means only that top teams dont have enough hg players in PL, and coach has to get players from soton. While Atletico who has better players than soton doesnt have any players in nt (except for Juanfran and Koke recently, while Costa isnt spanish realy) because top teams have better players.

Dude. I just think I simply dint phrase it correctly cos u r the second person to say almost the same thing on this when my point was nothing concerned to it.

Like i said to seif, I simply wanted to say that the national talent of spain and germny are concentrated in the top 2/3 teams. Thats it. Notjing else. The fact that sturridge, suatez, gerrard are not on CL is proof how divised the talent and top class players are in PL. Believe me that was the main point of my post. Maybe I phrased it wrong by brimging NTs into the argument.

As for how good the twams are I totally disagree. United is 7th in leagur and their results against sociedad proves it. I mean do u actyally believe that the level of 4th to 7th team in PL is samr as la liga. For that natter, even ATM ishaving a good season ootherwise I dobt think teams like unites, spurs, pool are lower than ATM.

[AswinR 96]

The reason why so many english players play in NT is because top teams dont produce/buy english players enough. That is one and only reason. Every top team in england rather buys foreign player instead of english one. Thats because foreign are mostly better or at least offer more for price.

Reason why english league is more competitive is only because top teams are less good and consistent not because smaller teams would are better. Real and Madrid are class above all others in spain, that doesnt mean others are bad, but Real and Barca are simply much better. Thats why there isnt as competitive as in England.

Spanish teams (even smaller ones) are generaly better than English top ones in europe, it means that PL as whole isnt on level as La liga.

I personaly watch PL higher because its more entertaining, but La liga is actualy higher ranked. Real and Barca would probably dominate english league if they were used to play in england for whole season.

One of examples is best city team ever vs worst barca of last few years and they still lost 2:0. Or that game between Manu and Atletic Bilbao few years ago when Manu was actualy english top team and they still lost to spanish 4th? team back then. Sociedad or Atletico or Bilbao atm are all very good teams and would defeat most english teams. Problem to play vs english teams is due to their strength, not so much the quality. If City, Chelsea, Arsenal etc would produce good english players and buy top english players from smaller teams (like Barca and RM are doing), there would be no chance that Soton would have 4 players in NT. Problem is that there are no real quality players that smaller teams would produce (with very few exceptions), while top teams dont put much faith in HG players. On the other hand, spain is producing top young players every year; Isco (Malaga), Koke (AM), Javi Martinez (AB), Alba, Carvajal, Jese, Thiago,...

Players in NT dont prove that Soton is such great team because they have 4 players there (while Atletico almost has no players in spain nt). That doesnt mean Soton is better than Atletico, or mean that they are making league competitive. It means only that top teams dont have enough hg players in PL, and coach has to get players from soton. While Atletico who has better players than soton doesnt have any players in nt (except for Juanfran and Koke recently, while Costa isnt spanish realy) because top teams have better players.

u are joking right?!!

i would love to see barca playing against stoke!! and according to your logic barca must be worse than celtics and milan since they lost to them in prev CL?!

that means italian league and scottish league is better than spanish league!! :confused:

i keep hearing people talking about imbalance.... have you ever watched teams in the bottom table? they are so organized and has good players with good coaches!

spanish league the bottom half is nowhere in standard as compared to that of PL bottom half....

the whole world watches PL bcz its the best(and entertaning ofcourse!)...

as far as manu is concerned they had a mediocre team since cr7 left and every other team where in the middle of revolution....they were top of league bcz we didnt have jose or a coach of his calibre and mancity had mancini!!

mancity is a pretty good team....and they can compete with any team in the world.... we are a signing or 2 from being up there with the very best in the world.....

i rate ATM in the same level as tottenham...not bad and has a gr8 run once in a while but dont see them winning league or CL..ever!!

And if u remember the so called best barca team(pep era) never won against chelsea ...ever!!!

[Strike 6,961]

Atletico same level as Spurs? LOL. never saw Spurs twat Chelsea 4-1

[BloodIsBlue 291]

Spanish teams (even smaller ones) are generaly better than English top ones in europe, it means that PL as whole isnt on level as La liga.

I personaly watch PL higher because its more entertaining, but La liga is actualy higher ranked. Real and Barca would probably dominate english league if they were used to play in england for whole season.

No way. La Liga whipping boys leave so much space in the game for the other team and foul so much, it's like watching Serie B team. Even against a relegation premier league club you'd struggle to find space at about the same difficulty level as playing against Espanyol or Getafe. Individually small La Liga clubs have some good talent and suprising names, but as a team small English clubs play a much harder game to break down. Southampton, Hull, Stoke,and Swansea would have no fear/problem avoiding relegation in La Liga. Newcastle would be fighting Sociedad for 4th.