Is Tim Howard really the villain after his fight with Costa?

By on August 31, 2014

No matter what, opinions will be divided. Roberto Martinez called Diego Costa’s actions “childish”. Jose Mourinho claimed his star forward an innocent “mature” guy. But whatever the case, Costa taunting Seamus Coleman after the full-back scored a fluke own goal that put away the game in Chelsea’s 6-3 win over Everton, showed a lack of class from Costa. And that’s beside the point, it wasn’t Costa who came away from the incident with a yellow card, rather, Tim Howard, Everton goalkeeper.

Rightly, the captain came out to defend his player. Challenging Costa would have proven his side that he had their backs, and that he was willing to anywhere with the club and back; his fellow squad members would likely do the same as well.

Now, there is no doubt that Howard went slightly to far. Rushing out to Costa – OK. Getting in his face – perfect. Grabbing onto his shirt – one step too far. There is a fine line between captain-like and a hothead, a line which Howard was teetering on the edge of. Howard has been the starting Everton goalkeeper since 2007, and he better be ready to fight and die by the club. He proved he was. Howard wasn’t smart enough, but kept his cool, and showed class at the end by making it up with Costa.

Depending on what Costa said, and the insults he continued to hurl at Howard for the rest of the match, he could be a harshly treated small-time criminal, or actually the villain. By the looks of it, the latter. Howard is not a hero, but neither is he a villain.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.