So, unless you’ve been under a rock since the start of pre-season, you’ll know, Chelsea have been a little off form lately.
Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s much worse than being off form. There are a number of serious problems at Chelsea and one of them, comes from a player that was influential to our title winning team last season, Diego Costa.
If there was ever a game where you needed to turn up, for the sake of your manager, it was yesterday. Jose was not present at Stoke, as we all know, so it was down to the players. Each one of them had to step up and take responsibility for the poor season we have endured.
Whilst we lost the game, on a whole, each player didn’t play too badly. Baba Rahman struggled against Xherden Shaqiri, but the intent and effort was there regardless. For Costa, however, the same cannot be said.
Granted, this is Stoke away, you know what you’re going to get when you travel to the Britannia. Defensively they’ll be solid and robust. Does that mean Costa should be more focused on Ryan Shawcross rather than finding the back of the net?
Throughout the game, Chelsea lacked a real cutting edge with Costa lacking movement and any real threat, despite the odd shot here and there. The Spaniard has looked a shadow of the player that took the Premier League by storm last season.
Costa and Shawcross were embodied in their own personal battle from the first to last minute of the game. It even came to the point where Diego decided to insult the former Manchester United defender on how he smelt! Of course he smelt Diego, he had been running around and putting some effort in, it is only natural. Maybe if you did the same, you’d smell similar!
I do have some sympathy for the striker, I feel Shawcross got off lightly for his ‘elbow’ on the striker. The defender knew exactly what he was doing and went out of his way to deliberately try and injure the striker. However, he was only booked.
When Loic Remy came off the bench, he instantly changed Chelsea’s focal point in attack, he was willing to make runs in behind and test Stoke’s back line. He also, unfortunately, failed to convert Chelsea’s best chance of the game, when he rounded Jack Butland but failed to convert from short range.
Many have praised Remy for staying on his feet, but the majority have criticised him for not going down. For me, Remy cannot win here. If he goes down and doesn’t win the penalty, he’d be ridiculed for going down when he had a chance to score. Unfortunately, if he starts, Remy just does not pose the threat that Diego Costa does.
Without the Spaniard in our starting XI, we lack fight and determination, but yesterday was too much. The main focus of the game yesterday became all about Ryan Shawcross. Which is exactly what the Stoke defence would have wanted, they knew exactly what they were doing. It became slightly embarrassing to watch, especially after he decided to clash with a steward. Admittedly, Diego didn’t do anything wrong there, the steward just didn’t fancy giving the ball back, but it is more bad press against Chelsea. The situation has since been resolved between both clubs with no further action needed, but it just isn’t what you want your lead striker to be involved in.
There was a moment in the second half were Costa went on a tricky little run and beat two Stoke players with a lovely bit of footwork, but ruined it all by throwing himself to the ground in an ‘attempt’ to win a foul. Partner that with the continuous knocks and injuries he seems to sustain, you have to question how much of a long-term solution Diego Costa is to Chelsea.
One reason behind the striker’s poor form has to be his lack of competition behind him. Radamel Falcao has been non-existent since his arrival at Chelsea, scoring just the one goal this season. Loic Remy has built a reputation to being the super sub for Chelsea. The 28-year-old is yet to score in the Premier League this season. This is no excuse for Costa, though.
Many would argue that Costa simply needs to focus on trying to find the back of the net, rather than trying to pick fights with opposing defenders. Can Chelsea afford to drop him? To be honest, no. Remy deserves a chance to impress in the starting XI, but can he pose a similar threat to Costa?
It does look like Costa is wearing thin on Chelsea fans whilst he is performing the way he is. If he cannot focus on his own, Roman Abramovich should be prepared to splash the cash on a striker, if not in January, definitely in the summer.
