Many of Diegos goals for Atletico were because he made the chances himself.

He isn't the same player now.

As someone who watched him quite a lot at AM and argued strongly for his signing, I would cash in on him now. He has lost the yard and sharpness he showed so often at Atletico. I think the repetitive hamstring injuries have done for him.

He still has the willingness and work rate which I love but that's about it. Technically he was never brilliant but the loss of that yard of pace and the ability to twist and turn, highlights his limitations even further. In the air he is very poor, and is a downright liability when defending set pieces in our own box.

We need to find a top class striker urgently. No matter it costs.

Edited November 4, 201510 yr by just

He isn't the same player now.

As someone who watched him quite a lot at AM and argued strongly for his signing, I would cash in on him now. He has lost the yard and sharpness he showed so often at Atletico. I think the repetitive hamstring injuries have done for him.

He still has the willingness and work rate which I love but that's about it. Technically he was never brilliant but the loss of that yard of pace and the ability to twist and turn, highlights his limitations even further. In the air he is very poor, and is a downright liability when defending set pieces in our own box.

We need to find a top class striker urgently. No matter it costs.

 

I don't quite agree with this. He has definietly not lost his pace, when you see him close down the goalkeeper and he's sprinting at full pelt then you can see how quick he actually is. What I will agree with is that he's completely lost his confidence infront of goal, almost similar to a certain someone you had huge disliking for.

 

He is a limited striker but in my opinion, he dosen't get a lot of chances. Last year at the start of the season, we were playing with such fludity but now it's quite static and the ball is constantly to his feet where he has his back to goal, once we hit form you'll see his improvement.

 

Been poor this season, though.

I don't quite agree with this. He has definietly not lost his pace, when you see him close down the goalkeeper and he's sprinting at full pelt then you can see how quick he actually is. What I will agree with is that he's completely lost his confidence infront of goal, almost similar to a certain someone you had huge disliking for.

 

He is a limited striker but in my opinion, he dosen't get a lot of chances. Last year at the start of the season, we were playing with such fludity but now it's quite static and the ball is constantly to his feet where he has his back to goal, once we hit form you'll see his improvement.

 

Been poor this season, though.

He had good passes played in front of him tonight but did nothing with them. It is not the service.

1. His movement and positioning when the ball is coming into the box is woeful. Michael Owen quite rightly kept mentioning it tonight. Falcao's is better, nuff said.

2. How many times does he try to spin and turn when the ball comes into him? Hardly ever and yet it was a key part of his game at AM.

Physically he is not the same player and it's pretty plain to see.

Will he get it back? I fear not because of the repetitive hammy problems but we can't afford to wait and find out. We need someone who can do the job damn quick.

We need back up in January, he hasn't been the same since he went on the pork pie diet.

Thought he looked really fast tonight and sharper. Still lacking that edge in front of goal and over thinking it. Just the hit the ball Deigo.

Goes out wide too much, just get in the box Diego you are starting to look like Torres!

One of his strengths at Atletico Madrid was his ability to make runs and find space with his movement off the ball.

For whatever reason, this isn't happening. He's either hanging back, or making runs wide to receive the ball.

Wonder if he's being asked to play a different type of game because he's half the player he was when he arrived at the club.

You look at it and we have gone back to the days where Nando was our main striker.

 

I mean Costa sure does play like a much more hotheaded version of him right now. Our second choice is a better finisher but does not offer as much team play and always gets injured. Our third option is a none entity.

 

We do not just need to make one change, we need to change all 3 of them.

Agreed, I'm not sure who's out there but we need to throw cash at a striker.

Definitely, I think Cavanni is the one we should pursuer however he won't move until the Summer. We could really use a stop gap signing in Jan, maybe someone who could do a job and wouldn't mind been second choice the following season. Question is who is there?

Just because the guy got strength, doesn't mean he should be playing the Drogba way, which is a big part of his/team's problem. Last season a few of us talked about signing up Bentake, that's a guy who could play the Drogba role, Costa isn't. We isolated him on his own against 2-3 defenders, he couldn't attack the goal hold the ball up with back against it. Having said that, when he did get the occasionally half chances against 1 defender, he managed to f* it up with poor touch or wild shot.

Played a Torres tonight.

His positioning and runs were bad.

He was taking up position on the left wing too much and when he was in the box he was at the back post rather than attacking the front post where he is most likely to receive service.

Worried by what I saw tonight.

My biggest concern with Costa is how heavy he look's. It look's like he is struggling to run at full pace at times. He's really paying the price for letting himself get so out of shape.

He needs to go for acting like an animal alone.

At the start of last season, Costa was an angry, fearsome, clinical striker....at least he's still got angry going for him.

we should give traore a shot up front, or bring bamford back. i am sure either one of those two will score goals for us. in fact i would go as far as to say that traore would be immense as striker for us. 

I think we should end Falcao's loan and then sign a new striker. I can't think of anyone who's actually good though. 

I'd give traore a go, actually think he'd be better then what we got

He was in no mans land so many times last night, a few times when Willian, Hazard etc were charging into the box he looked like he couldnt be arsed with trying to sprint into a space to bang one in....very odd

He really should had 2 tap ins last night. Just didn't read what was happening and didn't anticipate.

When he does get in the box he goes to ground far too easy, or he takes the ball so wide the chance is gone.

Was never a massive fan of his before we signed him, although he definitely won me over last season.

There isn't much alternatives out there though, unless we gamble like United have with martial.

I'd give traore a go, actually think he'd be better then what we got

Made more quality runs in the little game time he got than Costa has all season. Unfortunately, I don't see Costa getting dropped. His size and decent but inconsistent hold up play will see him always picked. 

Mourinho is never getting rid of Costa! I think he'll be first choice for a good few seasons.

Killing us at the moment. Making the wrong runs, and needs so much time to get a shot away.

 

Someone needs to tell him to attack the 6 yard box more, and want to score. Pulls away far too much and movement is slow and predictable.

Killing us at the moment. Making the wrong runs, and needs so much time to get a shot away.

 

Someone needs to tell him to attack the 6 yard box more, and want to score. Pulls away far too much and movement is slow and predictable.

Yep I swear he takes an eternity to get it away, can read him like a book at the moment.. A colouring in book

There were about 3 runs he made last night that with a half decent pass would have seen him through on goal. He is suffering a crisis of confidence as much as the rest of the team but he needs the guys behind him to be functioning. Reminds me of where Torres was at when he joined. Except the quality of players around him was vastly different.

There were about 3 runs he made last night that with a half decent pass would have seen him through on goal. He is suffering a crisis of confidence as much as the rest of the team but he needs the guys behind him to be functioning. Reminds me of where Torres was at when he joined. Except the quality of players around him was vastly different.

There was also 3 runs he didn't make that cost him some easy goals. Willian in each half and hazard aswell got to the by line, but costa just doesn't react.

I don't think he has had good service this season, but I don't think he could have any complaints last night.