Diego Costa was at the centre of a controversy before the start of the world cup, as he chose to play for Spain rather than host nations Brazil. When the iron was still hot, he struck again, as rumours began spreading that he was leaving Atletico Madrid to join Chelsea, making him public enemy number one for quite some time. But if we ignore the negative agenda he now carries along with him, Costa is quite a striker. However, it is yet to be seen if he can flourish at Chelsea, where great strikers like Torres, Shevchenko and Demba Ba have all failed to impress. Does the Spanish international have what it takes to succeed at the place nicknamed ‘The Graveyard of Great Strikers’?
Firstly, Costa is joining Chelsea after a rather disappointing end to a brilliant season he had. Firstly, his former side Atletico Madrid lost in the Champions League final to neighbors and rivals Real Madrid, while Spain crashed out of the World Cup in the first round. We witnessed a shaken Diego Costa at the world cup this year, someone who looked unconfident on the pitch. Could the defeat at the end of his season have caused his confidence to shrink? In my opinion, that was not the reason behind Costa’s abysmal performances for Spain. Costa’s poor world cup campaign was down to the playing style of the Spanish team, which is something he is not used to, or suited to.
Under Diego Simeone, Costa flourished in the role he was given. The style of Atletico’s play suited him well; hence he scored more than 30 goals last season. At Chelsea, Jose Mourinho plays quite a similar, counter-attacking style with just a little tweak in the formation. As long as Chelsea don’t suddenly revert to tiki-taka football, Costa should be able to score some crucial goals for them.
Costa certainly has the physical build to succeed in the Premier League, as he is able to easily shrug off defenders and also compete in the air. It will be a lot harder to shrug off a defender in the Premier League though, meaning he will need a bit of time to adjust to his surroundings and the physicality of the game in England, which is the stark contrast to the football that is played in Spain.
With a hefty fee of £32 million looming over his head, he will need to impress in his first few games to get the crowd’s backing. Undoubtedly the Chelsea fans will be buzzing to sign a striker as good as Costa, but doubt can easily conquer their giddy minds if he has a couple of poor games at the start of his new career.
All in all, Costa must prepare himself mentally and physically to be able to adjust to the conditions of the Premier League quickly, while the Chelsea fans will need to have patience in their new star man. Even if Costa does have a blip of form in his debut season at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea fans should not go into panic mode because the quality that they are seeking for undoubtedly lies inside Diego Costa, someone who should fit Jose Mourinho’s tactics and style seamlessly.
Article contributed by: Mayank Tiwary
Twitter: @ VanPerseing.
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