Mourinho and Costa had a touchline row against Maccabi on Tuesday over the striker’s lack of movement, and the Chelsea manager said last night the player was not now at his sharpest.
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Costa scored 20 goals last season but he has scored just four times during this campaign.
Spurs are unbeaten in the league since the opening matchday of 2015/16, whilst in the corresponding fixture last season, they beat Chelsea 5-3. I was the one performing and I was the one who had to show that I was good.
“You can understand that this one could be a bit more hard”, said Drogba.
“Nobody speaks about them as title contenders, like they speak about Man City, Man United”.
The number of ongoing battles off the pitch is certainly not decreasing as the season progresses and is becoming more and more of a distraction to the team. “They lose a couple of matches and nothing happens”.
‘It is imperative that managers lead by example and Mourinho is at risk of being portrayed as the petulant child, throwing his toys out of the pram when decisions don’t always go the way he thinks they should…’ “You have to anticipate and read the game faster”.
“He’s not reading the game properly”. With just three goals from 11 appearances – he had already netted 11 goals this time last term – he has been ineffective and has often cut a frustrated figure up front.
Mourinho told a news conference on Friday afternoon: “When you speak because you want to sell books, I don’t read”.
“Other players have to come up with this mentality, you are not born with it. You build it. Maybe you have it in you but you build it”. At the end of his career, he will be hailed as one of the greats with Champions League, Premier League, Copa del Rey and Europa League trophies in the cabinet, alongside many more.
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“He told me also a few nice words from where he was, and nothing happened”. They give conditions, without any kind of pressure, for the young players to develop in the team. “Of course there’s a space in the top four [up for grabs]”, added Mourinho.
