Stamford Bridge war of words over after Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho praises Eden Hazard’s season and hints he will stay beyond summer.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and his star player Eden Hazard have had something of a war of words in recent weeks, particularly in the wake of the Blues being eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.
“Chelsea is not made to play football,” said a frustrated Hazard to ESPN after the game. “Often, I’m asked to do it all by myself and it’s not easy.”
Mourinho responded critically.
“When the comments come from a player like Eden it’s normal because he’s not the kind of player to sacrifice himself for the team,” he told Sky Sports.
“Normally you get these kind of comments from players like him, from players that can’t resolve a problem like we had in the first goal.
“Eden is the kind of player that is not so mentally ready to look back to his left-back and to leave his life for him.
“If you see the first goal of Atletico you completely understand where the mistake was and why we conceded that goal.”
However, tensions appear to have simmered down between Hazard and Mourinho, and the Portuguese manager has now excused his player from poor recent performances due to recovering from injury.
“He had a big evolution in his game and his personality, a high that lasted for a long time, for many months, and he couldn’t finish on a high because he was injured,” explained the Chelsea boss to Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur.
“And in the most important period of the season he was not there: against Paris in the second leg, against Atletico in the first leg, he was there but not in the top of his condition in the second leg against Atletico, or in the last six matches in the Premier League because of his injury.
“But clearly for me he’s a player with a big evolution. Hopefully he’ll be even better next season.”
COMMENTS