Chelsea FC: Are the Blues Too Reliant on Diego Costa?
Diego Costa has taken the Premier League by storm, scoring eight goals in six matches. The former Atletico Madrid man is truly rampant—music to the ears of every Chelsea supporter. Yet, might there be an inherent danger with having such an injury-prone forward taking on the Blues' goalscoring burden?
A clear nonsense to Blues' fans still recovering from the lean years of Fernando Torres, but looking at Liverpool, for instance, losing your talisman—for any period of time—with no equal replacement is a perilous proposition.
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Jose Mourinho has voiced his concern with the Brazilian-born Spanish international's weekly regimen, per Sky Sports, but with Didier Drogba's ankle rendering him out of service and Loic Remy still not completely match fit, the Portuguese has no real option but to risk Costa three times in seven days.
It would seem Chelsea are overly dependent on their £32 million man for goals. When Drogba lead the line vs. Schalke 04, we saw a regression to 2013/14 patterns, similarly when Remy started in the League Cup. Barring their 1-0 victory against Sporting Lisbon (when Chelsea missed four golden opportunities) the Blues have been an offensive force when starting Costa.
Considering Chelsea have largely abandoned the effective defensive approach from last season, goals are imperative to prolonged success. On pace for 120 Premier League goals after six matches, should Costa be sidelined for an indeterminate amount of time—especially during the December-January schedule—there is every chance the chasing pack will catch up to the rabbit-like Blues.
Making decisions on hypotheticals and "possible scenarios" could be a faulty foundation on which to make footballing decisions, but electing to play Costa multiple times a week, then sending him to the Spanish national team, is simply asking for trouble.
To answer the title question: "Are the Blues Too Reliant on Diego Costa?"
In short: Yes.
As long as the forward is fit, however, there are no problems—but expecting a player who missed multiple games last season in Madrid, and has already had three hamstring concerns while under Chelsea's books must set an alarm. Not only an alarm to Mourinho, Roman Abramovich and Blues' supporters, but to Costa's teammates.
Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Andre Schurrle and the full accompaniment of attacking talent must be aware: Should the Premier League's leading scorer find himself injured, the onus will turn to them for offensive production.
When a player scores eight goals in six games, other's offensive commitments may slightly drop into complacency. As one of the world's foremost football minds, Mourinho will be sure not to let this mindset creep in, but the notion Chelsea—at present—are playing offensively with all hands on decks seems far too fantastical.
Chelsea's attacking midfield must maintain the same greediness they have had since 2012/13. The addition of Costa is unquestionably beneficial, but what sets this Chelsea side apart is unpredictability; should their Spanish hitman become the opposition's chief cause of concern, it would suggest other facets of the Blues' game are slightly off.
In the unwanted situation Costa is unavailable for selection, any inference Mourinho's side could suffer from stage fright needs to be ousted.
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