Chelsea
will finish in the top four - but they must get Diego Costa back on side,
says Jamie Redknapp...
There are obviously problems at Chelsea. Diego Costa wouldn't have acted the
way he did last week if there weren't.
What he did, throwing his bib away when he realised he wouldn't get on, was
childish. He's not been playing well and the fact he was benched shows how
much his level has dropped this year.
But to see him do that, it's not the environment Jose Mourinho wants to
create. The manager has to get him back on side and playing the way he was.
For me, a lot of Chelsea's problems come down to them leaving themselves
short in the transfer window. Costa's poor form has highlighted that.
It was a good performance at Spurs but, with all the money they've spent,
they had to go there and play without a striker. While teams like Tottenham
and Liverpool are playing attacking football on the front foot, Chelsea are
shutting up shop to try to get a result at White Hart Lane.
Surely they shouldn't be having to play without a striker because Costa is
out of form. But it just shows going for Radamel Falcao in the summer was a
mistake.
That said, I still expect Chelsea to finish in the top four. I've got no
doubts at all about that. They are more than capable of going on a run and
winning five, six games on the bounce. Their squad has got plenty of quality
in it - and a couple of additions in January would boost them further.
The players were out this week for their Christmas party and it might have
been exactly what they needed. It strikes me that the spirit in the camp
hasn't been there like it was last season and a night out is sometimes what
you need to sort things out.
With Bournemouth on Saturday, followed by Leicester, Sunderland and Watford,
Chelsea have the opportunity to build some momentum.
I expect them to bring Costa back into the team - the longer you leave him
out the more of a problem his situation becomes - and you hope he reacts in
the right way.
Costa and Chelsea will come up against a Bournemouth side which have been so
unfortunate with injuries. They have more players out than any team in the
Premier League - but they're bad injuries, too. Long-term injuries for key
men Callum Wilson, Max Gradel and Tyrone Mings.
Eddie Howe hasn't moaned about those injuries and as a club they've got on
with it and pulled off some good results in recent weeks. Their late, late
comeback against Everton says a lot about the belief and spirit at the club.
They've been competitive in almost all of their matches - with the exception
of their defeats to Manchester City and Tottenham - and they have the
potential to make it a difficult evening for Chelsea by retaining the ball.
Chelsea aren't blowing teams away this year, they're winning by the odd goal
and that will give Bournemouth hope. But I am going for a Chelsea win - and
that could be the start of a run which takes them back into contention for
Champions League qualification.
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