Former Chelsea man Craig Burley breaks down Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with reigning title holders Manchester City.
Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic believes his teammate Diego Costa is revelling in his notoriety, despited being handed a three-game ban for stamping on Liverpool’s Emre Can in last week’s Capital One Cup semifinal.
Costa sat out Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge as he started his suspension. Ivanovic suggested his Spanish colleague will bounce back from his disappointment in the right manger.
He also praised Loic Remy as he scored in the biggest game of the season so far after replacing Chelsea’s leading scoring.
“Diego likes attention. He likes people to speak about him,” said Ivanovic in the Daily Mirror. “This makes him a better player. This is his way to play. For me there is nothing wrong with that.
“Diego is very important, but also Remy played fantastically, the goal and overall. This squad strength is something we can be proud of.”
Ivanovic was also asked about the “siege mentality” his manager Jose Mourinho has promoted in recent weeks, with the refusal of the Blues boss to talk to the media before and after the Manchester City game seemingly part of a plan to convince his players that a campaign is underway to undermine their challenge.
“I think this is part of the mentality to win,” added Ivanovic. “You need to motivate yourself. To go over the limit.
“Even if you don’t think someone is against you, you have to find motivation. It is important in winning matches to find extra motivation inside yourself. Sometimes we need to feel this extra pressure.
“We know our game. Our style is to fight, to give everything, every single game, so this is a positive.”
“It was a really tough game against City,” said Ivanovic. “We felt a little bit of an effect from the Liverpool game, which was two hours playing in a semifinal and then facing a Man City side with top players.
“So we can be happy with the draw. The result really doesn’t change anything for us to achieve our aim of winning the Premier League, but we deserved the draw, I don’t think they created a lot.”