The ManicaPost
Diego Costa has been told to show more respect and curtail his angry gestures after a public clash with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte. Costa motioned and shouted at Conte to make a substitution and replace him in the second-half against Leicester on Saturday, a flashpoint which rekindled memories of an exchange between the striker and Jose Mourinho, last year.
The Chelsea boss played it down with good humour after winning 3-0, claiming Costa was trying to avoid a yellow card which would have been his fifth of the season, incurring a one-match ban and ruling him out of Sunday’s fixture against Manchester United when Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge.
In fact, it is understood the tempestuous Spain striker actually lost his cool because he was tired of the constant coaching from his boss on the touchline which he took to be direct criticism of his performance.
His message to the bench was that they should take him off if he was not good enough. He stayed on for the full 90 minutes. Conte was far from impressed and made his feelings clear to Costa after the game, also reinforcing the message via his backroom staff that he does not consider it to be acceptable public behaviour.
The Italian is renowned for his intense managerial style and precise demands on his players about the positions they should take up and the passes they should make. He drills these things meticulously in training.
Mourinho and Costa clashed during a Champions League game in Israel, last November when the centre forward took offence after calls from the manager to get into the penalty box in support of Eden Hazard.
Costa stormed down the tunnel at half-time, ranting and daring Mourinho to take him off. Again, he stayed on but was left out for the next game at Tottenham, when he tossed a warm-up bib at Mourinho as they sat on the bench.
Conte was keen to deal with the incident without fuss and Costa, although notorious for his short-fuse, is not thought to be someone who holds a grudge and was seen fooling around with bystanders in the tunnel before leaving Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Chelsea striker opened the scoring against Leicester, his seventh Premier League goal of the season. – Daily Mail.
