Paul Scholes: Diego Costa would cause a row in an empty house

Paul Scholes received his fair share of yellow cards in his day but Diego Costa is undoubtedly on another level.

The Chelsea striker's aggression divides opinion with his critics claiming that he's bringing the beautiful game into disrepute and his fans believing that Costa's ability to wind defenders up ought to be applauded. Paul Scholes fits into the latter category as the former Manchester United midfielder has said that Costa is at his best when he's niggling away at markers but that he can't rely on that tactic. Costa was dropped for Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Spurs on Sunday and Scholes explained that that decision was made because the Blues forward simply wasn't in goalscoring form.

"I think (he's been dropped) because he's not been playing well enough," Scholes said on BT Sport.

"It's pretty obvious from last year, when you look at the stats - he's scored nowhere near the amount of goals, and he just hasn't contributed.

"We know he's a very good centre forward, he's at his best when he's fighting, when he's arguing, when he's kicking, but when he's not scoring goals with that, it stands out.

"This is what he's good at, when he's fighting - I won't say at his best, but it's what he's good at. He'd cause a row in an empty house."