People had more faith in Torres coming good for like 3 seasons, meanwhile Diego comes off a great first season and its sell him time in January. I'll keep the faith he'll come good, like most of the team needs to. Unless we are also wanting to ship Hazard out sharpish. When the team gains its confidence again Diego will be right there with them.

Edited November 26, 201510 yr by Stim

People had more faith in Torres coming good for like 3 seasons, meanwhile Diego comes off a great first season and its sell him time in January. I'll keep the faith he'll come good, like most of the team needs to. Unless we are also wanting to ship Hazard out sharpish. When the team gains its confidence again Diego will be right there with them.

Torres never appeared homesick, never put on a silly amount of weight while still carrying most of it today and despite his woeful decline in ability he still seemed interested while not likely to get involved in silly incidents leading to bans.

I’d say because of Torres we are now far more aware of seeing a past it striker than we were before.

Costa has lost a few yards of pace (although he was not speed demon before it still shows badly when he can’t beat defenders in a sprint.) and his hamstring injury’s look to have taken their toll on him. Add into the mix he appears to have lost interest in actually playing football and would rather noise up his opponents it’s all ingredients into a disaster.

This isn’t simply a loss of form or confidence…it’s much more than that. His effort and professionalism of late is quite frankly piss poor and he has done nothing of note in months to merit playing for us. There’s no use saying he done this and that last year when that was a completely different player than the one we see today.

You saw him and Jose at half time the other night having a go at each other, Costa looks unhappy and the mumbles about missing Spain will not have been unfounded. I’m not sure keeping the faith with someone who has no interest in getting himself in a suitable condition for top level football is going to do us any favours here.

Atletico or someone else will take him for maybe upwards of £25 million and we should cash in on it because we have had the best of Costa at Chelsea.

I realise it sounds harsh when you consider last season and there are a number of players who have been terrible so far this season but with Costa you know it runs deeper, it’s staring us all in the face.

Unbelievably bad planning by the club, no scrap that, by Jose in fact, we have to hold him accountable for this.

 

Not his fault Diego has gone so badly off the boil of course, but he simply has no faith in Remy as the lone front man, and he was quite content to have Falcao as his third striker, which seemed an absurd move at the time and so it has proved. No idea what he was thinking there.

 

Basically, like so many of our other players, Diego knows he's getting a game no matter how badly he plays, because Jose simply doesn't rate the back-up. How's that for a motivation technique?

 

I wouldn't mind Adebayor or Van Persie coming in the winter and I suspect somebody of that ilk will. Remember, this is just for half a season, and we still have things to play for, but those things are simply unattainable if we don't have a half-decent striker up top.

 

We all know Jose prefers his established players, and while he's willing to give the odd youngster a chance, they need to be phased in, especially when it's a pressure cooker situation like this, with so much scrutiny. Those hoping Jose will just throw in Traore and let him sink or swim are living in dreamland. If that's not going to happen what's the best we can hope for? For my money it's a new striker this winter, as a stop-gap yes, but one that can apply a bit of pressure on Costa, genuine competition for his place.

 

Short-term thinking yes, but if we're to have any chance of qualifying for next year's CL, I don't see what's particularly wrong with that.

 

Adebayor is far from my favourite player, in fact I can't stand him, but right now I'd say he'd be more of a success as our lone front man than any of our current options. He has bags of ability, he has played under Jose before, he would love the opportunity, and he'd believe he deserves to play alongside top players. He also has a very good record as a short-term fix. He's also eligible for the CL I think.

 

Van Persie? A far better player but an equally problematic character by all accounts. However these personality issues are unlikely to matter in a short-term deal, particularly as they'd be eager to impress. He may be past his peak and injuries may have taken their toll but again I'd fancy him right now to do better than what we've got. That's how desperate this situation has become. Signing a proven striker for the last four or five months of this season may be the difference between relative failure and success.

