What’s gone
CHELSEA’S crunch game against Manchester City tonight could hinge on which Diego Costa shows up. If it is the forward who terrorised defenders, including City duo Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones four months ago, in the first half of the season, then Chelsea can get their title bid back on track after slipping up at the weekend.
However, another tame display from the Spain international, which has been all too common in recent weeks, could hand the initiative to their opponents.
After losing to Crystal Palace on Saturday and seeing Tottenham close the gap at the top of the Premier League to seven points, Chelsea need Costa to rediscover his spark.
Since the turn of the year, he has managed just three goals in nine Premier League games compared with a return of 14 in 18 appearances before that.
And a concern for Chelsea is that centre-backs are bullying him, rather than the other way around.
So what has changed? The easy conclusion is that the 28-year-old’s decline coincided with the furore in January, when Tianjin Quanjian made a lucrative contract offer worth in excess of £570,000 a week and he reportedly had a row with coach Antonio Conte.
His future at Stamford Bridge has been the subject of much speculation since and few will be surprised if Costa leaves in the summer. But a look at his record in recent years shows a struggle to sustain his form after a strong start.
In his final season at Atletico Madrid (2013-14), Costa had reached 19 goals in La Liga by the end of December and added only eight more come May.
After joining Chelsea for £32m that summer, the pattern continued with 13 strikes in the League up to December 31, compared with seven afterwards.
The last campaign bucks the trend (five/seven split over the same period)d) but there were mitigatingting circum-circumstances givenen Chelsea’s struggles, and his own, underr Jose Mourinho foror the first four months.nths. This term the trend has returned andnd judging by the moans as he missed goodod chances or failed to evenen