Mourinho Plays Down Talk Of Rift With Costa

Costa remained on the bench for the duration of the Barclays Premier League showdown at White Hart Lane and in the final moments tossed his substitutes’ bib over his shoulder in the direction of Jose Mourinho.

Gullit did admit that Costa’s behaviour when he realised that he wouldn’t be coming on – throwing his bib away in frustration – could pose a problem for the Chelsea manager going forward.

He said: ‘This is what he’s good at, when he’s fighting – I won’t say at his best, but it’s what he’s good at.

“The captain has been on the bench, so have Ivanovic, Cahill the vice-captain of England, Fabregas, Pedro, Oscar, Hazard the player of the season, so he is privileged I kept him in the team for all these matches”.

“Chelsea played one of their best games of the season, and I think that when you make the effort we showed today – and the maturity – you have to be happy with the players”.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho played down any suggestion of a falling-out with Diego Costa after dropping the striker for Sunday’s goalless draw at Tottenham.

Mourinho said: ‘I was not expecting to have a player on the bench who was jumping and singing because they’re not playing. “Sometimes, for a player who isn’t playing, it’s hard but it is a normal situation for the club”.

The Portuguese pointed out that all the first-team players have been left out at some stage this season and that Costa has been the last to be dropped despite scoring just four goals in all competitions. It’s all about the team.

“He did it to prove a point but to get the best out of him, I don’t want him to chase that much”.

‘I have played on the left, on the right, recently in the number 10 role, and I just enjoy playing. He was ready to play when we he went to warm up. No problems. He is working well every day.

He further said that dropping Costa would have helped him to know how team wants him to perform. “It gives me the confidence and I hope in the next couple of games I will improve a lot”.

“We try to take game after game and win game after game”. “I think we were a bit jaded physically”.

They have a favourable run of matches up until the visit of Arsenal in mid-January and if more good news were needed the returns of midfielder Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge after long absences will add more strength in depth at a particularly busy time.