Costa Conundrum

FutureGuy

I'm mulling over the idea of dropping Costa entirely AT LEAST until he gets the complete all clear, if not for good.

Hazard and Fabregas would cover alot of Costa's points and, he is not a brilliant captain choice either. 1 goal and no bonus isn't exactly great returns for the armband and I think Aguero may be a better choice most weeks.

In fact, over the next two months, I think Aguero is a better captain choice than costa in 75% of gameweeks and in weeks where Costa was a better choice, it's not a huge difference in terms of fixture difficulty.

So 11m for a player who will not keep up a better-than-goal-per-game strike rate or opt for someone like Sakho/Beharinho and put 5m into another player like Hazard/Sanchez?

Finally, Chelsea never look like they want to put a team to the sword in the way City do. Once they go 2-0 up, they just see out the result and if Costa has score less than a goal and an assist in that situation, he is going to be in a tough race for bonus every week vs assisters and defenders with cleanies.

I'm on the fence right now.

Bleating Lamb

Already sold him (*cough* PARlance *cough*)

FutureGuy wrote: »

I'm mulling over the idea of dropping Costa entirely until he gets the complete all clear.

Hazard and Fabregas would cover alot of Costa's points and, he is not a brilliant captain choice either. 1 goal and no bonus isn't exactly great returns for the armband and I think Aguero may be a better choice most weeks.

In fact, over the next two months, I think Aguero is a better captain choice than costa in 75% of gameweeks and in weeks where Costa was a better choice, it's not a huge difference in terms of fixture difficulty.

So 11m for a player who will not keep up a better-than-goal-per-game strike rate or opt for someone like Sakho/Beharinho and put 5m into another player like Hazard.

Finally, Chelsea never look like they want to put a team to the sword in the way City do. Once they go 2-0 up, they just see out the result and if Costa has score less than a goal and an assist in that situation, he is going to be in a tough race for bonus every week vs assisters and defenders with cleanies.

I'm on the fence right now.

Am thinking like yourself....that's why I'm wondering what chances are of him losing value again soon are??
Check cos I think Sakho might be injured now.

OneColdHand

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Am thinking like yourself....that's why I'm wondering what chances are of him losing value again soon are??
Check cos I think Sakho might be injured now.

It's pretty safe to assume he'll fall again before the week is out.

extra gravy

FutureGuy wrote: »

I'm mulling over the idea of dropping Costa entirely AT LEAST until he gets the complete all clear, if not for good.

Hazard and Fabregas would cover alot of Costa's points and, he is not a brilliant captain choice either. 1 goal and no bonus isn't exactly great returns for the armband and I think Aguero may be a better choice most weeks.

In fact, over the next two months, I think Aguero is a better captain choice than costa in 75% of gameweeks and in weeks where Costa was a better choice, it's not a huge difference in terms of fixture difficulty.

So 11m for a player who will not keep up a better-than-goal-per-game strike rate or opt for someone like Sakho/Beharinho and put 5m into another player like Hazard/Sanchez?

Finally, Chelsea never look like they want to put a team to the sword in the way City do. Once they go 2-0 up, they just see out the result and if Costa has score less than a goal and an assist in that situation, he is going to be in a tough race for bonus every week vs assisters and defenders with cleanies.

I'm on the fence right now.

Thinking along these lines too.. Current front line is Aguero, Pelle and Welbeck and with the money I have from selling Costa last week I could get Baines and Hazard/Sanchez in. It's certainly appealing and worth considering.

internet_user

Selling for Aguero

Considering shipping him out too as I've lost enough value in him as it is..nobody really jumps out at me however to bring in..

FutureGuy

internet_user wrote: »

Considering shipping him out too as I've lost enough value in him as it is..nobody really jumps out at me however to bring in..

FFF have him as possibly dropping again tonight.

