Diego Costa Finally Gives Roman Abramovich the Attacking Team He's Craved

STAMFORD BRIDGE, LONDON—For all the soundbites he enjoys bestowing upon the media, there are times when Jose Mourinho attempts to avoid headlines.

After beating Swansea City 4-2 at Stamford Bridge, this was surprisingly one of them.

Chelsea are clear at the top of the Premier League, sitting five points above Manchester City and six clear of Arsenal, but Mourinho didn't want to get too carried away.

"Between you [the media] and managers, there has always been a contradiction because you want players and names. I want team and collective," he said when asked about the influence of Cesc Fabregas and hat-trick hero Diego Costa.

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"You want to talk about Diego, you want to talk Fabregas. I want to talk about Chelsea, I want to speak about my team. I want to speak about maybe the player that you didn't see, like Ramires for example.

"I try to answer your question, but I don't want to talk about individuals too much."

Maybe in private, when he sits down with owner Roman Abramovich, Mourinho will talk about individual players like Costa, who is proving the difference for Chelsea already.

Once again, Chelsea fans were treated to a masterclass from the Spanish international, who increased his goal tally to seven in just four games this season following his match-winning hat-trick against the Swans. From being a goal down and largely outplayed in the first half, Costa rescued Chelsea with his header on the stroke of half time, before going on to all but win the game after the interval.

Struggling in front of goal last season, Chelsea are suddenly the Premier League's biggest threat, with 10 goals in their last two outings alone.

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They've conceded five goals in the process, but with Costa leading the line, Chelsea have the power to outscore teams these days.

Mourinho will rue the goals against column that sits at six already this term—at the same stage last year it was two—but Abramovich will relish the 15 that have gone in at the other end.

Boring, boring Chelsea have suddenly become scoring, scoring Chelsea.

The season remains in its infancy, but it's clear the need to park buses and win games by the odd goal has long departed Mourinho's thinking.

Chelsea are entertaining now like they never have since Abramovich brought the club in 2003. And Costa's the catalyst for it all.

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There have been moments of brilliance in the past decade or so, periods when they've threatened to win the popularity vote as well as titles with a silky brand of football, although now it feels a little different. It seems real.

The season has started with an explosion and shows no signs of abating.

First it was Andre Schurrle's exquisite team goal against Burnley and now Costa's hat-trick.

Chelsea are a team transformed.

"Overall, we deserved the victory," Mourinho added. "In the second half, we were much, much, much better.

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"We could play the football we want to play and we could give to the stadium what the stadium is always waiting for, which is win, but if possible, win in a beautiful way."

They're words we haven't often heard from the manager. It's always been about points on the board, pragmatism over style.

It's a philosophy that has been at odds with Abramovich, a man well known for adoring Barcelona's tiki-taka style.

Chelsea aren't quite that fluent, but they're entertaining nonetheless.

Mourinho was asked if, in Costa, he had found a player capable of scoring 30 goals a season.

"I am not looking for this," he responded.

That may be the case. Yet regardless of whether he meant to, he's found a player capable of granting Abramovich's wish.

*Unless noted, all quotes taken firsthand

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