Controversy makes Costa stronger, says Ivanovic

Diego Costa's absence probably didn't cost Chelsea too much against Manchester City -- his replacement, Loïc Rémy, got a goal in the 1-1 draw and barely saw the ball otherwise with the Blues sitting in their defensive shell -- but it's still the talk of the non-transfer town. And now Branislav Ivanovic has decided to weigh in on the matter:

Yeah, I think that Diego likes attention and likes people to speak about him. This makes him a better player. This is his way to play and for me there’s nothing wrong with that.

-Source: GetWestLondon.

Attention up to a certain point is great, but the level of attention Costa's getting is resulting in him not being able to play at all, which is hardly conducive to playing well. So I'd be ok with maybe a bit less attention. And really, it's not like we needed the Premier League's top scorer to get much better anyway.