Tottenham vs Chelsea: Why Jose Mourinho needs to work on Eden Hazard project

On Friday, the Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho went public with what had been a private conversation, one that had been ongoing since the end of last season. Back in May, Eden Hazard had just been voted England’s double player of the year, the key figure in Chelsea’s title victory.

The 24-year-old seemed to be on a similar surge to Cristiano Ronaldo at the same age, going from a mere decorative talent to one of the world’s dominant players – and had attracted the attention of Real Madrid and Barcelona. That speculation has remained this season, but not because Hazard has continued to play brilliantly. The opposite has happened. A hugely difficult season for the club has seen Hazard step back, fostering the idea that there are problems from which he can be prised away to Spain.

Instead of taking command of games as he did frequently last season, he has regularly been taken off, and a series of unproductive displays have led to Mourinho dropping the Belgian. Hazard has been shifted about the front line in an attempt to reignite his season, but it has not sparked his form. It has only sparked a wider debate about his best position.

What position is that? The Belgian has not quite said it publicly under Mourinho – those close to the player insist he and his father believe Mourinho is making him a better player – but he has always wanted to be the central playmaker, the No 10.

That much was clear in May 2012, when Hazard talked about his preferred role, just before joining Chelsea. “I could not have made such a decisive contribution had the coach at Lille not changed my position,” he said. “It is all down to that. I have always dreamed of playing the No 10 role, and wearing that number on my back, and you can see what a difference it makes from how many goals I have scored and set up for others. That will be a consideration when I decide on my club.”

Which is all very well, except that at Chelsea he has rarely played in that role. For most of his time in England, Hazard has played from a position wide on the left, albeit with a licence to come inside. On Friday, Mourinho revealed why Hazard is not yet being considered for his preferred position long-term and is likely to be back on the flank at Tottenham today.

“We have different concepts of No 10, me and him,” Mourinho said. “For me, a No 10 does a lot of things. With the ball and without the ball. So, for me a No 10 is a very special player in my team. My first period here [between 2004 and 2007], we played two No 8s. [Now], with a system of two midfield players and one No 10, I demand a lot from a No 10. I like a No 10 to score goals. I like a No 10 to get in the box. I like a No 10 to score Oscar’s goal against Maccabi [Tel-Aviv, a surging header]. A No 10 for me is an eight-and-a-half when the team loses the ball, and the No 10 is a nine-and-a-half when the team has the ball.”

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The descriptions reveals a lot about Mourinho. Though the true No 10 has traditionally been a position free to solely create, the Portuguese can not allow that. He does not allow that poise in between the lines. He wants power all over, as illustrated by the “eight-and-a-half”, a reference to the rigorous all-action game of players such as Frank Lampard who get back as much as they get forward. Mourinho’s No 10s do not sit in that role, but occupy two roles either side.

Asked who was his ideal No 10, Mourinho named Wesley Sneijder and Deco, who played for him at Internazionale and Porto respectively. Mourinho would not be drawn on whether Hazard does enough “without the ball”, though, merely smiling and saying, “we are doing OK now. As a team we are defending better”. If much of this seems harsh on Hazard, it is not like the unexpected criticisms Mourinho made of the playmaker after the 1-0 win over Aston Villa. Those close to the player say he and the manager have spoken about this, and it was only on Monday that Mourinho reiterated that he believes Hazard is still best on the left.

Instead, the Portuguese’s comments reflect Chelsea’s attempts to recover last season’s attacking vibrancy. Hazard almost personifies the side in this sense, which is not surprising given how much of the attack is dependent on him. “I think he is like the team,” Mourinho acknowledged. “The team is also a bit better.”

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Mourinho is right in that regard. Hazard and the team have been a bit better, especially in the last two wins over Norwich City and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, but there were a few concerns. For one, they were hugely dependent on the set-pieces of Hazard’s attacking partner Willian, whose signing Chelsea beat Spurs to in the summer of 2013. Mourinho praised the Brazilian’s accuracy with free-kicks, from which he has scored six goals this season.

The list of teams Chelsea have beaten this season is underwhelming: West Bromwich, Maccabi, Arsenal, Walsall, Aston Villa, Dynamo Kiev, Norwich, Maccabi. Only Arsenal stand out. Chelsea need to put in a performance of substance against a team of substance .

Mourinho puts much of Chelsea’s fortunes this season down to luck. “What I can say is we felt little differences,” he said. “Against Maccabi they could score 1-1 twice… they didn’t score. A couple of minutes later we go there, 2-0, goodbye. This never happens [this season]. Never. If it happens, it happens always the other way. That’s a very good feeling… you need this positive feeling that the team was not feeling for a long time because everything was going against them.”