Eden Hazard takes subtle swipe at former manager Jose Mourinho
Eden Hazard has hit out at his former boss, Jose Mourinho, in a thinly veiled attack on the current Manchester United boss. A lot happened between the duo last season as Chelsea had a disappointing season which led them to a tenth-placed finish in the final standing and also led to the sacking of the Portuguese manager.
Hazard isn't the first Chelsea player to take a swipe at the former manager, earlier this summer even Gary Cahill let his feelings known to how he'd been treated in the club.
Hazard said, "Conte puts trust in his players. Now we are good after an ugly season last year. I’ve always been the same player. But Conte knows how to treat players having played at the highest level himself.”
This remark may come out as a comparison between the two managers as Conte played for Italian giants Juventus while Mourinho played for lesser known Portuguese sides Rio Ave, Belenenses and Sesimbra before switching to coaching in his late twenties.
Hazard and Mourinho had a fallout last season which started in the first game of the season which also caused a big issue between the manager and the then-Chelsea physio, Eva Carneiro. Later in what turned out to be the Portuguese's last game in a 2-1 loss to Leicester, Hazard went off the pitch with an injury but Mourinho pointedly saying that the player took the decision himself.
Gary Cahill has also revealed the difference between the last season and the new season under new manager Antonio Conte. He said, “We needed organisation. We went from winning the league to the disaster of last season. We lost our way tactically, everyone’s head was in different directions.
"Everyone had different situations going on, whether you’re playing or not, the manager, or this or that. Different distractions are never healthy. It is the hardest thing when everyone is not on the same wavelength. People talk as if you wake up one day and suddenly you’re a bog standard player. It doesn’t happen."
Cahill then lauded Conte's impact as he continued, “The main thing for me is how fit and sharp we look, and the organisation in terms of where players need to be. We needed to have a gameplan, the tactics and way we want to play drilled into everyone and everybody buy into it. That’s what we have seen. We have worked very hard and we are buying into what is happening here. That’s the most important thing, to move forward.”