The Belgian’s task was made easier, in truth, by the decision of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho to drop Diego Costa after a very public bust-up during the Champions League 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv in midweek.
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Costa reacted angrily by tossing his substitute’s bib at Mourinho, his second open altercation with the Portuguese born manager in the last five days.
“For me his behaviour was normal”.
Mourinho was happy with a much-improved display and had a message for his team.
But, the bib missed Mourinho by a couple of inches and he joked in his post-match press conference that if Costa indeed wanted to hurt him, he would not do it with a training bib.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next 10 matches we don’t lose one”, Mourinho said after the game.
Having been benched for Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, Costa took off his warm-up bib and threw it in Mourinho’s direction after it had become clear in stoppage time that he would not be used, per the Independent’s James Orr.
“I think Diego is very privileged because he was the last one to be (put) on the bench. We start the season as a team and we have to finish as a team”, said Ivanovic.
“Us, the players, are not happy either”. Chelsea only had one shot on target in the second half from Hazard, so I think we deserved more. “He has a problem in his ankle”, Pochettino said after the game, as quoted by FourFourTwo. He is working well every day and his mood is positive.
“I have never had a player who didn’t go out for a warm up”.
Chelsea will back themselves for maximum points as they come up against bottom-placed Bournemouth on Saturday.
“I do not expect to have a player on the bench jumping and shouting because he is not playing”.
Reigning champions Chelsea went into the match only four points above the relegation zone, so will view this as a platform from which to kick-start their stuttering league season.
Spurs seemed to suffer with fatigue after playing in the Europa League on Thursday evening, and they were not able to overcome a resilient Chelsea side. “And Pedro is a good player, a risky player, and we are going that way”. “If we had won 1-0, our performance would have been considered tremendous”.
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“I’m convinced that, by the end of December, we’ll be in a different position to now and we’ll have shortened the difference to the top teams”.
