Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho certainly isn’t afraid to light a fire under his star players but had a fascinating analysis of star midfielder Eden Hazard – who he played as the forward in their 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur.
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Mourinho admitted Costa was unhappy about being left out of his starting line-up and the 27-year-old made little attempt to hide his displeasure. I think it’s also normal.
Mourinho was happy with a much-improved display and had a message for his team.
After Diego Costa’s antics with Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourdinho, stand-in captain Branislav Ivanovic has come out and warned all his teammates to put the team ahead of anything else, in the club.
Mourinho, who only five days previously had a blazing row with Costa on the pitch against Maccabi Tel Aviv, insisted he maintained a good relationship with the player.
Speaking after the 0-0 draw, Mourinho said that Costa was “privileged” to have been on the bench. Today we thought this was the best strategy and we are happy with the decisions.
“Diego is physically fine, no problems”. He’s always a positive guy in the team.
Stand-in skipper Ivanovic said: “I expect Diego to come back strongly. He is privileged I kept him in the team so long”.
“It is not easy, we are the youngest team in the Premier League and the maturity that we showed today and in other games means we need to feel happy”.
“You aren’t going to make any difference with him, the next time you leave him out he’ll be exactly the same when he’s sitting on the bench – he’s one of those fellas”.
Spurs enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and chances and forced some decent work in the first half from Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic as they went a 13th straight league game without defeat, their best run since a 14-match streak in 1984-1985.
“After these three results in a row, we can look to December – when we have three matches at Stamford Bridge and two matches away at Manchester United and Leicester, two of the top teams – with enthusiasm”.
“We had control of the game and had the best chances. We deserved more in a very hard game”.
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Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino labelled his Tottenham players “heroes” for their efforts in the scoreless draw.
