Diego Costa's Temper Tantrums Should Be Celebrated by Antonio Conte and Chelsea

To better understand Diego Costa we need only remember Rod Tidwell.

Tidwell was a wide receiver in the mid-1990s; one of the NFL's finest in his position while playing for the Arizona Cardinals. Much like Costa now, he was unfancied, though; seen as a loose cannon. He had got his way to the top by grafting—but with a chip firmly on his shoulder, he wasn't exactly the first player a marketing man would think of when the big commercial deals were available.

Because of that, Tidwell struggled. He was seen as unglamorous and his face didn’t quite fit. He wasn't the first name fans would consider when it came to the plaudits and as such, meant the player was underrated. The impression was that the wide receiver was good, but not that good. Indeed, he wasn't even liked much by his own fans at times.

Tidwell's public persona often went before his ability as a player, and it impacted his career. It was only when his agent, Jerry Maguire, convinced him that he should celebrate his best qualities and give the public what they wanted—to "dance" as Maguire put it—that he eventually got the recognition he had craved.

In the words of Tidwell, he wanted "Arizona dollars." He only got them by exploiting what it was that made Rod Tidwell, well, Rod Tidwell. It took Maguire to refine his qualities to reach the end game.

Forgetting Tidwell’s “Show me the Money” credo, there are similarities with Costa; the big difference being that the Chelsea striker is playing out his narrative in the real world. Tidwell was a character of fiction in Cameron Crowe's celebrated movie Jerry Maguire, although that fact doesn't mean we shouldn't take heed of the sentiment.

Tidwell was a unique case in Crowe’s version of the NFL; he riled people, especially his own coach, who was unwilling to budge on the reduced contracts he was offering. Tidwell came with too much baggage to be treated like a superstar.

Sure, there are exceptions, but overall the character we see on display from Costa represents the same thing as a man such as Tidwell. And just as Tidwell got his way by exploiting the gifts of his own character, it’s exactly how Costa is achieving now.

Catching those Hail Marys eventually made everything worthwhile for those who put up with Tidwell’s tantrums; scoring the goals he does at Chelsea is equally the same with Costa. He’s the Premier League’s leading goalscorer this season, and in the sort of form we find him, he’s going to be right up there come the end of the campaign. It would be madness to tell him to play any other way than how he is now.

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We know the Spain international has his demons. They’ve been on display often enough in the two years he has been in England, and followers of La Liga were no stranger to them when Costa was making his mark with Atletico Madrid.

Just like Diego Simeone did, Antonio Conte and Chelsea have to celebrate this trait in Costa, not suppress it. He’s a tortured genius, a man of significant talents that the Blues continue to benefit from.

Costa thrives on chaos, and so sublime is he in doing so that it’s in Conte’s interest to create an environment that prods that side of his psyche.

Some need serenity to flourish; Costa needs that feeling of anarchy.

Perhaps his manager has worked that much out already as, per a report from the Mirror's Darren Lewis this week, Costa's hissy fit in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Leicester City was sparked by the manager constantly badgering him from the sidelines.

We thought Costa was demanding to be substituted in order to avoid picking up a suspension ahead of a showdown with Jose Mourinho and Manchester United on Sunday as he is one yellow card away from a ban. No, there was more to it than that—Costa had just had enough of listening to Conte's voice.

That fact has grabbed the headlines; Costa's brilliance in leading the line has become a footnote.

Conte did well to play the incident down in the immediate aftermath, telling journalists in his press conference that Costa’s wants and needs when it comes to being substituted aren’t his concern—he makes the decisions at Stamford Bridge and nobody else.

Per the Mirror, Conte said:

"

If I can, I keep Costa on until the end of the game because he is an important player to us. He has a good personality, he is passionate, and we need all of this in every moment of the game.

I know that I risked today that if he took another yellow card he misses the next game [against Manchester United]. But I repeat, Costa is passionate and that’s important for the team. He must transfer this in every game and in every single minute with the team.

"

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“No, no, I decide every substitution because I take the responsibility in every situation, good or positive,” he added, when asked if Costa should have any input. “It’s always my decision to make substitutions.”

That passion Conte speaks of can be misinterpreted at times, not helped by the moments when Costa has fed the hyperbole that surrounds him. In the sort of mood we saw him in against Leicester, however, he is proving Chelsea’s biggest asset right now.

Costa has his focus back, and it’s resulting in him making the right kind of decisions in matches. His looping run from a Chelsea corner to lose Wes Morgan and score the game’s opening goal at the weekend showed us a player who is hungry again.

Whatever negative energy he has coursing through his veins, the end result is something so much more positive for the team and Conte. Costa is playing with that animal instinct that has been applauded in the greatest of strikers.

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That he is doing it with a scowl shouldn’t be the focus; the fact he is doing it should be.

It is the big concern here that where Costa is concerned, the natural reaction is to consider the negative. We begin to look for triggers in his behaviour that feed the narrative of him being the Premier League’s finest outlaw. There are times when it’s the case, but it isn’t in this moment; it hasn’t been since Mourinho was sacked last December.

Without the 19 goals Costa has scored since that time, Chelsea wouldn’t have made such strides in recovery. This team would remain as fractured as it was after that crushing Leicester defeat at the King Power Stadium 10 months ago.

Costa is the catalyst for Chelsea edging back to something resembling the team we expect to see, and he's doing it by being himself—by utilising his finest qualities.

“You’re my ambassador of quan, man,” an emotional Tidwell says to Maguire at the movie’s climax. He’s just been told of the new contract that will keep him in Arizona for the rest of his career and is emotional. It’s the moment when he realises the wisdom of his agent has paid dividends. Together they have made it happen.

Conte must do the same for Costa, as the rewards will make it all worthwhile.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes