After an understandably tired looking performance at home to Manchester City, the general feeling around Stamford Bridge was that a 1-1 draw to maintain the five-point gap at the top was a reasonably positive result. Especially with notable absentees including Spanish playmaker Cesc Fàbregas and the Premier League’s leading goal-scorer, Diego Costa. The latter would be sorely missed in any team and the £32million man has brought more than just his remarkable tally 17 Premier League goals thus far to José Mourinho’s team this season.
Costa is a real throwback in today’s modern game. He goes onto the field with one sole intention: to help his team by making it as difficult as he possibly can for the opposition. Whether it is through a well-taken goal, pressing the defenders into a mistake, constantly running the channels or incorporating some of the dark arts of the game, Costa will duly oblige. The dark arts were out in force in Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool (AET) as Costa appeared to make an attempt to ‘stamp’ on Emre Can. Despite each leg being fiercely contested by both sides as expected of a domestic cup-tie as well as an apparent lack of control of the second leg by Michael Oliver, Costa’s incident with Can that prompted the FA to charge the Brazilian-born forward with violent conduct and an immediate three-match suspension.
However, I can only feel that the FA were wrong to charge Costa, a man who truly plays on the edge. Firstly it was impossible to prove Costa intended to tread on Can as his eyes were firmly fixed on the ball during the entirety of the incident. Secondly, the FA has let previous incidents of a far more malice and vicious nature go uncharged, with two challenges from Agüero instantly springing to mind. The first of which, a two-footed lunge on David Luiz in an FA Cup semi-final in April 2013 and a stamp on West Ham’s Mark Noble this season at Upton Park. Yet both incidents went unpunished as the FA claim not to take retrospective action if a referee has seen/dealt with the issue on the pitch. Such an ineffective method of enforcing punishment for violent conduct however, will only serve to reduce refereeing standards and breed inconsistency.
Unlike many of the rising stars in Chelsea’s academy that enjoyed trophy-winning Under-21 and Under-18 campaigns last season, Costa developed his skills on the streets of São Paulo aged just 15 as he moved from the remote town of Lagarto seeking work. Often playing with people of all ages for hours upon hours, a young Costa was forced to learn the tricks of the street quick to not only enhance his ability but also to protect himself, something that Costa has previously alluded to: “I became used to playing with guys who were older than me so it was not only about playing football but also about being street-smart as well. You had to not only be able to do all the tricks but to be able to shield the ball, use your body. You had to know how to be able to play on the streets because they were different. We had our own rules over there and that’s the way it was in order to survive. But what mattered was scoring goals and winning.”
Therefore Costa is somewhat of an uncut diamond, bringing the tricks of the street to the professional game and now onto the shores of the Premier League. Yet Costa’s commitment to the cause lifts those around him as summed up recently by fan-favourite Eden Hazard: “When you play with this guy, you have to give everything. You can see in every action and for every ball, he gives his life.” Costa’s style received similar support from another team-mate, this time Gary Cahill: “It’s his character. It’s the way he plays. He’s a handful for a defender. One of his attributes, as well as his skills and scoring fantastic goals, is that he puts his foot in. He makes it difficult and uncomfortable for defenders. Would you change him? Probably not, and I don’t think you should. Certainly as a team-mate, he’s somebody you want in your team. It’s a strength he has. You have seen how good he is with his feet and how skillful he is for a big guy but the way he has adapted to the Premier League – he is a physical guy.”
Love him or loath him, Costa brings a great degree of excitement to the Premier League and every fan would have him leading the line of their club. Gary Neville, who enjoyed a fantastic career with Manchester United and accumulated 85 caps for England has spoken of his admiration of Costa. Now a leading pundit and commentator for Sky Sports, as well as a coach in the English national team set-up, Neville’s opinion goes a long way in this current football climate as he had the following to say: “Diego Costa is horrible to play against and I applaud him for it. Brendan Rodgers argued afterwards that Costa’s behaviour was not good for the game. I actually felt it made the game. It was everything I expect to see in a high-intensity, quality game… the idea that Costa’s behaviour was violent is nonsense. I don’t believe it was highly dangerous, or capable of snapping a leg, which would be despicable. The Skrtel clash was nothing; the Can one was a little bit naughty, no more.” Adding to Costa’s defence was Paul Scholes, another former Manchester United legend who highlighted Costa’s patience throughout the Liverpool game:“As for Diego Costa, I see it differently to the rest. I thought his actions were at the lower end of the scale of dangerous and that he was under extreme provocation from Martin Skrtel, who has wound him up before this season.My view of it was that Costa gets kicked a lot and actually his patience is to be admired in many, if not all, situations.”
