SHAPE UP, HAZARD
Jose warns star he’s not pulling weight for team
JOSE MOURINHO launched an astonishing attack on Eden Hazard yesterday, claiming Chelsea’s star midfielder is not a team player.
Hazard criticised his manager’s counter-attacking style of play following Wednesday night’s Champions League semi- final defeat by Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge.
But Mourinho hit back: ‘ You get this kind of comment from players like him: from players who can’t resolve a problem like we had with the first (Atletico) goal.’
Hinting that Hazard was to blame for Adrian Lopez’s equaliser, Mourinho added: ‘You understand where the mistake was and why we conceded that goal.
‘Do I want him to change? No, I just say the perfect team at the top level cannot make this kind of mistake.
‘ When the comments come from a player like Eden, it’s normal. He’s not the kind of player ready to sacrifice himself 100 per cent for the team and his mates. I’m not happy.’
Hazard told French TV
on Wednesday: ‘Chelsea aren’t set up to play football. Chelsea are set up to counter-attack.’ And Mourinho put the outburst down to Hazard’s inexperience. ‘He’s a young guy,’ said the Portuguese. ‘His evolution is fine. Does he still make mistakes? Of course he still makes mistakes.’
The manager’s remarks raise questions over the pair’s relationship. Hazard says he is happy at Chelsea but it is believed he would consider his future should the right offer come along, with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid reportedly interested.
For now, Chelsea trust that Mourinho’s barbs will soon be forgotten and hope tension between player and manager do not become an unwanted distraction.
Mourinho ( right) has shown already this season that he is not to be crossed. Juan Mata was sold to Manchester United in January shortly after the Spaniard had reacted angrily to being substituted against Southampton.
Likewise, Ashley Cole and Andre Schurrle were marginalised — and Ryan Bertrand loaned to Aston Villa — after the trio attended Arsenal’s Christmas event on the same night Mourinho decided to postpone Chelsea’s party. In addition to his dig at Hazard, Mourinho felt it necessary to defend his record after the defeat by Atletico Madrid almost certainly condemned the Portuguese to a rare season without a trophy. ‘I was trophy-less last season? No, I won the Spanish Super
Cup,’ insisted Mourinho. ‘I’m going to tell you a bit of the history of my career. My career reached, at Inter, the maximum you can reach when you win everything.
‘ In 2010 I won everything: Scudetto, Coppa Italia, the Champions League.
‘In the first season at Real Madrid I won the cup against the best team in the world (Barcelona), finished second in the league after the best team in the world and lost the Champions League semi-final against the best team in the world.
‘The next season I was champions against the best team in the world, the champions of the records — 100 points, 126 goals. We lost the Champions League semi-final on penalties. And that was a “bad” season.
‘In the third season we won every match against the best team in the world, in the league, the Super Cup, the Cup, at the Bernabeu, at Barcelona...
‘And the fourth season, probably the first where I didn’t win a single trophy — unless we win the league — I got to the Champions League semi-final and fought for the title until the last moment.
‘So these are the four bad seasons of my career?’