West Ham vs. Chelsea: Jose Mourinho Talks Eden Hazard, Slams Media in Presser
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho claimed he "doesn't know" if Eden Hazard will start at Upton Park when he addressed the media in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to West Ham United.
The Portuguese manager would neither confirm nor deny whether Hazard would be involved after the player was benched against Aston Villa but started midweek, per the Mirror's Jack Lang. The report also noted Mourinho took a swipe at the British press.
On Hazard, he said:
"He played the last match for 90 minutes and was part of the compact team that kept that clean sheet.
You have lots of people giving opinions and speaking about him. I’m happy with his contribution against Dynamo and that’s it.
I don’t know [if Hazard will play against West Ham].
"
When asked a light-hearted question regarding South Africa's rugby team visiting Chelsea's Cobham training ground, Mourinho reacted negatively:
"You are not going to get any funny headlines out of me.
I treat you the same way your bosses treat me: no respect. No respect.
I am not speaking about football.
Football I will expect every type of critic, even the stupid ones. [But] private life and stupid things that you bring to the light...
I don’t like it, so we go to a different level of professional relations.
"
His comments likely refer to the video that emerged on Wednesday of him appearing to push a 14-year-old boy while walking down the street, which was subsequently reported on by a number of outlets.
Regarding the video, Lang reports a Chelsea spokesperson as saying the children's behaviour was "overly intrusive" and that the manager's legal team are "monitoring the situation."
Returning to Saturday's game, he gave the latest team news for the clash regarding injuries, per the club's official Twitter feed:
The 52-year-old also hailed his side's improvement after they kept clean sheets against both Villa and Dynamo Kiev, according to Lang:
"It is important. Not just the clean sheets but the way the team played to keep them. It was not a super goalkeeping performance...they were both based on good teamwork."
In particular, Mourinho singled out Nemanja Matic for praise, per Chelsea's Twitter feed:
The boss has been critical of Matic's performances this season with the defensive midfielder struggling to live up to his own high standards, most notably in the 3-1 defeat to Southampton in which he brought the 27-year-old on as a sub, only to haul him off after less than half an hour.
His newfound support of the Serbian could be an attempt to change up his approach to man-management, which, as demonstrated by his earlier treatment of Matic, has been somewhat questionable this season.
Nevertheless, yet another prickly press conference from Mourinho could be a worry for Chelsea fans, with his relationship with the British media—which was once overwhelmingly positive—now in tatters.
The Evening Standard's Joe Krishnan was among those to note his sour demeanour:
Indeed, Krishnan shared his thoughts before Mourinho even began talking about the press, which indicates that it was not just one question that changed the tone of the conference.
In the past, Mourinho has perpetuated a siege mentality thanks to his perception that the footballing community wishes to see himself or Chelsea fail, so his comments aren't particularly surprising.
Expect more of the same following the match with West Ham regardless of the result.
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