Former Chelsea and Tottenham player and manager Glenn Hoddle is adamant that Diego Costa should sit out the Capital One Cup Final against Spurs and not this weekend’s game with Manchester City if banned for his stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can.
The Spain international was charged on Wednesday for his part in an altercation with the Reds player in their League Cup semi-final second leg win, in which he appeared to deliberately stand on his ankle.
Costa’s actions added to the already fiery rivalry between the two clubs, and he was also accused of a similar act on defender Martin Skrtel – although charges relate to his stamp on Can.
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With suspensions taking place in all English competitions, the striker, if guilty, will see a ban kick in immediately, which will rule him out of the title clash with City on Saturday.
The FA will decide Costa’s fate today, and Hoddle believes that, if punished, the forward should be forced to miss out on the Final at Wembley:
“Punishments should stay within the same competition.” he told Zapsportz. “For me it is ludicrous that a player booked in the Cup misses games in the Premier League – that doesn’t make sense
“Players booked in our domestic competitions, whether they are cup or league, are not suspended from the Champions League. All suspensions are kept within the Champions league and that how it should be in our FA cup and Capital One Cup.
“Yes, its tough missing a Cup Final, but you know the score, and that’s how it should be.
“Here we have the nonsense of Diego Costa being suspended for the Chelsea-Manchester City Premier League game as a consequence of what he did in a League Cup game. Its the game of the season and I know Jose Mourinho would prefer his top striker to be available for the City game even though he would miss the Final.
“But managers cannot pick and choose, it would be the same if Chelsea were playing a team down at the bottom rather than the current champions. And I am sure Mourinho would still want Costa for the Premier League games rather than even the Cup Final.
“Disciplinary action in our cup and league games doesn’t affect the Champions League, and that’s how it should be, so the FA need to look again at keeping disciplinary actions within each competition.”
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