Premier League Round 23: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Bad

COSTAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Diego Costa is at it again.

Arsenal played host to Chelsea during this past round of fixtures with a chance to go top of the league on goal difference if they could claim three points.

The Gunners failed, of course, and now find themselves in third place (on goal difference) behind Manchester City and just two points ahead of Tottenham in fourth.

But why did the Gunners fail?

Well, for one, they didn’t play well.

And this was a HUGE factor in the outcome of the match.

This incident occurred just 18 minutes into the match and Per Mertesacker was sent off for it.

Obviously it is tough to play with just 10 men on the field and Arsenal did not cope. They lost possession, shots, shots on goal and the game.

For once, I’m not going to bash Arsenal. They get a reprieve this week.

Costa does not.

Enough is enough as it pertains to his antics. I know football has its fair share of play-acting. It’s been allowed to burrow itself deep into the game, everywhere it is played, and it is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Seriously, though, is anyone worse at this stuff than Costa? Or should I say better? Is it even a good thing to be good at this sort of thing?

Time and time again Costa resorts to diving, headbutting, trash-talking, elbowing and all sorts of other tactics to get opposing players sent off.

The sad bit about it is that he is allowed to get away with these shenanigans far too often. The most obvious reason he would attempt to do this is to gain a competitive advantage in favor of his own team, which is an admirable idea; it’s the execution of it that I don’t like.

But since he is able to get away with his antics it reinforces the idea that it is a genuine tactic to use to gain an advantage for his own team.

Until players, and not just Costa, but others, are punished for actions that don’t adhere to the integrity of the game then this sort of thing will continue to happen.

It will be difficult and it won’t be pretty, but a stand must be taken to punish divers.

Next: The Ugly