Costa

[Ozwhites]

Will worry about the merit of these signings next month...when I have clearer thinking!

[asturianblanco]

thats the price of average players these days. Trouble is, Costa isnt average, he's........

[MrsORichSenior]

Being present watching most of his matches the pace of Costa combined with hold up play of Patrick Bamford meant Leeds always had an outlet to occupy the other teams defence & midfield even when we didn't have possession which is important for our game plan.

So far in a Leeds United shirt Costa hasn’t seemed to have a 'defined role' in the Leeds attack.If Costa hugs the touchline it has often looked alien to the way Leeds usually build their attacks but WITH Pablo in the team Bielsa is always vocally encouraging him to stay high and wide and WITHOUT Pablo he tends to drift inwards more looking to find the ball - so 'appears' to be less effective to some fans,IMO.

When Hernandez returns to fitness it is almost certain that Costa will return to that wider position so that Leeds can revert back to Bielsa’s favoured game plan to overload the right hand side with him drifting inside with our right full back overlapping and Klich coming to support. Then with the opposition pulled over to the right the switch of play (to the opposite side of the pitch) we excel at would find Harrison positioned high and wide which was very successful prior to Xmas particularly on the counter attack.

That is why the club rates him and at 26,a team player,not selfish on/off the pitch and living disciplined lifestyle poses no embarrassment to the clubs corporate image activities,IMO,and obviously those ticked boxes are what Bielsa expects and hopefully Costa with consistent regular full backs behind him will become more prominent in the PL and exploit the time and space it will offer him.



MOT

[WTF11]

Being present watching most of his matches the pace of Costa combined with hold up play of Patrick Bamford meant Leeds always had an outlet to occupy the other teams defence & midfield even when we didn't have possession which is important for our game plan.

So far in a Leeds United shirt Costa hasn’t seemed to have a 'defined role' in the Leeds attack.If Costa hugs the touchline it has often looked alien to the way Leeds usually build their attacks but WITH Pablo in the team Bielsa is always vocally encouraging him to stay high and wide and WITHOUT Pablo he tends to drift inwards more looking to find the ball - so 'appears' to be less effective to some fans,IMO.

When Hernandez returns to fitness it is almost certain that Costa will return to that wider position so that Leeds can revert back to Bielsa’s favoured game plan to overload the right hand side with him drifting inside with our right full back overlapping and Klich coming to support. Then with the opposition pulled over to the right the switch of play (to the opposite side of the pitch) we excel at would find Harrison positioned high and wide which was very successful prior to Xmas particularly on the counter attack.

That is why the club rates him and at 26,a team player,not selfish on/off the pitch and living disciplined lifestyle poses no embarrassment to the clubs corporate image activities,IMO,and obviously those ticked boxes are what Bielsa expects and hopefully Costa with consistent regular full backs behind him will become more prominent in the PL and exploit the time and space it will offer him.



MOT

Sacko had pace, but no end product, and Costa is, whether with or without Hernandez in support, doing exactly the same, running very fast, and contributing nothing more than occasional diversions, not enough to justfy an 8-figure price tag thats for sure.

That he is living a disciplined lifestyle and "isn't embarrassing the club" is to be expected, and exactly what we get from players who DO contribute on the pitch, and who either did, or will cost us substantially less than Costas recent deal. He is not doing anything that indicates he is, or could be, "out of the ordinary" (for a Championship player mind) and certainly not PL-capable, quite the opposite.

We may be on the cusp of promotion, and it appears, with the JKA debacle and now this example of board room lunacy/profligacy, that the prospect of the riches from the PL have already addled the brains of those who hold the coroprate purse strings.

[MrsORichSenior]

Funny game football isn't it !

My opinion v your opinion = equals a good Forum read.
As a matter of interest who should we get then for that position or do we wait for the inflated summer transfer market with our PL ££££'s.

[LeedsFTW]

Costa was one of the best wingers in the championship when he was at Wolves. He absolutely terrified defences and a year ago it was a real coup that we were able to sign him at all.

I agree he appears to have fallen short of his own high standards so far, but this is his first season with us and Biesla. For some reason I thought he often played left wing at Wolves or was permitted to interchange positions more?

I think he defensive duties with us have shackled him a bit plus I dont think Bamord is agile enough to compliment him in attack.

We have a class player in Costa we just need to use him more effectively.

[WTF11]

Funny game football isn't it !

My opinion v your opinion = equals a good Forum read.
As a matter of interest who should we get then for that position or do we wait for the inflated summer transfer market with our PL ££££'s.

Precisely (on the opnion vs opinion remark).

It's a bit late to hypothesise about who we should get, having committed multi-millions already to the Costa deal.

My point/opinion was to do with a board who appear to be spending what don't have (where have we seen THAT before) and not in penny numbers, but £multi-million deals that appear to offer little value for money. I'm not going to remind everyone of the significant number of transfers in that when aggregated have resulted in monumental losses, but these recent deals are more of the same however they carry much bigger values and hence even more risk, particularly when PL status is by no means certain.

I suppose the (very) thin silver lining to not getting promoted would be that we avoid paying stupid money for JKA, but we will have Costas deal to finance in a place where purse strings will be VERY tight. If I was on the board (yeah, as if) I'd be making sure I plan for the worst (ensure that where possible, I DON'T increase the clubs cost base), hope for the best (identifying transfer targets that represent real value for money and an equally clear strengthening of the squad), not the other way round.

[MrsORichSenior]

Costa was one of the best wingers in the championship when he was at Wolves. He absolutely terrified defences and a year ago it was a real coup that we were able to sign him at all.

I agree he appears to have fallen short of his own high standards so far, but this is his first season with us and Biesla. For some reason I thought he often played left wing at Wolves or was permitted to interchange positions more?

I think he defensive duties with us have shackled him a bit plus I dont think Bamord is agile enough to compliment him in attack.

We have a class player in Costa we just need to use him more effectively.

This may help you to Costa's role within Bielsa play patterns.
https://totalfootballanalysis.com/co...alysis-tactics

MOT

[whitestomper45]

Funny not long ago folk were deriding MB for not starting him...

[whitestomper45]

What value any player (including Kalvin) after being properly tutored by the messia?

MB must be seeing that worth in him.