- Eden Hazard has spoken about what it was like to play under Jose Mourinho
- Hazard won the Premier League with Mourinho at Chelsea in 2014/15
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Eden Hazard has admitted his relationship with Jose Mourinho broke down during the manager’s disastrous final season at Chelsea.
Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge for a second time in 2013 and won his third Premier League title with the club two years later, with Hazard playing a starring role for the Blues.
But Chelsea’s title defense went disastrously wrong and Mourinho was sacked in December 2015, leaving the team in 16th place.
Speaking about former teammate John Obi Mikel Obi One podcastHazard claimed his first two years with Mourinho could hardly have gone better, but revealed their relationship became strained towards the end, with Hazard not scoring a league goal until April in the 2015/16 season.
“The first two seasons were great,” Hazard said. “Remember the first year, the team was new so it was just the beginning. In Jose’s second season we won the league and won the League Cup.
Eden Hazard (center) and Jose Mourinho (right) won the league together at Chelsea in 2015
But Hazard has admitted his relationship with Mourinho ‘disappeared’ during the manager’s disastrous final season
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“Then the third season was kind of starting trouble, we lost games and at the end the relationship kind of disappeared.
‘But then I just have enormous respect for him and what he has done throughout his career as a manager. Now I can tell my children that Jose Mourinho was my manager for about two and a half years. Just a good story, you know.”
Over the past two decades, Mourinho has become known for making his teams difficult to break down by expecting every player to work hard both on and off the ball.
However, Hazard seemed to be given more opportunities to express himself at Chelsea under Mourinho, with the manager recognizing that the Belgian winger was capable of being a game-changer.
When asked if he was given complete freedom to roam the pitch and make things happen in the final third, Hazard denied this was the case but did admit that Mourinho gave him preferential treatment in training.
‘Total freedom, I don’t know. But a kind of freedom, yes, yes, yes!’ Hazard added.
‘At the end of the day he knew I was on the pitch to win games for us, it’s as simple as that. He asked me to do my job. And you know that Jose, if you don’t do your job, he can tell you in front of everyone.
‘He gave me freedom, but not like crazy. I remember him sometimes saying on the field during training, “Don’t kick Eden!” and I was like “what, why!?” But for me it’s fun!’
Hazard won two major trophies with Mourinho, but believes he actually played better under another Chelsea manager.
Hazard believes he was at his best for Chelsea under Antonio Conte, but admitted he hated the Italian’s training
Looking back on his seven years in west London, Hazard believes he was at his best when coached by Antonio Conte between 2016 and 2018, even though he hated the Italian’s coaching methods.
“I think my best time at Chelsea was with Antonio Conte,” he said.
Discussing Conte’s training with Mikel, Hazard continued: ‘Training all week. I went out on Saturday, I have to enjoy it for a while because I know I will be back on the training field the next day. I have to do something, it’s my only 90 minutes to enjoy.
‘You remember him, stopping, tactics, ‘no, we have to do that’. Saturday was the best day for me.’
Eden Hazard does speaking on the Obi One Podcast.