Wednesday 2 December 2015 15:08, UK
Jose Mourinho needs Diego Costa more than the Chelsea striker needs him, says Paul Merson.
Costa was dropped to the bench for Chelsea's 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane and made his displeasure clear, flinging his bib at Mourinho towards the end of the game after a brief warm up.
Mourinho denied suggestions of a rift with the 27-year-old but, after Costa had found the net for the first time in seven games for club and country in his previous Premier League outing against Norwich, Merson feels the Chelsea boss was wrong to sideline his best forward.
While Costa has only scored three times in the Premier League so far this season, he was the club's top scorer in 2014/15 and Merson says 14th-placed Chelsea need him in the side to continue climbing the table after their nightmare start to the campaign.
Merson told Sky Sports: "Mourinho needs Costa more than Costa needs Mourinho, especially with no other strikers scoring goals at the club right now.
"You don't throw your bib at somebody if you like them and there's clearly a problem there.
"Costa's goal against Norwich was a huge one and Mourinho's left himself in a tough situation by dropping him after that.
"Don't get me wrong, Costa hasn't been great and they did well at Tottenham without him, but you can't play like that all season, teams will find a way to stop them."
Merson does, however, expect Costa to be recalled next weekend as Chelsea host Bournemouth on Saturday Night Football.
He added: "Bournemouth is a nice game to bring him back for and certainly not the sort of game which you'd go into without a big striker."
Watch Chelsea v Bournemouth live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Saturday Night Football from 5pm.
