Diego Costa’s revealing rallying cry can be catalyst for Chelsea turn-around

As happens after a run of poor Premier League results, rumours of discontent inevitably begin to swirl. Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho surely makes a rod for his own back, with his swagger proving an acquired taste for press, pundits and opposition fans alike, but this time it truly looked as though the clock could begin to tick on the Portuguese’s second Stamford Bridge stint.

However, in uncharacteristic fashion, the Blues board and players have come out in force to quell reports of squad dissatisfaction, following a 3-1 drubbing by Southampton in which club harmony did look distinctly frayed.

Eight points from as many league games already had the vultures circling over Cobham, despite it being just months since Chelsea (now outsiders with Coral at 16/1 to retain the Premier League) were crowned English champions, but Diego Costa recently spoke out to shift the blame squarely from Mourinho’s shoulders.

The currently suspended forward, also omitted from Spain’s most recent Euro 2016 qualifying squad, stated: “We know we’re not in the form we were supposed to be at the beginning of the season. We need to blame the players because we came back from holiday very confident, thinking we could go back into how it was last season, and then realised the team was already in a bad situation.”

Costa continued, with his revelations on player responsibility somewhat refreshing from a superstar striker much-maligned for his unsportman-like antics, declaring: “I’m going to be very honest: maybe a few weeks ago, five or six weeks ago, I was not on top of my game. At least physically. We talk within the players and we know that, maybe at the beginning, we were not 100 per cent as we were supposed to be when we got here.

“Maybe I got out of my diet and, when I came back, I was not the way I was supposed to be. I was a little bit overweight. That affected my game. You can be selfish and blame it on the manager but I’m not going to do that. I’m responsible 100 per cent, and so are the other guys.”