Diego Costa is one of the Chelsea players coming most under fire from the Stamford Bridge faithful along with Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard, but the Times reports that the former Atletico Madrid striker has been putting in extra effort in recent weeks to please former manager Jose Mourinho.
Costa apparently spent the last three weeks returning to the training ground in the afternoon to double up on his training sessions. As a result, we have a leaner, fitter version of the Spanish striker than the one that started the season after he tried to show Mourinho how hard he would try to win his place back in the team.
In the last matches of the Portuguese manager’s tenure, Costa had been dropped in favour of Hazard for the matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth.
It appears a number of Chelsea fans blame the players for Mourinho’s exit and booed some of their names as the team was announced on Saturday.
The fans reaction will do little to lift the atmosphere in the dressing room at a time when the club needs its fans to rally behind the team and help lift them up the table.
Costa has scored just four goals in 21 appearances this season and will need to regain the goal scoring form he had in the first few months of his Chelsea career in order to persuade both Hiddink and the next manager that he is the man for the job.
Hopefully, the extra effort in training will have improved his fitness as well as his eye for goal but we also need the calmer temperament that focusses on putting the ball in the net rather than defenders on the floor.
