Jose Mourinho Talks Eden Hazard Benching and More After Chelsea Beat Aston Villa

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho defended his decision to bench star forward Eden Hazard for Saturday's 2-0 win over Aston Villa and suggested the Belgium international may stay on the bench unless his defensive work rate improves.

As football writer Dan Levene shared, Mourinho made it clear he won't be afraid to pull that trigger again:

Hazard was replaced by summer arrival Pedro in the Blues' first match since the international break, and while the Spaniard didn't have a huge impact in the attacking third, Chelsea's defence looked more solid in the 2-0 win.

Aston Villa all but gifted the Blues the three points, with Brad Guzan first playing a comical pass in his own box, leading to an easy goal for Diego Costa, before the same Costa saw a poor shot get deflected into the net for an own goal from Alan Hutton.

Mourinho made plenty of changes to his side before the match, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek replacing Nemanja Matic and Abdul Baba Rahman handed his first Premier League start on the wing. The changes worked, as Baba Rahman overcame a dreadful start to put in a solid shift, while Loftus-Cheek looked like he belonged in the Chelsea midfield even if his passing was sloppy at best.

Per the Independent's Miguel Delaney, the youngster received special praise from Mourinho:

Mourinho's decision to put Hazard on the bench―he was introduced inside the final 10 minutes―likely raised a few eyebrows but would largely have flown under the radar thanks to the 2-0 win. Sport Witness didn't understand why the manager felt the need to call out the Belgian after the match, creating a story out of thin air:

Mourinho elaborated on his decision, citing the defensive work of Willian and Pedro, before adding he wants the players to think about the team above everything, per the club's official Twitter account:

Finally, he conceded the win wasn't the most convincing one, but he praised the side's effort:

The question now becomes whether Hazard starts Tuesday's vital Champions League match against Dynamo Kyiv. The Ukrainian side currently sit in second place in the group, one point ahead of the Blues, and have looked more than solid defensively in their matches against FC Porto and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

It's the kind of match Hazard could unlock with one moment of sheer brilliance, and he had plenty of those while playing for Belgium on international duty.

But with Pedro and Willian starting on Saturday, Chelsea looked more like the side that won last year's Premier League title, moving quickly on the counter-attack, and it will be hard to bench Pedro after his hard-working performance.

Benching Hazard, arguably the club's best player and the current PFA Player of the Year, for two matches in a row would be a bold and potentially controversial move. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and after a dreadful start to the 2015-16 campaign, these are indeed desperate times for Mourinho and Chelsea.

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