The weekly treat that is Jimmy Bullard’s column is out and he doesn’t hold back in his disdain for Diego Costa’s actions during the Chelsea v Arsenal game.

In addition, the former footballer admitted that he would have backed Gabriel to ‘have Costa’ if their on-pitch scuffle had been allowed to continue.

“Costa is going round picking fights and trying to bully young kids,” he said in his column. “I don’t like all that. I go and watch football to see football, not fights.

“I felt for the Brazilian lad Gabriel. I’d have backed Gabriel to have him, anyway. He was ready to go. I could see it in his eyes.

“He was thinking: ‘Don’t boy me off pal, I’ll have ya!'”

Bullard went on to reveal that he doesn’t actually rate the striker that highly because, in his words, if he had the skills in his ‘locker’ to get past players, he wouldn’t have to resort to winding them up. The Spain international was also described as a bully and Bullard urged him to ‘sort it out’ because that’s not why he watches football.

Although Costa has since received a retrospective one-match ban for his behaviour towards Koscielny during the clash, it doesn’t mean much if he continues to act out on the pitch, which seems likely considering his manager’s inability to acknowledge what sort of player Costa is.