With Diego Costa on his way to Chelsea, a lot of Chelsea fans were curious to see how the Spanish international will perform at the world Cup. On the back of a brilliant season where almost everything he touched turned in to goals, expectations were high that the Atletico man would deliver for a Spanish side where he had a collection of creative midfielders behind him. A lot of those fans ended up being very disappointed in what the saw from the striker as the only thing of note that he did was to win the penalty that got Spain their only goal in the World Cup Finals. His disappointing display has led to some people doubting his quality and whether or not he is the player Chelsea need to finally end our desperate search for our first world class striker since Didier Drogba left the club. First of all, it seems rather unfair to look at that Spain team and pick out Diego Costa as the scapegoat for criticism because the team had structural problems far beyond who they selected as a striker. Secondly, the fact that different players need to play in different systems to suit their different abilities and bring out the best of them cannot be ignored. Before jumping into judgments about how well a player played, you have to consider whether the system he is being employed in suits him.
Costa and Spain
Before we can talk about Diego Costa and, the system that suits him, and why his displays for Chelsea will probably be better than the ones for Spain; its important we understand exactly what kind of player he is. Diego Costa is a player that possesses a wonderful blend of physicality and intelligence. He is big, strong, and has decent pace. He mixes that with a very good workrate, which he productively uses to press the opposition and help out defensively when his team do not have the ball. Costa is not going to wow anyone with his technical abilities on the ball, but it is not something that he is hugely lacking either. He has decent control, is a good dribbler and a decent passer in the sense that he tries to keep his passing simple and rarely tries risky passes. All the above makes him look a bit average, but that is just a part of what he offers. The features that have made him one of the best in his position are his movement, his runs, his positioning and his finishing. When his team have the ball, Costa is an absolute menace for the opposition defense to deal with. He is always either moving, making intelligent runs or challenging defenders for pace, strength and power creating space for others. He's always mobile, drifting out wide, dropping deep and combining with the players behind him. Costa's positioning in the box is immaculate, he always seems to be in the right place at the right time to score goals. Something that may be a draw back is that he hardly attempts shots from outside the box, but inside it, there are few more clinical than Diego Costa in the box. He has 36 goals from last season to buttress that fact and also recorded one of the best conversion rates in Europe.
Taking this type of striker and putting him in Spain's system was always going to be problematic. Costa is far suited to quick, aggressive style of play where there is a focus on quick transitions and direct passing as opposed to an emphasis on keeping possession and building patiently; something which Spain are famous for. Spain's system requires a striker that is technically gifted, a very good passer, and good with the ball in tight spaces. Someone that will drop deep and combine with the midfielders, scores and also creates goals. That person is not Diego Costa. While Costa's technical abilities are not bad, they are definitely not good enough for the type of system Spain employed. His movement was also limited because he was often asked to go closer to the man on the ball and combine as opposed to making the runs he is so good at. So at the end of the day, he was stuck in a system that utilizes little of his strengths, and exposes some of the things he is average at. He was forced to rely on his average technical ability and not his brilliant movement and positioning, great strength and workrate.
How Costa Will Fit In At Chelsea
For Chelsea, things will be different. The Blues play a system far closer to the one employed by Atletico to that of Spain. Chelsea last season played a system based on hard pressing when not on the ball to win it back as soon as possible and quick transitions to the attack when on it. This is the kind of set up that was made for Diego Costa. Chelsea's game plan last season was key to their resurgence back into challenging for trophies domestically and in Europe. But that system had weaknesses in some positions that prevented largely prevented Chelsea from having anything concrete to show for an otherwise solid season. The biggest holes were in central midfield and up front. This largely caused the defense to lack sufficient cover, the midfield not being balanced and unable to break down teams that are deep and compact, and a strike force that could not consistently find the back of the net. The signing of Nemanja Matic in January solved the shielding of the defense problem and went a long way in solving the balance in midfield problem (although signing a partner for him would cement the midfield). Which left Chelsea with their striker problem and an inability to create versus deep teams for the rest of the season.
