Diego Costa's temperament not a problem, says Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink
Thursday 14 January 2016 12:37, UK
Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink insists Diego Costa's fiery temper is not a problem and says he likes that the forward plays with emotion.
Costa was at the centre of a number of talking points in Chelsea's 2-2 Premier League draw with West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
After being booked for a reckless challenge on West Brom midfielder Craig Gardner, Costa was involved in a number of heated confrontations with the visiting players, including defender Jonas Olsson and goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.
Costa also confronted referee Anthony Taylor after he blew for half-time with Chelsea on the attack and for failing to show West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob a second yellow card for bringing him down just before the hour mark.
The Spain forward was involved in a training ground bust-up with team-mate Oscar last week and his temperament has been called into question on more than one occasion since he joined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid in July 2014.
However, Hiddink was quick to play down any issues with regards to Costa's personality on the pitch and suggested he was not entirely at the fault for the incidents.
He said: "If you have watched closely and carefully, they were a bit provoking and it was mutual. Those clashes, I didn't see any bad things in this."
When asked whether Costa had kicked a hole in the wall in the Stamford Bridge players tunnel at full-time, Hiddink added: "Well we can repair that easily, that's not a big problem. He's an emotional guy and I like that very much."
The caution against West Brom took Costa's tally of yellow cards for the season to six, making him currently the most booked forward in the Premier League this campaign.
