Distorting footballing logic in inimitable fashion by flouting his status as a serial winner, Jose Mourinho argued that Eden Hazard was better than Cristiano Ronaldo last season.
His fellow Portuguese had scored 61 goals but Real Madrid finished without silverware. Hazard was the best player for England’s champions. Case closed, as far as Mourinho was concerned.
That was July. Fast forward three months and there was no place for Hazard in a Chelsea team who kicked off in 16th place on Saturday. To follow Mourinho’s reasoning, that must make him mediocre. The reality, as is often the case, lies between two extremes.
Yet it was both revealing and extraordinary when Mourinho dropped Hazard for the visit of an Aston Villa side who departed Stamford Bridge with a solitary point to show for their last eight games. In theory, this was as easy a game as is possible in the Premier League. In practice, it was little harder. Hazard was granted seven minutes, plus stoppage time.
Mourinho applauded the workhorses on the wings, Willian and Pedro, for their efforts. It was particularly telling that he felt the need to afford such protection a shaky and inexperienced leftback, in Baba Rahman.
It was a vote of no confidence in the £20 million (Dh11.3m) defender, in Hazard and in his team in general. These are strange times at Chelsea. The worst slump of his career has seen the supposed “Special One” reduced to the ranks of the mere mortals.
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His response was one that lesser managers often take when they need a result: they go back to basics. They look to grind out a result. They select the most conservative side possible, with a focus on keeping a clean sheet.
It was not Pedro’s status as triple Uefa Champions League winner that appealed as much as the probability he would help his leftback more than Hazard. Mourinho has always been a defensive strategist but this was him borrowing from the blueprint of Tony Pulis or Sam Allardyce, those risk-averse experts in crisis management.
And there is something intriguing in seeing imports becoming more English than the English. This particular Portuguese has developed a fondness for rugby union and, on the football field, for deploying two banks of four when his side do not have the ball.
Hence Pedro and Willian, the full-backs’ friends. Andre Schurrle, one of several wingers Chelsea have discarded, noted that one wide man normally has to do a disproportionate amount of defending to compensate for the greater freedom Hazard enjoyed.
But Mourinho revoked the Belgian’s licence to roam. It will be instructive to see when it is restored. Because, if the Portuguese would not trust a flair player against lowly Villa, will he in Ukraine on Tuesday when Chelsea face Dynamo Kiev?
Then they head to West Ham United, whose rightback, Carl Jenkinson, has scored twice in as many games. So can Hazard be risked at Upton Park? Chelsea have league and cup meetings with Stoke City and even when they were commanding league leaders last season, Mourinho bulked up his team to face City with more six-footers. Are they occasions for Hazard?
And Chelsea meet Liverpool, starting to play Jurgen Klopp’s 100mph football. A game of non-stop “gegenpressing” may not be the ideal occasion for one who prefers to play at his own pace. Viewed one way, Hazard could be set for an extended spell on the sidelines. Viewed another, perhaps Mourinho was merely trying to bring a response by omitting him from the most winnable game and then recalling him for stiffer tests. Yet this cannot be construed as a one-off, a bit of shock therapy, a Hazard warning. Not when the Belgian was benched at Porto last month.
Mourinho’s official explanation was that Hazard’s demotion was purely tactical. Yet it would be strange if there is no room for a pure talent in his team, either on the left or as a No 10. Hazard’s contribution last season — 14 league goals and nine assists, securing all of the individual awards — shows Mourinho must find a way to accommodate him. Because, from Ronaldo comparisons to reserve, he has fallen too far.
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