Mourinho will be hoping Diego Costa produces a similar response after the striker was left on the bench at Tottenham. “For me no question marks”. “Diego is the type of player who always tries”. No problems, no problems at all.
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“They consulted me about the moment to do it, and I told them a bit far from Christmas because Christmas will be really busy”. But he is a player that always tried. That’s the only thing that matters to me. Very good. I can not say better than ever because, normally, he trains very well.
Jose Mourinho clearly feels Chelsea are at the end of a crisis because, at the conclusion of his press conference yesterday, he stood there willing to engage in a bit of fun about who should replace Gary Neville as Sky pundit.
Costa was asked to warm up late on, but then reacted to not being brought on by tossing his bib seemingly in the direction of Mourinho.
“We know how fundamental he was for us”.
“But to lose your best goalkeeper for three months, and 19 matches in all competitions…”
“The Premier League is crucial for us too, every point is important, because we want to finish top four”.
While it remains to be seen whether Costa will return to the starting XI for the west Londoners’ Premier League meeting with Bournemouth this weekend, speculation about his future has been mounting.
The Blues boss confirmed a triple injury blow with the news that John Terry, Ramires and Radamel Falcao will all miss the game through injury.
Over the last few days, rumours linking Paris Saint-Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Stamford Bridge have intensified. “But collectively, yes (that is it)”, said Mourinho, when asked about Christmas celebrations.
The manager insisted there is “no problem” with Costa and also revealed that he does treat him a little differently to the rest of the squad precisely because of that “impulsive” personality. “There were 25 players inside (the nightclub) and they only photographed three”. Not lucky ones. As a team, they performed really well: good discipline, communication, reading of the game. These are the games you want to be involved in. “I didn’t expect to be so close to them (in the table) but I think they are in a false position (14th)”.
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“I think they needed it, yes”.
