Chelsea manager José Mourinho insisted in his press conference on Friday that Chelsea were “all good” on the injury front, which included the likes of Diego Costa and Gary Cahill who each picked up knocks in last week’s friendly win over Barcelona in Washington, D.C.
But while Cahill featured for the Blues in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield, Costa was left out of the side and viewed the match as a spectator. Now, according to a report from the Evening Standard’s Sam Long, Radamel Falcao or Loïc Rémy could be in line to start Chelsea’s Premier League season-opener next week against Swansea due to Costa’s ongoing hamstring issue. The Brazilian-born Spaniard missed large chunks of last season due to the ailment, and as the 2015-16 season approaches it appears that his status may once again be uncertain for Mourinho’s men.
“I don’t know if he’ll be fit. You think I’m lying but I’m not. Two days ago [Costa] was ready, yesterday he trained normal.”
“Next Friday if you ask if he plays against Swansea I won’t answer. Maybe he will,maybe he won’t,” Mourinho insisted.
Mourinho is not always transparent when it comes to divulging injury information, so it remains to be seen as the week progresses whether Costa’s status improves before Saturday’s match against Swansea.
The possible hole up front left behind by Costa, who scored 20 goals last season in league play, could be filled by either Rémy of Falcao, who both played 45 minutes on Sunday but were unable to find a breakthrough goal against the Gunners.
Rémy started the match as Chelsea’s lone striker, but he was ineffective in the opening half and was caught offside numerous times in the process. His most productive play was a service in front of goal to Ramires, but the Brazilian could not put a headed effort on goal to take advantage. Likewise, Falcao was unable to have much of an impact in the second half, failing to register a shot on goal as the Blues could not produce an equaliser despite attack after attack. The Colombian, who suffered a major knee injury early in 2014, did not appear to be much better at Wembley than he was during a sub-par Copa América this summer in Chile.
Despite his poor showing today, Rémy proved effective when healthy last season, scoring nine goals and averaging 0.91 goals per 90 minutes played in league competition. Falcao spent last season on loan at Manchester United, where he scored four goals and added four assists before making the move to Stamford Bridge this summer.
