With 12 goals to his name already this season, and no yellow cards in his last eight fixtures, it seems the penny has finally dropped with the already-extremely-decent Diego Costa at Chelsea.
Following the Blues' 1-0 victory over West Brom last weekend, Costa was filmed by compatriot(ish) David Luiz sinking a bottle of lager in the Chelsea dressing-room, sparking a mini-furore from people who seemingly don't understand footballers are, well, people.
Outrage junkies aside, it's not exactly a conventional habit - in the Premier League, at least - and Antonio Conte has explained why he actually encourages his players to sink a cool one following games.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea's trip to Sunderland tonight, Conte told reporters:
After the game, for rehydration, you can drink Coca-Cola, [or] one beer.
It’s good for recovery. But one. Not a lot.
It’s good after you finish the game. Quickly, not an hour after the end.
Sound.
Conte went on to contrast the Christmas schedule in the Premier League with that in Serie A back in Italy, and indicated that his players would be instructed not to go on the absolute lash with teammates, but that a glass of wine with Christmas dinner would be more than okay:
I’d prefer they stayed at home and celebrated with the family. Not a great party. On the 26th we play.
We’re preparing to celebrate with our families during the week before Christmas, to stay together with our children. In this period in Italy there is a holiday. Usually the club organised a party around ten days before Christmas, with the families, to stay together and have a dinner.
I think a glass of red wine, one, is good.
In this case, I don’t think a coach or a manager can say, ‘Do this’ or ‘Don’t do this’.
I have great professionals and I know they will have the better attitude and behaviours in this situation.
Again, pretty sound.
It's clear Conte's borderline maniacal obsession with football extends only as far as players' aptitude on the pitch, and such trust in his squad might explain why he was so popular with players at both Juventus and Italy while spending the vast majority of his time seemingly berating them from the sidelines.
Chelsea face Sunderland at 19:45 at the Stadium of Light.
