Chelsea FC Thrash Maccabi Tel-Aviv: 4 Key Takeaways
2….And Diego Costa
Diego Costa has been praised a lot for his hard work on the pitch and dedication to the Chelsea cause, which includes winding up opposition players. And on Tuesday, his only major contribution to the game was getting Tal Ben Haim sent off late in the first half after the ex-Chelsea defender took an unnecessary swing at Costa with his boot. Barring that, the Spaniard was again at his uninspiring best.
But the reason isn’t so far-fetched. I have harped upon this issue on numerous occasions that I am beginning to sound like a broken record: COSTA IS NOT A TARGET MAN! He lacks the first touch, the strength, ball control and aerial ability to fulfil this role neither does he have the technique or dribbling ability to go past players from deep. He plays his best football when allowed to roam exclusively in and around the 18-yard box, where he has scored all of his 25 Chelsea goals till date.
He spent the whole of the first half playing with his back to goal and found himself on his backside every time he tried to hold up the ball. On two occasions, Oscar and Willian where played through on the break down the right flank in Maccabi’s third of the pitch only to find nobody in the box to cross the ball to.
His only attempt at goal in the first half was a bicycle kick which went wide of the mark, again because he was backing into the goal when the cross was played in. He did improve slightly in the second half with Maccabi one man down as he began playing much closer to net, but was still unable to find the back of it with the numerous chances he had.
Reports of a bust-up between him and Mourinho at half-time indicates that the Chelsea boss was not impressed with him either, which is probably an indication that the 27-year old striker had not been playing to instructions.
Next: One Goal Lethargy