Wait are we all trying to suggest we didn’t know what kind of player Diego Costa was before he arrived in Britain?

No, we all knew he was an aggressive warrior that would punish defenders all game with hard, robust challenges. He was always going to be walking on the wild-side.

Against Liverpool last night Costa was in no mood for playing friendly but in fairness no one should expect Costa to run around handing out flowers to opponents. He plays to his strengths which is being strong and clinical in and around the box. He works hard, is deceptively quick and is a determined figure on the park.

He also has a nasty streak and gets under the oppositions skin with his aggressive style and getting in their faces. In Spain they use the term ‘Mala Leche’ (Bad milk) to describe players like Costa. It means that they are players that play with an edge. I love that phrase and it sums up Diego Costa perfectly.

The Spanish forward is the type of player that opposition fans love to hate and that his own teams fans cherish close to their hearts.

I can’t really understand the up-roar and drama that his performance against Liverpool seems to have caused in the press and on social media.

The witch-hunt to see the forward punished for his stamps on Emre Can and Martin Skrtel looks a bit petty to me. Having seen the challenges a number of times I find it hard to say for certain that he deliberately went in to stand on the Liverpool duo. It’s extremely hard to analyse these types of incidents and determine intent. Yes Costa has previous with Liverpool and Skrtel in particular but that doesn’t mean we assume guilt on this occasion. When you have a powerful forward and an equally determined defender come up against each other then limbs intertwine and people collide with each other. If your eyes are on the ball (Costa’s seemed to be) then you can tread on opposing defenders if they are underfoot, its a fact of playing competitive football.

Now I am not going full Jose Mourinho and state he definitely didn’t mean it but my point is that it’s extremely difficult to prove that he meant it.

I find the Liverpool fans reaction slightly bewildering as former hero Luis Suarez was the exact same in terms of niggling challenges and a determined spirit. They would forgive the Uruguayan anything, yet can’t see the similarities in Costa’s style. But hey-ho football fans are fickle and have heavily tinted spectacles.

I am all for judging using TV replays as long as its across the board. Costa should have been awarded a penalty last night but wasn’t. Plus an argument could be made that Skrtel shouldn’t have been playing after his elbow on Diego in the first leg. Plus why are we not commenting of Englishman Steven Gerrard’s use of his head against Costa last night? Is it one rule for one and not the other?

To be honest I have no problem with just leaving it to the ref and how he controlled the two games. It all evened its self out in my opinion.

Now I am not a Chelsea fan but I have enjoyed watching Diego Costa this season. He’s brought that edgy style that just pisses off every person that comes up against him. The hitman has a no-nonsense game and that includes scoring plenty of goals. There isn’t another forward of his ilk in the English game and defenders are still trying to get to grips with him (quite literally).

So I hope that the FA don’t rush in and charge the player and ban him for the league’s biggest game this season as it would be unjust and taint the Chelsea Man City encounter.

Posted on January 28th, 2015 by scott
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