 

Both players have experience of the PL and both have played at the highest level. They'd also have something to prove. Far from ideal, yes I agree, but our current situation demands pragmatism in my view, and a healthy dose of reality. Defoe signed for Sunderland last winter and his goals kept them up. No doubt his wage demands would have been excessive, considering he was playing in North America. Sometimes you have to take a pragmatic stance.

 

Diego does not look happy. The season is nearly halfway through. Let's get somebody that wants to be here. Let's make a decent fist of what's left of this season, and then worry about next season next summer. No doubt there'll be a lot of changes, changes dependent on whether we make the CL.

 

Rumblings of a madman Davey - go and have a lie down!!

 

I would, hand on heart, rather we didn't qualify for CL next season than sign a mercenary like Adebayor or RVP. 

100%... and on another note, I really hate the stats that go along the lines of "Sheffield Wednesday haven't beaten Chelsea in 27 years".. when in that 27 years they may have only played 3 times.

I don't think having a bust up with your Manager means your hearts no longer in it, I think if anything it means the opposite. If he was done, I think he would have just taken Mourinho's words and ignored them. Yes, the second half of the Macabi game probably suggests he did just that, but perhaps he is not the hard man we so often expect 100% of the time and he was just a little rattled.

I think his celebration against Norwich was one of "I know I've been poor and I know I must do more.. no exaggerated celebration here, lets get back to work".

I'm backing him to get back to his best, but I have no problem with giving others a go and think we need another striker anyway.

I agree about the celebration. I think it was more humility than anything.

I still like him, how could you not love that face?

He'll still be our top scorer come the end of the season.

He got 19 goals last season didn't he? In all comps. But he was red hot for a couple of months, and didn;t he get about 11 in his first 9 games? Then just 8 for the rest of the season?

Club Season Premier League FA Cup League Cup Continental Others Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Chelsea
2004–05 26 10   2 0   4 1   9 5   0 0   41 16
2005–06 29 12   3 1   1 0   7 1   1 2   41 16
2006–07 36 20   6 3   5 4   12 6  1 0  60 33
2007–08 19 8    1 0   1 1   11 6   0 0   32 15
2008–09 24 5    6 3   2 1   10 5   0 0   42 14
2009–10 32 29   4 3   2 2   5 3   1 0   44 37
2010–11 36 11   2 0   0 0   7 2   1 0   46 13
2011–12 24 5    3 2   0 0   8 6   0 0    35 13
2014–15 28 4   2 0   5 1    5 2    0 0    40 7
Total   254 104 29 12 20 10 74 36 4 2 381 164

This is Didier Drogba's career stats for Chelsea you will notice the poor season's from 07-09 sandwiched by 2 great seasons. Strikers run hot and they run cold, hopefully this is just the case for Costa.

Those saying he has lost a yard I'd have to disagree just watch him casing down the keeper on a pass back during the press, physically he was a bit overweight and off the pace coming of the off season (something he has documented problems with so not because of a disenchanted summer) he has trimmed back down to fighting weight and despite the odd knock against Stoke recently he has been looking fit.

However for me the problem lies with his movement, he often looks lost and is currently struggling to know when to make his run, which he did make plenty in behind against Maccabi, although most of these were when players heads weren't up or couldn't distribute to him, he also kept checking out of potential breaks (which was infuriating) and looked very indecisive at choosing when to go.
Countless times against Maccabi you could see his natural instinct was to make a break but he would stop himself keeping himself in the space between the midfield and defense which made for a very lazily looking performance.
For me it screams of a lack of confidence in his team mates and that he is believing the ball won't come or wont be played to him if he makes the break, this is probably a direct result of the slow build up play and lack of confidence we showed at the beginning of the season along with his own lack of confidence, you'd visibly see his head drop when he realised the ball couldn't be played to him or another player checked in a different direction to play the safe ball.

I have no doubts that he is still a good striker and will get back to where he was last season hopefully soon and whilst he is still in blue.