IsMiseMyself

Selling for Aguero

Bony could be an okay alternative to Costa. No one really seems to have him and he seems to have caught form. Swansea and Everton play each other this weekend which is somewhat of a deterrent, but I might go Jagielka-->Baines and Costa -->Bony.

Dunno. I'm slightly scared Costa will play this weekend and score a hat-trick, which is why I can't quite bring myself to sell him yet.

Rikand

Already sold him (*cough* PARlance *cough*)

Costa coming out this evening for me.

Gonna drop my wildcard and reshape my team. If Costa gets sorted out, then so be it, we'll find some way of getting him back in at a later date, but for now, he's a goner.

Wombatman

Selling for Aguero

IsMiseMyself wrote: »

Bony could be an okay alternative to Costa. No one really seems to have him and he seems to have caught form. Swansea and Everton play each other this weekend which is somewhat of a deterrent, but I might go Jagielka-->Baines and Costa -->Bony.

Dunno. I'm slightly scared Costa will play this weekend and score a hat-trick, which is why I can't quite bring myself to sell him yet.

Everton away, Arsenal home and Man City away. Wouldn't touch Bony for a few weeks.

Ziegler1988

Selling for Welbeck/Lukaku/Berahino/etc.

Wombatman wrote: »

Everton away, Arsenal home and Man City away. Wouldn't touch Bony for a few weeks.

He was fixture proof the second half of last season

dahat

Selling for Aguero

Selling Costa when he will face QPR sat is mad IMO,, likely he will get 60mins at least.

Swiper the fox

FutureGuy wrote: »

I'm mulling over the idea of dropping Costa entirely AT LEAST until he gets the complete all clear, if not for good.

Hazard and Fabregas would cover alot of Costa's points and, he is not a brilliant captain choice either. 1 goal and no bonus isn't exactly great returns for the armband and I think Aguero may be a better choice most weeks.

In fact, over the next two months, I think Aguero is a better captain choice than costa in 75% of gameweeks and in weeks where Costa was a better choice, it's not a huge difference in terms of fixture difficulty.

So 11m for a player who will not keep up a better-than-goal-per-game strike rate or opt for someone like Sakho/Beharinho and put 5m into another player like Hazard/Sanchez?

Finally, Chelsea never look like they want to put a team to the sword in the way City do. Once they go 2-0 up, they just see out the result and if Costa has score less than a goal and an assist in that situation, he is going to be in a tough race for bonus every week vs assisters and defenders with cleanies.

I'm on the fence right now.

Very good post, the highlighted part is the most effective argument for me in leaving Costa out of my team for the time being. They had so many chances to kill off united but continued playing the ball backwards. I think the almost 4m saving on Costa vs Welbeck (my choice of replacement) can be invested better elsewhere so as to make it worthwhile.
Like you say Futureguy, Aguero is likely to be my default captain also, he could have easily had a hat trick on Saturday despite not playing particularly well, hit the crossbar, brought two very good saves from Adrian, couple of penalty claims. I'd captain Aguero against anyone safe in the knowledge that if city have the upper hand they will try to score 5 or 6 goals, you just know that Chelsea are satisfied with a 1-0 against the top teams.

Antibac

Selling for Aguero

dahat wrote: »

Selling Costa when he will face QPR sat is mad IMO,, likely he will get 60mins at least.

Reckon this is what will happen and the he will be off "injured" and miss the internationals

PARlance

Looks like we'll have to order some more gin for our next gathering

L.S.F

I lost out slightly by not selling him sooner. paid £10.9m for him, should of sold and got the extra few .'s and then brought him back in for the cheaper price. Swapped him for Pelle just in case he loses more value

Lemlin

Selling for Aguero

Has anyone confirmed any of this Costa info bar the Daily Mail? They said Costa was out for six weeks pre the Everton game and I know how that ended!

The one hole I would pick in the easy fixtures argument is that Chelsea didn't lose the title last season due to their results against better teams.

