Diego Costa is a monster - that's why I love him

Gary Neville: The outrage over Chelsea striker's 'stamp' was ludicrous - his aggression is brilliant for English football and an example to everyone

Stamp down: Diego Costa has an aggressive side - but that's what makes him such a special player Photo: ACTION IMAGES

The first line of any book I would write on football philosophy is: “Be horrible to play against.” Diego Costa is horrible to play against and I applaud him for it. 

Be horrible means: keep possession, run their legs down, run the clock down if you have to, be organised and compact, don’t get messed around physically and mentally by your opponent, test him every minute. There are players around now who fit that bill: Carlos Tevez, Alexis Sanchez, Luis Suarez and definitely Costa, whose conduct against Liverpool on Tuesday night prompted, in my view, a massive over-reaction. 

Costa is an essential ingredient in a potentially fantastic Chelsea team and every club would move mountains to have him. For the spectacle it's bad news that he is banned now for the game against Manchester City. One of the best centre-forward/centre-back tussles I've seen this season was Costa v Kompany and Mangala. 

We used to talk about the ‘classic’ English centre-forward. In the game today most of those players are from overseas. I look at Drogba, Benteke, Dzeko and certainly Costa and see the qualities we were known for 20 years ago. I see that as an indictment of our game and how we’ve tipped the balance too far. 

You need both: technical ability and Costa’s fierce competitive spirit. And you can have both, as Mark Hughes proved at Manchester United. These players are technically and tactically very good but also monsters in their own mind. They all have a fuse inside.

By Gary Neville