Chelsea legend Jose Mourinho is not the kind of manager that you want to cross.
Mourinho has never been afraid to speak his mind and has perhaps made an enemy or two in football as a result.
One of his former players at Chelsea risked becoming just that following one incident that occurred almost 10 years ago.
John Obi Mikel thinks Enzo Maresca can learn from Mourinho, who is the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history.
When Diego Costa threw his bib in the direction of Jose Mourinho
Back in the 2015/16 season, Mikel’s teammate Diego Costa could have come to blows with Mourinho.
The former Chelsea striker was left on the bench for the Blues’ London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, a game he clearly wanted to play in.
Costa was sent to warm up, hoping to be introduced to the match, but when that did not happen and he was made to return to the bench, the Brazilian-born forward decided to take his bib off and throw it in the direction of his boss.
Considering Mourinho’s personality, it is not the kind of thing that you would have expected him to brush off, yet he did just that.
After the 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane, he told reporters that he was happy with Costa and that he could understand his frustration at being left out of the starting XI.
“I think Diego is very privileged,” the Portuguese was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. “He is the last player to be on the bench. Everyone has been on the bench — the captain [John] Terry, [Branislav] Ivanovic, [Gary] Cahill, [Cesc] Fabregas, Pedro and player of the season [Eden] Hazard.
“[Today] Eden could play the 90 minutes and was so good and dangerous for us, I felt he could have scored a goal.
“Diego is physically fine, no problems. He works well, every day his mood is positive, he is the positive guy in the team. I do not expect to have a player on the bench jumping and shouting because he is not playing.”
At the end of the following season, Costa fell out with Antonio Conte, so he is no stranger to a bit of controversy.
How Diego Costa recovered from disappointing 2015/16 campaign
In the end, the 2015/16 season proved to be a very disappointing one for Costa, Mourinho and Chelsea as a whole.
After winning the Premier League crown the previous campaign, Mourinho would go on to get sacked, while Chelsea finished 10th in the table.
Costa’s form had dipped, with the ex-Spain international’s tally of goals dropping from 20 in the season the Blues won the title to 12.
He bounced back the following year, though, netting 20 times as Chelsea went on to reclaim their title under Conte.
Costa was a top striker for the Blues, and they have not quite been able to replace the ex-Atletico Madrid star since Conte got rid of him.
Some Chelsea fans can see similarities between Costa and Liam Delap, one striker who is currently being targeted by the club.
It has been claimed that Enzo Maresca constantly speaks about Delap in internal transfer meetings at Chelsea. If the Blues do go on to sign the Ipswich Town man and he proves to be half as good as Costa, then they would have landed themselves an excellent centre-forward.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
