Thursday 5 November 2015 16:14, UK
Chelsea clawed their way to victory over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Wednesday evening but Diego Costa continues to struggle in front of goal. It's a situation that needs to change if Jose Mourinho is to complete the turnaround this season, writes Adam Bate.
Willian once again showed up his struggling team-mates with a match-winning performance in Chelsea's 2-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday. Playing with confidence throughout, the Brazilian's verve was hugely impressive given the circumstances, but also served to highlight the doubts occupying the minds of many of his team-mates.
Not only has Willian been Chelsea's best player this season, he's also their top scorer. Even before his late 25-yard strike, the 27-year-old had scored more times from free-kicks this season than Diego Costa has managed to net in total. It's a statistic that hints at the diminished influence of the striker.
Of course, there is more to Costa's contribution than goals. He worked hard, ran the channels and set up a couple of opportunities for team-mates - all with minimal support. But the popular striker seems oddly subdued inside the penalty box, precisely where Jose Mourinho needs him at his best.
The manager might have forced out a sarcastic smile when Costa was denied a penalty as two defenders converged on him late in the first half, but in truth he tumbled to the turf far too easily when there was an opportunity to get the shot away.
In doing so, he eschewed the chance to end a goal drought that now extends back 449 minutes - seven-and-a-half hours - and even that was against Aston Villa. The Premier League bottom-club, West Bromwich Albion and Maccabi Tel Aviv are the only teams Costa has scored against this season.
It's a dismal return that reflects the mess Chelsea are making of their title defence. They've relied more on own goals (four) than Costa (three) this term. He's had as many yellow cards as goals and been banned for as many matches as he's scored in.
Much was made of how the team was waiting for Costa last season but now he is the one who seems to be waiting for the team. He's eight goals down on his tally at the 14-game mark of last season, but then he has always relied on service in order to thrive.
Sixteen of Costa's 20 Premier League goals in 2014/15 came from what Opta defines as clear-cut chances. His great strength was the efficiency with which he finished such opportunities and, indeed, he has scored from both such openings so far this season. So what's the problem?
The obvious answer is service, but the sight of Costa lurking at the back post as Willian troubled the Dynamo Kiev left-back raised the additional question of whether or not the striker is doing all he can in searching for those tap-ins that so bolstered his tally in his first season at the club.
Even in the final moments of stoppage time when put through in the left channel, it appeared as though he might take one touch and fire off a shot with his stronger right foot. Instead, he turned onto his left side and attempted to wriggle through before being dispossessed by his marker.
As that chance and the prior penalty incident would suggest, Costa must accept partial responsibility for the fact that his shot count has fallen so dramatically - from an effort on target every 56 minutes last season to one every 132 minutes in the current campaign. It's a culpability he readily accepts.
"I'm going to be very honest," said Costa last month. "Maybe a few weeks ago, five or six weeks ago, I was not on top of my game. At least physically. We talk within the players 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 last season and then I went on holiday. Maybe I got out of 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. All we can do now is train very hard and work very hard to try to get back to that level."
It was quite the admission from a £32m striker on whom his under-fire manager is so heavily dependent. With an international break coming up this month, Mourinho must hope that his powerful forward can get up to speed and soon. Welcome as they are, the Chelsea boss cannot turn this season around on Willian free-kicks alone.
Stoke v Chelsea is live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 5pm on Saturday