They lost the title due to their results against the likes of Villa, Sunderland and Palace where they struggled to break defensive teams down. This is exactly why Costa, a superb finisher, was purchased.

Iused2likebusts

Drogba starting tonight says to me that Costa will be fit for the weekend. They are asking a 36 yr old to play 2 games in 48 hours be very surprised they would risk that if drogba was to be there only fit striker for the weekend.

internet_user

Selling for Aguero

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

Drogba starting tonight says to me that Costa will be fit for the weekend. They are asking a 36 yr old to play 2 games in 48 hours be very surprised they would risk that if drogba was to be there only fit striker for the weekend.

Yeah good shout, think I'll hold for now anyway..looks like drogba took a bit of a knock there too

FHFC

Already sold him (*cough* PARlance *cough*)

internet_user wrote: »

Yeah good shout, think I'll hold for now anyway..looks like drogba took a bit of a knock there too

No way I'll be selling before QPR, value be damned.

Iused2likebusts

Selling for Aguero

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

Drogba starting tonight says to me that Costa will be fit for the weekend. They are asking a 36 yr old to play 2 games in 48 hours be very surprised they would risk that if drogba was to be there only fit striker for the weekend.

I thanked this post because I very much want this to be true. I'll have my rivals gain ground on me this weekend of Costa doesn't play.

jamesbere

I'll take a risk Costa is fit for the weekend. Nothing has convinced me that he'll be out for a number of weeks.

Bleating Lamb

Already sold him (*cough* PARlance *cough*)

After biting the bullet and shipping Costa out for Pelle,had to swop Bertrand to Baines as had Clyne,Bertrand and Forster the last few weeks.
Here's hoping Costa takes a well deserved break for a while:)

dahat

Selling for Aguero

FHFC wrote: »

No way I'll be selling before QPR, value be damned.

I honestly think people are mad selling before Saturdays game. At this point Costa could be a differntial come Saturday.

Ziegler1988

Selling for Welbeck/Lukaku/Berahino/etc.

Things are grand once you free yourself of the Costranglehold

Rikand

Already sold him (*cough* PARlance *cough*)

Did Jose say anything about him tonight ?

Lemlin

Selling for Aguero

From Ben Dinnery at FPL Injuries:

"Story originated from one interview -- not even sure #Costa needs surgery".

honeybear

I feel like just giving my ff account details and letting somebody get rid of him for me...I can't do it myself but am sick of not knowing whether he will start

dahat

Selling for Aguero

Ziegler1988 wrote: »

Things are grand once you free yourself of the Costranglehold

Easy say that now, wait till the weekend panic sets in especially when he knocks in a goal after 10mins...

Ziegler1988

Selling for Welbeck/Lukaku/Berahino/etc.

dahat wrote: »

Easy say that now, wait till the weekend panic sets in especially when he knocks in a goal after 10mins...

Would be a sickener if he gets a hat trick for sure, but I'm happier with Pelle and Baines at the moment. Once Pelle's fixtures get sticky or Welbeck continues to underwhelm I'll reassess

FHFC

Already sold him (*cough* PARlance *cough*)

Lemlin wrote: »

From Ben Dinnery at FPL Injuries:

"Story originated from one interview -- not even sure #Costa needs surgery".

Having just got back to wifi land and been able to get caught up on my google research I'm at a loss to know what all the fuss is about really.

There is practically nothing on an alleged operation other than one journalist/ pundits 'inside' view/opinion in an interview with NBC Sports.

There are numerous quotes from Jose saying he expects Costa to play this Saturday having had a further week to recover. Matic is quoted saying he trained last Saturday but felt still some pain so they decided not to risk him. Reading some of the forum you'd nearly believe he was prepped on an operating table as we speak and not gonna play for the forseeable.

Unless he has a further injury setback (which of course is not impossible) I'd 100% expect him to play on Saturday. And the beast is sure to be hungry at this stage......