Edited November 26, 201510 yr by PedroMendez

Club Season Premier League FA Cup League Cup Continental Others Total

App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals

Chelsea

2004–05 26 10 2 0 4 1 9 5 0 0 41 16

2005–06 29 12 3 1 1 0 7 1 1 2 41 16

2006–07 36 20 6 3 5 4 12 6 1 0 60 33

2007–08 19 8 1 0 1 1 11 6 0 0 32 15

2008–09 24 5 6 3 2 1 10 5 0 0 42 14

2009–10 32 29 4 3 2 2 5 3 1 0 44 37

2010–11 36 11 2 0 0 0 7 2 1 0 46 13

2011–12 24 5 3 2 0 0 8 6 0 0 35 13

2014–15 28 4 2 0 5 1 5 2 0 0 40 7

Total 254 104 29 12 20 10 74 36 4 2 381 164

This is Didier Drogba's career stats for Chelsea you will notice the poor season's from 07-09 sandwiched by 2 great seasons. Strikers run hot and they run cold, hopefully this is just the case for Costa.

Those saying he has lost a yard I'd have to disagree just watch him casing down the keeper on a pass back during the press, physically he was a bit overweight and off the pace coming of the off season (something he has documented problems with so not because of a disenchanted summer) he has trimmed back down to fighting weight and despite the odd knock against Stoke recently he has been looking fit.

However for me the problem lies with his movement, he often looks lost and is currently struggling to know when to make his run, which he did make plenty in behind against Maccabi, although most of these were when players heads weren't up or couldn't distribute to him, he also kept checking out of potential breaks (which was infuriating) and looked very indecisive at choosing when to go.

Countless times against Maccabi you could see his natural instinct was to make a break but he would stop himself keeping himself in the space between the midfield and defense which made for a very lazily looking performance.

For me it screams of a lack of confidence in his team mates and that he is believing the ball won't come or wont be played to him if he makes the break, this is probably a direct result of the slow build up play and lack of confidence we showed at the beginning of the season along with his own lack of confidence, you'd visibly see his head drop when he realised the ball couldn't be played to him or another player checked in a different direction to play the safe ball.

I have no doubts that he is still a good striker and will get back to where he was last season hopefully soon and whilst he is still in blue.

Drogba offered a hell of a lot more apart from goals though. Even when he wasn't scoring he was holding the ball up, creating chances, and helping out defensively.

When costa isn't scoring, his only contributions are getting into petty fights with the opposition.

Drogba offered a hell of a lot more apart from goals though. Even when he wasn't scoring he was holding the ball up, creating chances, and helping out defensively.

 

Bang on. I couldn't really care about the goals so much as the performances. Shocking. Something is clearly wrong. We've played something like 22 games this season, he's missed out on only a few, and what has he contributed in our hour of need, apart from the odd argy bargy. Strikers don't often play so poorly for such a sustained period unless there's a serious issue, and for me, he's been by far our worst player. When we scored the opener on Tuesday night, all our players went to congratulate Cahill, except one, one was more intent on picking a fight with one of our opponents. I hope I'm wrong and I hope he bangs in a hattrick against Spurs on Sunday but I'm very pessimistic about a recovery of form. I've watched football for many years and this isn't about a loss of form. Everybody loses form, this is something else. If we're relying on Costa as our front line striker for the rest of the season, we're in trouble. Normally he would be our best option by a million miles, but right now we need someone that can compete for a place with him, and if Jose doesn't rate Remy and isn't prepared to blood a youngster, that means getting somebody else.

Drogba was an all-round terror for defenders. Most imposing striker of his generation.

The only thing Costa does is troll other players plus scores a peach of a goal when he wakes up every fortnight... 

 

If I'm not mistaken Drogba for example led the team in assists in his 2008/2009 season. I find the comparison ludicrous.

Torres never appeared homesick, never put on a silly amount of weight while still carrying most of it today and despite his woeful decline in ability he still seemed interested while not likely to get involved in silly incidents leading to bans.

I’d say because of Torres we are now far more aware of seeing a past it striker than we were before.

