Diego Costa Comments on Ban and Stamping Incident Involving Liverpool's Emre Can

Chelsea striker Diego Costa sat down with Jason Burt of The Telegraph on Saturday to discuss, among other things, his recent stamp on Liverpool midfielder Emre Can and subsequent ban.

The Football Association suspended Costa three matches for the incident, which happened during a League Cup semifinal between Chelsea and Liverpool.

In the interview with Burt, the 26-year-old Spanish international continued to plead his innocence:

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Suddenly Costa, who contested the charge, is serious. 'As far as what happened on Tuesday, the main thing is when I get home I can go home and I can go to sleep knowing that I've not done anything wrong, because I never meant to do that and it was not on purpose,' he explains.

'And you can clearly see that on the video. But it is a suspension. I have to accept that, I have to take it. Obviously I feel sad because I'm not going to be able to help the team, to play. But I have accept it and respect it.'

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Costa added that he won't apologize for his sometimes antagonistic style during a match. He said that he'll "always compete and compete—always."

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Many football fans find Costa's style rather repugnant, but he makes it clear that the edge he brings to every match is necessary for him to be a world-class centre-forward, much in the same way it's necessary for Luis Suarez.

Gary Neville wrote an impassioned defense of Costa for The Telegraph on Friday in which he argued the player gets far too much criticism:

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Every coach is desperate for leaders. Costa is a leader, as Hazard's comments tell us. Sport is not a place for flawless people. Tell me how many flawless people there are in society. The characteristics of role models, often, are a willingness to work hard, fight hard, display passion for a cause. Most coaches are scouring the game for people with these characteristics, and Costa is helping to turn Chelsea from a team who fell short last season into potentially one of the great Premier League teams.

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At the very least, it's hard to argue that Costa's approach doesn't yield results. He's Chelsea's leading scorer in the Premier League this year. His 17 goals are a little more than twice the output of Eden Hazard, who's second.

Last year, Costa was one of the driving forces behind Atletico Madrid's La Liga title and runner-up finish in the Champions League. He had 35 goals in 43 matches between the two competitions.

When he's not on the pitch for Chelsea, the Blues are a much different team, as evidenced by their 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Saturday. The home side had just three shots for the entire match, two of which were on target.

Costa's skill in front of goal is exactly what Chelsea lacked in Jose Mourinho's first season at Stamford Bridge.

Through 23 matches last year, the club had scored 43 goals and amassed 50 points while sitting third. Through 23 matches this season, the Blues own a five-point lead ahead of City with 53 points atop the league table, scoring 52 goals to this point.

Costa alone isn't responsible for that improvement, but he undoubtedly played a big role.

Given both his talent and penchant for stirring up trouble, Costa will almost certainly be the pantomime villain of the Premier League for years to come.