By Gary Watton
August 2 2014
It was good to see Diego Costa smash home a fine goal in his first outing for the Blues. However, the gap between the two defenders that he sprinted through was so wide, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they were paid to be so obliging. Still, it was a well-taken goal. Okay, so DC didn’t score against Vitesse Arnhem, and no he’s not going to score in every fixture, but I wasn’t impressed when the spin came out that he was ‘goals provider’ in that match. To be honest, we need a goalscorer, not a goals provider. If at the end of the season Costa has only nine or ten goals, but his apologists state ‘but hey he provided goals for others’, that won’t wash with me. The CFC need a prolific scorer, and let’s hope that Costa is the answer.
Elsewhere, I’m sure that Arry Redknapp had a good chuckle when Samuel Eto’o demanded £120,000 per week to play for QPR. Samuel is liable to be injured for half the season, and let’s just say that whoever buys him will merely see glimpses of his former greatness.
Finally, I do remain disappointed that Lukaku has been sold. Mourinho suggests that he should have stayed and competed for a place, but RL has not surprisingly taken the view that he is an international who has a proven track record of scoring in the Premiership and he does not intend to play second fiddle to Costa, which is the likely scenario. Mind you, someone has waggishly suggested that Chelsea have only sold Lukaku because they can and are keeping Torres because they can’t sell him – at least not for the right price. I can’t believe that FT will be happy at the prospect of possibly being behind Costa and Drogba in the pecking order. It simply won’t do to keep Fernando as an impact substitute, because his record as a replacement is a wretched one, with the obvious exception of when he ran into an empty half of the field in the Nou Camp to score that match-clinching equaliser.
I am also sorry to see Bertrand farmed out on loan to Southampton. Will it be the making of him or just a prelude to a permanent move next year? I suspect the latter. It would be good if a few of the Chelsea youth get upgraded to the main squad this year, such as Ake or Chalobah or Zouma, but I won’t be holding my breath.