Costa has lost a few yards of pace (although he was not speed demon before it still shows badly when he can’t beat defenders in a sprint.) and his hamstring injury’s look to have taken their toll on him. Add into the mix he appears to have lost interest in actually playing football and would rather noise up his opponents it’s all ingredients into a disaster.

This isn’t simply a loss of form or confidence…it’s much more than that. His effort and professionalism of late is quite frankly piss poor and he has done nothing of note in months to merit playing for us. There’s no use saying he done this and that last year when that was a completely different player than the one we see today.

You saw him and Jose at half time the other night having a go at each other, Costa looks unhappy and the mumbles about missing Spain will not have been unfounded. I’m not sure keeping the faith with someone who has no interest in getting himself in a suitable condition for top level football is going to do us any favours here.

Atletico or someone else will take him for maybe upwards of £25 million and we should cash in on it because we have had the best of Costa at Chelsea.

I realise it sounds harsh when you consider last season and there are a number of players who have been terrible so far this season but with Costa you know it runs deeper, it’s staring us all in the face.

 

Excellent post except I'd still take him over Torres any day of the week.

I worry about Diego's attitude, worry about his fitness and worry about his commitment but I'd love to see how he conducted himself if he had real competition for his place before I gave up on him.

 

He looks to me like he feels he doesn't have to bust a gut, he's not appearing highly motivated by success but I have a hunch his ego would force an attitude change if there was actually another viable option, an option that came in and performed.

 

Perhaps then we'd see a player determined to prove himself again instead of someone who acts as if he's done enough and can coast through games picking fights here and there.

 

He's a bit slower for sure but it looks more a fitness thing than a player who's legs have gone and again that will be down to attitude in training and in his life in general.

His overall performance is absolutely awful, forget the hype and attempt to be positive about his goal against Norwich and take another look at his game plan

Only time he really works is on futile closing down on the keeper or centre backs - never achieves anything other than give the pretence he is trying - it's a con

Never in the right place when we attack, not in the hotspot area of the 6 yard box enough, never on the end of crosses nor available for one/two passes - it's a con

Fiddles about and creates a fuss with the defenders but never when trying to score or getting his head in when it matters - it's a con

When he has the ball at his feet, head down and gets past couple before losing the ball - always into a crowd - it's a con

Not celebrating our goals, not creating or assisting any chances, not shooting but taking extra touch or coming away from the goal or going onto the wing - it's a con

This isn't form or fitness, he doesn't want to play for us and does minimal effort to cover it up - we should get rid

Play remi and drop Costa

Don't want players who don't want to play for us

I may be remembering wrong but I seem to recall him making many runs at the 6 yard box last year. Is odd how that changed.

Wow... some strong criticism of Costa! I like his personality, i think it can only be a good thing to have someone like him on the pitch, as long as he stays on it. But i dont see the issue there as he hasnt got a red card in 1 and a half seasons yet has he?

There is always talk of remy coming in and having a great scoring record, which he does, but whenever he starts he just doesnt look a threat. I prefer Costa overall, and I think he'll be getting regular goals soon

Last season he was definitely playing differently, he made surges into the box and his positional sense was fantastic. Still last year many (myself included) said that technically he wasn't the best, his hold up play was woeful at times and he has one if the worst first touches I've seen. This year the surges and positional play are gone, the other aspects of his game are not good enough to cope. Personally I would cash in, I have to honestly say the whole wanting to fight opposition play has always pissed me off and now he's out of form it's even worse. I say in the Summer flog him and go all out for Cavanni.

We won't get Cavani unless PSG are interested in selling. They aren't Athletico or Porto. They've got deep pockets just like us.

Hopefully psg sign ronaldo and we sign cavani.

I'm with bobby, cavani was the player I wanted 3 seasons ago, but we were priced out of it.

Seems like one of those players who would bust a gut when things are going well, determined to let nothing slip, but when it does go badly wrong like our season has, the motivation just dies completely.

I have played with loads of those type of players on Saturday mornings!!

I enjoyed nothing more than beating Naples and and PSG whilst behind from the first leg... All I could see was Cavani's face.

