Blues unhappy with rough treatment of fleet-footed stars.
Chelsea have called for greater protection from the Premier League to prevent stars like Eden Hazard being kicked out of the English game, the Daily Express reports.
Manager Jose Mourinho handed this week’s press duties to his No2 Steve Holland after being charged by the FA for comments which criticised referees by saying there is a conspiracy against his team.
The Blues have seen a number of their stars go into the book for simulation this season, but Holland suggested that officials should be looking at rough treatment as much a simulation.
Holland hinted that they aren’t happy about a challenge from Stoke’s Phil Bardsley on Hazard before Christmas that only earned a yellow card, and by Hull’s Tom Huddlestone a fortnight earlier on Filipe Luis which resulted in a red card.
“Watching the replays five times to highlight how a player has spent more time in the air than he should’ve done is not a difficult job. But look at Hazard at Stoke,” he said.
“If he doesn’t see that tackle coming and get his studs up, that finishes his career.
“When players anticipate challenges they try to get their feet off the ground.
“That makes it very difficult for referees. Eden just gets on with it. He’s incredible, with the stick he takes.
“But if he gets up straight away after being whacked, that could discourage a referee from taking action against a player who is trying to take him out.
“Five minutes later he gets whacked again because the player hasn’t got a yellow card.
“In the Hull game Luis was on the receiving end of a tackle. Those two tackles were career ending tackles if they connected. No doubt.
“Yet we spend two or three days talking about how long a player has spent in the air rather than what is done about the perpetrators of those challenges. Where’s the logic in that?”
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