Willian defends Costa, says there is no problem with Mourinho

Chelsea’s Brazilian winger Willian has defended club mate Diego Costa, after Spain manager Vicente del Bosque omitted him from his latest Spain squad, citing his behaviour in the controversial game between Chelsea and Arsenal in September. Costa became embroiled in a heated exchange with the Gunners’ Brazilian centre half Gabriel, which saw the Arsenal man […]
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sambafoot_admin
2015-10-03 20:37:00

Chelsea’s Brazilian winger Willian has defended club mate Diego Costa, after Spain manager Vicente del Bosque omitted him from his latest Spain squad, citing his behaviour in the controversial game between Chelsea and Arsenal in September. Costa became embroiled in a heated exchange with the Gunners’ Brazilian centre half Gabriel, which saw the Arsenal man sent off. Costa was only booked, but later hit with a three match ban by the F.A. for an altercation with Laurent Koscileny.

Costa was criticised heavily for his conduct and Spain boss del Bosque has punished him further by leaving him out of the squad for October qualifiers against Luxembourg and Ukraine. But Willian sought to play down Costa’s aggressive approach in a recent interview with Globo Esporte. “I think he knows what he does. It’s his way of playing, being a little aggressive on the pitch. He is a striker who likes to go up and contest the ball, which sometimes ends up irritating the opponent.”

Willian also denied that Chelsea players have any issues with coach Jose Mourinho, who has been harsh in his criticism of the players following a lacklustre start to the season. “With the players there is no problem. People generally want to find a problem when the team loses, but I never saw him arguing or fighting with another player.” When pressed on the Eva Carneiro situation, Willian continued, “On the medical situation, I saw the statement and this was solved with the board of directors. The truth is that none of the players knew what happened. I believe that the board resolved with Mourinho and the doctor.”

“I think it’s a bad time for all of us. Too bad, because we play for Chelsea, one of the world’s largest clubs, and we are losing many games. The players playing here have never gone through a situation like this, losing so many games. But we have everything to win again, despite our many errors.”

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