HAZARD IN TOP THREE
Mourinho puts him above Ronaldo
JOSE MOURINHO has given Eden Hazard an extraordinary vote of confidence with the new season about to get under way by saying he rates him as one of the world’s top three players — and better than Cristiano Ronaldo at present.
Hazard, voted Player of the Year last season by both the Football Writers’ Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association, is now up there with the likes of Lionel Messi, according to Mourinho.
And because of the trophies he won last season, Mourinho would rate Hazard above Ronaldo, whom he managed at Real Madrid.
Discussing whether Hazard r anked alongside Messi and Ronaldo, Mourinho said: ‘ Obviously it depends on the season they have. They have to win some titles. Football without titles is nothing. Messi won the Treble.
‘He won three competitions last year, he reached the Copa America final. He had a fantastic season for him and for his team. I don’t like players or managers t o win individual trophies without the team.’
Ronaldo didn’t win any domestic trophies nor the Champions League, though Real Madrid did win the World Club Cup l ast December. And asked whether, on the basis that Chelsea won the Premier League with Hazard at the helm, he would put his player above Ronaldo, Mourinho said: ‘Last season, yes. In spite of the fact that Ronaldo was fantastic and scored an incredible number of goals.
‘I am not saying Ronaldo is not fantastic. I am just saying every football player in the world should understand that the team has to be the main focus.
‘Eden is coming with big status now and was voted one of the top 10 players in Europe last year. In my opinion, he should be in the top three not in the top 10.
‘I think Eden is the best player in England. As the Premier League is the top competition in the world, I t hink he i s among t he t op players.’
Yet there is still something troubling Mourinho when it comes to his star player. There is a fear that English football might devour the Belgian and that the peculiar leniency shown by Premier League referees to strong challenges will result in an injury.
‘Last season Eden was lucky not to break a leg,’ said Mourinho. ‘He’s getting stronger and stronger, not just in his body, but in his attitude. He’s mentally tough.
‘But the reality is that last season he was l ucky. Let’s see what happens next season. He could have been injured many, many times. He suffered more than a couple of nasty tackles and could have been in trouble.
‘I saw lots of players breaking legs and ankles with less than that. I don’t want to say names because last season is finished and let’s have a fresh start. I won’t name Mr A, Mr B or Mr C, but he had some very nasty tackles last year. I would like more protection for him, but it’s beyond my control.’
Mourinho might not name names but Hazard was happy to do so last week, citing Phil Bardsley’s challenge at Stoke last December as the worst, though — in truth — there was a long list of offenders.
Chelsea have one more friendly to play on their American tour — against Barcelona in Washington DC tonight — and Mourinho approaches the campaign, at least superficially, with some degree of confidence.
His team have added Radamel Falcao, who looked sharp in a cameo role against Paris St Germain at the weekend, and reserve goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who has been less impressive so far. John Stones may well come. The big spending, though, has been done elsewhere: £69m spent by Manchester United, £62m by Manchester City while Sunday’s Community Shield opponents, Arsenal, have taken a world-class goalkeeper in Petr Cech from Chelsea.
Mourinho says he is not bothered by all the comings and goings. ‘I think everyone is buying well,’ he said. ‘ When you have money to spend there is no reason to buy bad. You buy good players and then there is the unpredictability of the game; you buy a fantastic player and for some reason he doesn’t do as well as you would have expected. But no big team with money buys bad players.’
Mourinho is keen for the world to appreciate the net spend of the Premier League’s title contenders in recent years. Chelsea were once the big-spending billionaires and Mourinho now wishes to point out that the roles have reversed, particularly in relation to London rivals Arsenal.
‘They have bought a fantastic goalkeeper and that is a position which is very important in a team. Every club is different, we don’t need to speak about them but if you add up the amounts clubs have spent in the last three or four years I think maybe you will find a surprise.
‘This is the easiest thing to do — I don’t do it — but get a calculator and it leaves no space for any speculation. If you want to be honest, objective and pragmatic it is the easiest job for a manager or journalist to do.
‘If a manager is interested he can do it. Diego Costa plus Fabregas pl us…. Schneiderlin pl us… Benteke plus Balotelli. It is easy and objective.
‘If you put Mesut Ozil plus Alexis Sanchez plus Calum Chambers plus Mathieu Debuchy you will maybe f i nd a surprise. It’s a fantastic squad with good players, they are more than ready to be title contenders.’
There are some new perspectives for the new season, however. Given that Mourinho doesn’t often do regrets, it’s notable he reiterates that he has drawn back from his suggestion that there was a referees’ ‘ campaign’ against Chelsea last season.
‘I don’t think there is,’ he said. ‘The words were the only thing I regret. It was just an accumulation of mistakes. There was a penalty at Southampton, the tackle on Nemanja Matic ( by Burnley’s Ashley Barnes)
‘I will approach referees the same as always, understanding the very difficult job they have, having lots of respect and being emotional as always because that’s my way. Accepting mistakes but not accepting a lot of mistakes.’