Chelsea FC: Falcao And Loic Remy Must Seize The Moment
The fallout from the Diego Costa and Gabriel Paulista incident on Saturday continued well into the week. Arsenal appealed the defender’s red card and three match ban and saw both dropped by the FA. Gabriel is still being charged with not leaving the field straight away but that punishment has not been revealed. Chelsea FC striker Diego Costa, who escaped the match with just a yellow card, has been given a retrospective three match ban for his “activities” in the match.
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While Chelsea will certainly appeal the decision and have reportedly been considering taking the case to arbitration, there is a silver lining to the suspension. The Blues have three senior international strikers in the squad in Spain’s Costa, Colombia’s Radamel Falcao, and France’s Loic Remy. With Costa being suspended for three matches, it is now time for the other two strikers to seize their golden opportunity to impress their manager.
The three matches that Costa will miss if the suspension goes through is the League Cup tie today against Walsall, Saturday’s date with Newcastle United, and next week’s clash with Southampton. Of the three, the first two are the most straightforward and the ones that, if things go according to plan, should be wins for Chelsea.
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Walsall is a League One side and Jose Mourinho will be sending out a second team-type squad including a surprising name in John Terry. There has been some discussion as to which striker is second in the pecking order behind Diego Costa and whichever striker is omitted from the starting lineup today is that man.
Many are backing Falcao to be the striker that starts today in a bid to boost his confidence after a poor campaign with Manchester United last season. He did come on to score what was thought to be a vital goal against Crystal Palace and celebrated like a man who is not short on confidence. Falcao’s penalties for both Colombia and Chelsea this summer were reminiscent of a player not lacking in self-confidence but a goal or two today would be good for his mentality.
As for Loic Remy, he proved last season that he could come off the bench and score important goals and could also put in a good shift even if he has not played for a few weeks. He was a key man last season when Diego Costa suffered his annual hamstring injury and scored vital goals against Hull City and Manchester City.
There were rumors that he was on his way out of the club this summer but Jose Mourinho does prefer having three strikers in his squad. He has done so in every year of his second Chelsea tenure and this type of scenario is precisely why. Mourinho will give both strikers a chance during Costa’s suspensions and it is up to them to seize the moment.
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