Diego Costa dominated the headlines again this weekend as he scored the opening goal in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over struggling Premier League champions, Leicester.
The elusive forward also found his name in the papers after asking to be substituted, with four yellow cards to his name already this season, Costa is one away from a suspension. With the return of Jose Mourinho looming on Sunday, it was vital that Costa kept himself out of trouble.
Rightfully so, Antonio Conte brushed off and completely ignored the Spaniard’s plea and the striker would go one to complete 90 minutes without a yellow card.
In the past, Costa has been known for his poor discipline, and whilst he may already have four yellow cards in seven games, there’s been a noticeable change in his play and his ability to draw fouls, using defenders to his advantage.
What seems to be lacking from his game is the element of self-belief, that he could manage a whole 90 minutes without finding his name in the referee’s book. Costa doesn’t want to be suspended, and definitely not for the Manchester United game, so you could argue his intentions are good, he meant well.
By keeping him on the pitch, Conte is not only reassuring the striker who is in charge of the team, he’s also re-installing the belief into the Spaniard’s game. In time, this will continue, and there may be an inevitable period where Costa does get banned. But Conte will be putting that belief back into Costa’s game and over the course of the season, you would back his disciplinary record to improve.
When that aforementioned record improves, you can imagine that will be coupled with more goals. The former Atletico man has started the new season on fire under Conte.
Chelsea’s head coach has got the Spaniard back doing what he does best, with seven goals to his name in just seven games, boasting a 70% shot accuracy. This is a man who scored just 12 goals throughout the whole of last season, failing to break into the league’s top 10 scorers.
Costa is getting himself into more central areas and is showing some of the predatory form that was so impressive in his debut season for Chelsea. Six of those seven goals have come from inside the penalty box.
Speaking after the Leicester win, Conte was keen to utilise the striker as much as possible in his team, as reported by ESPN.
If I can, I [always] keep Costa until the end of the game. He’s an important player for us because he has a good personality. He transfers his passion and we need this passion in every moment of the game.
Without it being noticed, Costa has soon become a crucial cog in Conte’s squad. He’s looking leaner and stronger and following a full summer to recover and bat away any niggling injuries, Chelsea are reaping the benefits.
