SpartyBlue

I think that he'd be quite a smart buy at this point. He's a serious physical presence (6'5") and scored 15 in 28 starts and 5 sub appearances in the league. Most of his goals were converting crosses with his head which is what we need and he obviously has a repoire with Siggy. I'm not sure how his hold up play is but I think he'd be really solid for what we need for a year or two (as has been mentioned) while we find the perfect longterm option. His physicality alone will force defenses to account for him and open up space for others.

He does look promising. Obviously not a great league but he seems to be an intelligent player with a pretty well rounded skill set. Good at creating space for himself.

Why would he badmouth his teammates after winning the title with them and while he's trying to secure a move? I think that he's out of favor with Conte so quickly is an indication of the type of respect he garners at Chelsea.

I may be in the minority here but I don't want Costa regardless of what help he might provide on the pitch. He's one of the worst characters in world football and I'd be embarrassed to see him wearing an Everton shirt. He's stomped, spit on and headbutted opponents. On top of that he's an egregious diver and managed to find himself out of favor at Chelsea despite contributing to a title. There's a difference between being scrappy and difficult to play against and simply being a dirty player. He is very clearly the latter.

The club/local authorities and, ultimately, the more reasonable fans need to be incentivized to police this themselves. In order for that to happen the penalties have to be harsher and/or enforced more liberally. If your club behaves consistently bad and it starts costing you a chance to play in Europe or the fines are an amount that will effect transfer business they will have no choice but to really address it. It's similar to players diving. When there is no real punishment for simulation there is no reason for players to change their tactics. As an American, i am both horrified and fascinated by these sorts of incidents. It's just not something we deal with hardly at all when it comes to sports. It's laughable to think of Yankees fans roaming the streets looking to take on visiting Cleveland Indians supporters.

From this year's earlier qualifying rounds. Reading more about UEFA discipline, I'm not sure why Lyon is even allowed in Europe this season. They and Besiktas were both given bans from the next UEFA competition they qualified for but both were deferred for 2 years and those clubs were placed on probation. Subsequently, several charges were made against Lyon during their Europa semifinal with Ajax. It's a little unclear whether they were actually found guilty but, assuming they were, I don't know how this wouldn't be a violation of their probation. A more conspiratorial individual might conclude that they are being given leniency because they are hosting the final. http://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/disciplinary/index.html

Here we go again... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4762664/Aberdeen-Apollon-Limassol-face-UEFA-charges.html

If you're saying he wasn't that bad given his circumstances than that's a different argument.

Wouldn't associate Costa with the word class.

He just needs to learn to make better decisions about when to attack and try to beat his man. At first he was going forward in some situations where a simple pass was a better choice and now he's doing the opposite. If we do send him on loan it needs to be at as high a level as possible so he can learn to strike a balance and improve his decision making. If we sent him to League 1 he'd just win with talent alone and I don't think that would serve him or us well long term.

They've finished in the bottom half of Serie A every year since promotion looks like (2011-2012) before last year's 4th. Don't know their circumstances but it's possible that last year was a bit fluky.

If he were a few inches taller he would not be quite as quick most likely so there are pros and cons.

Agreed. I think that ball may have been deflected a touch as well. That was an incredible save and will likely be underrated.

yea that was genius to run from deep like that. It's basically unstoppable when the ball is played on time and they are trying to hold a line

What's that? Only up 2-1 on aggregate? Hostile environment? Playing awful? Gylfi- "Hold my beer"

And that's how you become a fucking legend in your first start. My word.

Agreed that's too much. I'd rather have that guy from Real Sociedad

It's an approach that has worked for a certain politician here in America.

I think it's wrongiest*

Solid post. The real test for me will be next season. By then he'll have had 4 full transfer windows and time for the new players to gel. It may take longer than that (perhaps until the stadium) to legitimately bridge the gap to the top 6 but by then we should be getting close and really putting ourselves in that conversation.

Gonna be hard to find someone we "know" is good enough who would come to a non champions league club. Whoever we bring in is likely to be a bit of a gamble. On the bright side we don't need a 20+ goal scorer with how our team is structured now.

You're making the assumption that however the players performed tactically it was because RK had instructed them to do so. Given that Koeman expressed frustration that we didn't do more high tempo passing in the second half, and that he changed formation while subbing in two attack minded midfielders prior to their equalizing goal, I find it unlikely he wanted us to play in the way you describe.

I think your'e overstating what happened in the first 30 minutes. They didn't have any clear cut chances really and we looked threatening on the break. In the few minutes leading up to our goal they were certainly dangerous and should have scored but it's City at home against an Everton side that is still learning itself and who didn't have it's best lineup. High expectations are fine but yours are a little unreasonable at this early stage.

I don't mind the first yellow on Walker. He came in dangerously and you don't need to make contact in those situations for it to be a foul.

I imagine it'll be a wild second half as it goes on. They are gonna have to throw bodies forward at some point and, down a man, there will be opportunities for us countering. I would argue that Because Rooney makes such good decisions and finds those pockets of space he'll be important in those moments.