If we continue to play 4-2-3-1 I don't think many strikers would come if they weren't guaranteed that number 1 striking position.  Particularly Cavani who has been documented as not enjoying playing out of position for Zlatan's sake.  Personally i think that mindset is bullsh!t.  Part of me thinks that the media drum up these "He's unhappy playing on the left when he prefers the right" stories, but if there is an element of truth to it then it's not a trait I like to see and wouldn't want him at the club.

Is it so hard to just enjoy playing in whatever position your playing in?  If Cavani ever knew what it was like to play in a CL final he'd realise how very little it means what effing position you play in, getting the W is all that matters (Drogba offering to play right back in Munich).


It might be good to have a couple of other formation options though, we are so predictable and has definitely contributed to us sitting 15th at the moment.
 

I enjoyed nothing more than beating Naples and and PSG whilst behind from the first leg... All I could see was Cavani's face.

If we continue to play 4-2-3-1 I don't think many strikers would come if they weren't guaranteed that number 1 striking position. Particularly Cavani who has been documented as not enjoying playing out of position for Zlatan's sake. Personally i think that mindset is bullsh!t. Part of me thinks that the media drum up these "He's unhappy playing on the left when he prefers the right" stories, but if there is an element of truth to it then it's not a trait I like to see and wouldn't want him at the club.

Is it so hard to just enjoy playing in whatever position your playing in? If Cavani ever knew what it was like to play in a CL final he'd realise how very little it means what effing position you play in, getting the W is all that matters (Drogba offering to play right back in Munich).

It might be good to have a couple of other formation options though, we are so predictable and has definitely contributed to us sitting 15th at the moment.

I'd happily take an 'unhappy' cavani that's scored 65 in 115 games for psg.

Cavani could have gone pretty much anywhere when he left napoli, he might have asked for assurances he would be playing regularly in his prefered role at centre forward, which he feels weren't met.

I think he would have been perfectly in his right to want to play centre forward, and he is perfectly within his right to be unhappy about being stuck out wide.

None of us know whether any of it is even true, but one things for sure, it hasn't affected his output, which is the kind of quality I would love to have in this team.

I could not understand why I was getting melancholy feelings about Costa when he first joined us, he was banging in the goals, but yet I just couldn't shake that feeling.

 

Now when I look back to that time just over a year ago, I realise it was staring me straight in the face every time I watched him play, he has actually got a piss poor level of skill on the ball, considering he's Brazilian/Spanish, you would think he would be a lot more talented with the ball at his feet, he has his moments but generally he just looks average at best on the ball, quiet often his first touch is terrible, he hardly ever beats a player with the ball at his feet, his whole game is about poaching in an around the 6 yard box, but he seems to have lost all confidence in that area as well.

I could not understand why I was getting melancholy feelings about Costa when he first joined us, he was banging in the goals, but yet I just couldn't shake that feeling.

Now when I look back to that time just over a year ago, I realise it was staring me straight in the face every time I watched him play, he has actually got a piss poor level of skill on the ball, considering he's Brazilian/Spanish, you would think he would be a lot more talented with the ball at his feet, he has his moments but generally he just looks average at best on the ball, quiet often his first touch is terrible, he hardly ever beats a player with the ball at his feet, his whole game is about poaching in an around the 6 yard box, but he seems to have lost all confidence in that area as well.

I fealt that way watching him for a. Madrid and didn't fancy the look of him, looked clumsy on the ball, but then he came in and was banging in the goals and didn't look all thst and skill. Level wise but it was obvious he wasn't going to be hitting any screamers. But he reminded me of RVN and that's not a bad comparison. Now he's taking far to many touches, he's out wide far to often and he seems to not be chasing any more.

Thing is Jose is fiercely loyal, and often that loyalty has been a major component of his success, so I don't see him being droppes

He is a big part of the reason I have little confidence ahead of the Spurs game.

Half hearted warm up, sits down and Jose says what the hell are you doing get back out there, then throws the bib.

Welp.