Prior to Arsenal’s Premier League meeting with Chelsea today, in what is sure to be a feisty London derby, Arsene Wenger has admitted he’s a fan of Chelsea’s clinical Spanish striker Diego Costa.
Wenger also suggested that he would have tried to sign him from Atletico Madrid two seasons ago, had he known that the hitman wanted a move away from the club.
Wenger praises Costa’s qualities
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Wenger said the following when questioned about Costa, “Of course, I like him as a player. I like the qualities of the player. All the rest around is not needed. He’s a very strong player. He looks, since the start of the season, to have cleaned up his act, that he behaves more focused on the game.”
“And that makes him more dangerous. I never thought he would eave Atletico Madrid at the time, I was surprised. Would I have made a harder play for him had I known? Yes. I like him, as a quality striker.”
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However, Wenger reiterated that Costa would be much better off if he cleaned up his record of indiscipline on the pitch, and insisted that it would not take away from his game.
“He is a fighter and you respect that. The rest is down to the referees to get the game and the rules respected. No, I don’t think so (that his game would be weakened) You want full commitment of every single player, but commitment is different from this kind of overreactions.”
“He is a good football player. That’s what you want. I don’t know him well, but I just say that he is a quality player.”
Costa crucial for Chelsea
It was Costa who scored the crucial winner in the league meeting between the two sides last January at the Emirates. He was also the main villain 12 months back when Arsenal were beaten at Stamford Bridge, being reduced to 9 men in the process.
So far in this season, Diego Costa is at the top of the pile of highest goalscorers in the league with 5 goals, and he’ll be looking to add to that tally when his team crosses swords with their North London rivals later today.
In recent times, the head to head record has been heavily against the Gunners as they’ve failed to win any of the last 9 Premier League encounters against Chelsea.
Finally, Wenger also refused to comment on the situation of ex-Arsenal player Cesc Fabregas at Chelsea, who is seemingly out of favour under Antonio Conte. However, reports suggest that he is set to make his first start under the new manager against Arsenal.
Commenting on Arsenal’s approach to the game, the Frenchman said, “We have to be completely cold-blooded, focus on the game and not respond. We have talked about discipline, because in the last two games against Chelsea, we couldn’t play 11 against 11. Discipline and results are strongly linked.”
