Diego Costa has conceded he turned up for pre-season training overweight as he attempted to deflect blame for Chelsea’s poor start away from Jose Mourinho.
Costa has found the net just once in the Premier League this season, a far cry from his tally of nine at the same stage last year.
The striker, who was omitted from Spain’s international squad by Vincent Del Bosque, launched an impassioned defence of his manager at the Blues’ training ground in Cobham.
[CESC FABREGAS: Mourinho is best manager for Chelsea]
“I’m going to be very honest. Maybe five or six weeks ago, I was not on top of my game. At least physically,” he admitted. “We talk among ourselves and we know that maybe at the beginning we were not 100 per cent as we were supposed to be when we got here. I got injured at the end of the season and then I went on holiday.
“Maybe I ignored 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. We know we’re not in the best form we were supposed to be at the beginning of the season. Because all the work we do here is fantastic. We needed some time and now we are where we want to be.”
Chelsea's Diego Costa during training - Reuters
Ramires, also overlooked for international duty with Brazil, echoed his team-mate’s thoughts.
“I think it is very normal that when we are not playing well and we are losing for the manager to take it out on the players. He needs to get a reaction,” he said. “Maybe some players are not doing what he expects them to do so that’s why he is on top of us, on top of things, trying to get a reaction because he knows he can get the best out of us.”
And the 28-year-old dismissed concerns that the players were losing faith in their manager.
“We’ve not lost a bit of trust in Jose. Everyone trusts him. We think he is the best manager for us. But obviously when things don’t go the way that everyone expects a lot of questions are asked.
“We still trust him and I understand perfectly where he is coming from when he said if he didn’t have the confidence of the players he would step aside. But that’s not the case at all. We are all together.”
Chelsea are languishing in 16th spot in the Premier League, 10 points adrift of leaders Manchester City.
Jose Mourinho stands behind the Chelsea bench - Reuters
OUR VIEW
Costa’s right, Chelsea’s slump isn’t completely down to Mourinho - and he, along with the other players, must take responsibility. Costa hasn’t looked as sharp this season and has little excuse given he had the summer off. To spearhead a title challenge, you need a red-hot striker. He was meant to be that man. He might be an expert at riling the opposition, but that can only get you so far – he needs to rediscover his goal-scoring touch.
But can we completely exonerate Mourinho? Imagine being an environment where the constant message is ‘the world is against us’. Surely that would have a draining effect on the players - particularly when they aren't winning matches?
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