Blues boss Mourinho dropped the Spain worldwide and played without a recognised striker at White Hart Lane, wherehis side drew 0-0.
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“For me his behaviour is normal”. I just want them to be mentally ready to play when I need them.
“If we deserve credit for keeping a clean sheet, then I think Tottenham deserves even more credit because we were the more unsafe team”, he said.
“I think we can look to December with enthusiasm”. But, after the player’s angry clash with José Mourinho on the stroke of half-time during the Champions League match in Haifa last Tuesday, they will monitor his attitude closely in training to be sure he is in the right frame of mind to return to the starting lineup. I kept him in the team for all these matches and today we thought the best strategy to play was this one.
“We showed good performances in the last few games, and I’m happy, but we have to keep working hard”.
Mourinho said Costa who has scored only four goals from 20 appearances so far this season is both mentally and physically fine. “He works well, every day his mood is positive, he is the positive guy in the team”, Mourinho told post-match reporters.
“I expect Diego to come back strongly”.
The Chelsea manager said before the game that his out-of-sorts Spanish striker was lacking confidence and Costa certainly did not look a happy soul when, late on, he realised he was not going to be brought on as a substitute.
Mourinho says Costa warmed up when instructed to do so.
“If he [Costa] watched the game with some attention from the bench he will know what is needed from him”, he said.
The Belgium player replaced Costa as a false nine and went close to scoring on two occasions, leading Mourinho to describe Hazard’s performance as his best this season. Playing the way we played, I would not be surprised if we don’t lose one of the next 10 games. I was looking at the team on the pitch to give me a victor.
“We created enough chances to score”.
They now face a batch of supposedly winnable games to enhance their bid to take advantage of the most wide-open title race for years.
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Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has stated his expectation that Chelsea will recover from their poor start to the campaign.
