Tentative Tottenham Draw Shows Chelsea Can't Turn Their Back on Diego Costa
We're not talking about a well-earned draw for Chelsea—it's Diego Costa who has stolen the headlines.
That's despite the striker not playing any part as Jose Mourinho's men stopped Tottenham Hotspur in their tracks with a goalless draw this weekend.
It was already big news when Costa didn't make the lineup at White Hart Lane. Now after his apparent strop—seemingly throwing his warm-up bib in the direction of Mourinho late on—the striker has created a storm.
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"If he wants to hurt me, it would not be with a bib," Mourinho quipped in his post-match press conference, attempting to make light of it all.
Whether Costa targeted the manager or not isn't the point. It was the apparent lack of regard shown by the Spanish international.
Who behaves like that on the bench? Certainly not a professional footballer at one of the world's biggest clubs.
It's not befitting of a man of Costa's profile.
It doesn't say much for his character. Nor does it speak well of his current mood at Stamford Bridge.
Costa's actions were a very public declaration of disobedience toward Mourinho, but he's got his priorities wrong. Rather than react petulantly to being dropped, he needs to consider how Eden Hazard and others have behaved at times this season.
As Mourinho rightly pointed out, Costa isn't the first major casualty at Chelsea this term.
"I think Diego is very privileged," said the boss. "He is the last player to be on the bench. Everyone has been on the bench—the captain [John] Terry, [Branislav] Ivanovic, [Gary] Cahill, [Cesc] Fabregas, Pedro and player of the season Hazard."
Each of those has reacted the way Mourinho wanted—they've improved their performances. That's the task Costa faces now.
If "bibgate" has worked against Costa, he should take solace from the fact that Chelsea's performance against Spurs has probably done the opposite for him.
He's been far from his best this season, yet Mourinho must surely be kicking himself for not giving Costa an opportunity on Sunday.
Having matched an in-form Spurs for long spells, the game was there for the taking for the visitors.
They had kept the home side quiet by stifling Harry Kane, and as proceedings continued, Chelsea sniffed that they may well take all three points instead of one.
Indeed, Hazard came close when he forced Hugo Lloris into an excellent save to deny what would have been a wonder goal.
That volley was the closest Chelsea would come on the afternoon, and despite a solid defensive display, they lacked any real bite up front.
By the final whistle, Chelsea had defended a point rather than winning one.
The attacking threat was there as Pedro, Willian, Oscar and Hazard caused problems at times, but they lacked that counterpoint to provide an end product.
As he has proved so often in a Chelsea shirt, Costa would have been that man.
Indeed, there were similarities with this game and Chelsea's Capital One Cup final win over Spurs in March.
The match came exactly two months after Kane had rumbled Chelsea on New Year's Day in that 5-3 victory. We were expecting Mauricio Pochettino's men to give Chelsea a firm examination again.
Whether it was tactics or simply personnel, Chelsea were wise to it at Wembley. They nulled the threat of Kane and Christian Eriksen that day, which contributed heavily to Spurs lacking any real punch.
History repeated itself at White Hart Lane. They may have been favourites going into the game, but Mourinho's side set up to stop Spurs and they did.
The difference this time was no striker.
Costa led the line at Wembley in March and also played a vital role in his team's second goal. His shot-cum-cross was deflected in by Kyle Walker to make it 2-0 and Chelsea took home the cup.
Hazard and Chelsea's other "technicians," as Glenn Hoddle constantly referred to them in the BT Sport commentary, did everything right. They lack that striker's instinct, though, which leaves the lingering feeling that Chelsea missed a trick.
Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld were rarely troubled. Whenever Chelsea got into the final third, the lack of a target man through the middle meant attacks had to be overplayed before players were in position.
That allowed Spurs to settle defensively and enjoy a reasonably comfortable afternoon. Everything Chelsea did was in front of them, and they rarely turned the centre-backs.
That's when teams create openings and score goals; it's what Costa does effectively, even when he's not scoring goals.
If Mourinho repeats the same tactic of not playing a striker against Bournemouth this weekend, Chelsea may well get a win simply because they are facing inferior opponents.
Up against one of the best defences in the Premier League, the champions were always going to struggle going forward without a recognised striker. Just one shot on target all game tells us they did.
Despite their upturn in results and performances, Chelsea remain significantly off the pace for a Champions League place next season. They're 12 points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, with 10 league positions separating them.
To rein those teams in, it's imperative they take points off them as well as defeating the likes of Norwich City and Aston Villa along the way.
The only way Mourinho's Chelsea are achieving that aim is by giving them the sorts of problems they didn't against Spurs.
That means persevering with Costa and getting him back to his lethal best. He's the club's best striker and the biggest goal threat. It's a waste seeing him on the bench.
When Mourinho labelled Sunday's performance as the best of the season, he was talking more about his team's defensive structure and how they controlled parts of the game.
He was right, but equally it's not just that which will deliver the results he needs in the long term.
It's Costa who will.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