Chelsea's system last season needed a striker capable of pressing when they were not in possession, and when the team were on the ball, could make good runs, occupy good positions, drifting wide and deep and challenging defenders physically to combine with his team mates, or create space for them, and score goals. And equally importantly, this striker must have the intelligence to know which skill he will use and how he will use it depending on the situation. But instead, Chelsea had three different strikers that offered different parts of what their system required. Eto'o offered good movement and combined well with the players out wide and behind him, and also occupied decent positions. Torres when he was on song, tried to run at players. And Demba Ba was more concerned with getting on the end of things playing off the shoulder of the last defender, and challenging them in the air and on the ground. Their positioning when the ball was wide was particularly poor, they ended up making everyone look worse than they were at crossing. Chelsea did not score a headed goal from a cross in open play last season. Another thing they all had in common was that none of them scored with consistency close to what a team with Chelsea's ambitions needed. Diego Costa fits the bill, he can hound and harry defenders for pace and power, he can hold up play, this movement and positioning are very good, and he is a consistent goal threat. And he is very comfortable pressing the opposition when his team don't have the ball and is quite useful at blocking the passing lanes that defenders will commonly use to find their midfielders. He will help Chelsea win the ball back quicker and higher up the pitch which is a crucial part of Chelsea's press.
Costa - 'The Bus'
There have been claims that Diego Costa is not the type of striker we need to break down teams that sit deep and remain compact without committing too many bodies forward in attack. Mostly due to the fact that he lacks the technical ability to help breakdown teams in tight spaces, again the example of his performance for Spain at the World Cup was used is not very correct. While Costa's technical abilities are just above average, he has just enough to do what he will be asked for Chelsea. His hold up play is very good for Chelsea's system and he will intelligently drop deep and make simple passing combination with the players behind him. That aside, it is important to know that technical ability is not the only way a striker can excel in tight spaces. Movement and positioning are equally important. Javier Hernandez managed to score against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after Mourinho was trying to keep things tight. The presence of Matic, Luiz and Mikel in front of Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic and Azpilicueta did nothing to stop him. The reason Chelsea's strikers struggled so much against the smaller teams was that they barely made any attempts to move or position themselves in those tight spaces, they were mostly pedestrian, and never made the opponents feel their presence. Costa is a totally different animal, he will move, and will keep the defenders on high alert. Think back to the games Chelsea struggled to score; did they really have no chances? They were a few chances that may have opened the floodgates for more, but they were missed. Costa can be that man that will help open the flood gates for more goals. Either by finishing off one of those "rare" chances or creating the space for others to do so. A striker like him and the technical ability behind him will be much harder to stop. Costa scores mostly when the team need him with a good number of his goals being breakthrough (1st) goals, equalisers or winners. He will try to get on the end of those balls that Chelsea's strikers last season couldn't anticipate or did not just feel like going for.
CONCLUSION
Costa may not be perfect, there is a lot that can improve about him, but the fact is he is already a world class striker that will increase Chelsea's chances next season. His physical game reminds me a lot of Drogba and there is nothing stopping him from developing technically as Drogba did. The club's tactics and system suit his style of play and despite his room for improvement, he is already good enough to lead the line for a club of Chelsea's stature. He has what it takes to not only be good but his hold up play and movement will be good for the players behind him. With the addition of Fabregas Chelsea's distribution and ability to create chances will be vastly improved and Costa has what it takes to lead the line. There were some other problems that did not allow Chelsea do better last season like a lack of attacking fullbacks but the most noticeable ones have been resolved with Costa and Fabregas. Add another midfielder to solidify the midfield and provide additional balance plus a left back that will provide additional attacking impetus down the left while Azpilicueta does the same on the right, And Chelsea have a team capable of winning it all. Its also worth noting that Costa has the mentality needed to represent a club like Chelsea. He is a determined individual and will stop at nothing (I mean nothing) to get a result for the team. He will fight with everything he has and will torture opponents through out the game physically and mentally (although he goes overboard sometimes). He is a true fighter and will always fight for the shirt and rally the team and fans no matter the circumstance. He is not the flashiest striker and will not score a lot of wonder goals, but he can score consistently (which is a far greater need), he has the attributes to be a very effective and important solution to Chelsea's striker woes. Citing 3 World Cup matches after a season of consistent brilliance is unfair. The fact that he was not fit during the World Cup also needs to be considered. Chelsea's search for a good striker is probably over and excitement should be the only thing in the minds of Chelsea fans.