Zealous wrote:Seems like a good fit but we'll have to wait and see how it pans out though. La Liga is very different to other leagues so he might struggle at first.

Underrated point. List of players coming to La Liga and it taking some time to get the hangs of things is quite long, even those who fit.

I think it will help he is being coached by Simeone though.

 

This is definitely a better option for Mandzu than being benched by Lewandowski

urbaNRoots wrote:Costa has better movement, link-up play, passing, shooting, finishing, speed etc...

No. Just no.

Surely not better in link up play and speed, the others are debatable. Costa has better finishing though, that's the only point where I agree.

Haha, Pep should've kept him just like Gustavo. And later in the news cycle: Kroos.

Agent Pep.
Bringing glory to Dortmund like a boss.

The notion of anyone having a worse link up play than Costa is very funny to me.

Well personally if I had the choice i'd pick Mandzu over Costa any day. And considering they've made a profit too i'd say this was the ideal replacement (On paper at least)

A good move, this, for both parties. Atletico replace their star striker with a player they know can score goals and Mandzukic knows he will be the number one striker at Atletico (who have quite the tendency to make their strikers look world-class). Win-win.

Lets see if Mandzukic can score 35+ like Costa did last season since it's all due to Simeone's system and nothing else.

Gil wrote:Lets see if Mandzukic can scored 35+ like Costa did last season since it's all due to Simeone's system and nothing else.

And then let's compare it to how many goals Costa will score for Chelsea

urbaNRoots wrote:When are we going to discuss what a flop he's been?

20 goals in 42 appearances? More goals than Giroud

Hapless_Hans wrote:

urbaNRoots wrote:When are we going to discuss what a flop he's been?

20 goals in 42 appearances? More goals than Giroud

O boy...

If you want to nitpick, we could just as well say it's his first year in a new team while Giroud is settled.

In any case, whether you think it's decent or just meh, it's surely not a flop.

Falcao was a flop. Balotelli was a flop. WELBECK was a flop. Manzukic had a decent season.

I for one agree with Hans

Someone call a doctor to check me up O.o

urbaNRoots wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:If you want to nitpick, we could just as well say it's his first year in a new team while Giroud is settled.

In any case, whether you think it's decent or just meh, it's surely not a flop.

Falcao was a flop. Balotelli was a flop. WELBECK was a flop. Manzukic had a decent season.

Atletico Madrid signed him for €22m as a starting striker, started well, since then has been relegated to the bench and the club are now willing to sell him for €15m after one year but yeah he had a decent season.

You don't have to defend this donkey anymore.

Actually it is more to do with him falling out with Simeone.

I think he's done as expected. Or what were people expecting? He's not world-class, never has been. He's the kind of striker Bayern Munich used to like before Pep. Mario Gomez scored some insane, world-class numbers at Bayern Munich, but he never was world-class, either. It's been shown at Fiorentina, where Gomez has been a flop. Mandzukic has pretty much maintained his Bayern level at Atletico: 20 goals in all comps this season, while he had 22 and 26 goals in all comps at Bayern.

If people were expecting something significantly better from Mandzukic, their expectations simply were too high to begin with.

Gomez scored 28 in 32 and 35 in 44 before he joined Bayern tbf but I agree that he wasn't world class.

He is the kind of striker that succeeds in Serie A because of his style, he may not be world class but he is great player.

Upgrade from Llorente

Gomez is a one-trick pony, always has been. At his particular trick, he might've been the world's best for a couple of seasons, but almost no team actually wants to field a player of that type. Fiorentina also don't play counter-heavy enough for him. Mofo loves to counter.

Failing that, at least get him some decent crosses, which he also doesn't get.

Of course it's his own fault for not learning any new tricks, but at the same time I feel like the scouts should've known what kind of player he is, and isn't.

I still maintain he fits the description of "world class" in the penalty box striker category, it's just that nobody plays those anymore.

He left cause he had a huge falling out with Simeone.