Should We Be Worried About Diego Costa’s Hamstring?
With Didier Drogba starting Wednesday’s match against Schalke 04 and Diego Costa relegated to the bench, many were wondering if the Spanish striker was still suffering from his hamstring injury. He looked quite fit on the weekend as he notched a hat trick against Swansea City but it was revealed that he is still dealing with the muscle injury.
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Jose Mourinho said after the match against Schalke that Diego Costa does indeed still have a problem with his hamstring but he is able to play if he has enough recovery time. That is why he was on the bench for Wednesday’s match but will be back in action for the Blues against Manchester City on Sunday.
"“Costa has a problem and he can’t play three matches in a row at the moment. If he has one week to let the muscle recover he can start a game, like he did after picking up the problem with the national team. But, after playing on Saturday three days is not enough time for him to recover.It wasn’t to protect him for the game on Sunday, it was because tonight he wasn’t in condition to start the game. He came to us and was completely fine, the problem came with the national team, not with us. Now we have a problem and we have to resolve it in the best way we can.Tonight he wasn’t in condition to play, on Sunday we believe he will be. Next Wednesday, for sure he won’t be, we just have to manage the situation. If he started the game tonight he wouldn’t be able to play on Sunday, we have to go step by step.” – Jose MourinhoSource: ChelseaFC.com"
Obviously a Premier League match against the defending champions is more important than a group match in the Champions League against a team that should have been an easy victory but this revelation shows that Mourinho was not valuing one competition over the other. It shows only that Diego Costa is suffering from a niggling injury that needs some significant recovery time before it is 100% normal.
So that begs the question, should we worried about Diego Costa’s hamstring? The short answer is yes because any injury no matter how slight can negatively impact a player’s performance. The more complex answer is no we should not be worried. Chelsea has one of the best medical staffs in football and Mourinho is a master of training techniques and squad rotation to keep his players fit. With the addition of Loic Remy and Didier Drogba Chelsea have the luxury of letting Diego Costa only play once a week until he can be declared fully fit.
The ideal time to do this would be after qualification to the next round of the Champions League is assured as the other striker’s should be able to easily handle the midweek domestic cup ties. With enough treatment and recovery Diego Costa’s injury will hopefully no longer be an issue and he can go back to destroying defenses more than just once a week.
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