You can be a great, Eden! Jose Mourinho's message to Hazard

JOSE MOURINHO has told Eden Hazard: You can be Chelsea’s special one this season.

Eden Hazard had an excellent debut season at Chelsea

Ever since Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge, there has been a ­belief among the fans that the ­manager will make all the difference.

But the Chelsea boss has spent the first week of pre-season drumming into his players that success will not come down to anyone in the dugout – but those on the pitch.

And Belgian Hazard is one of those ­Mourinho has spoken to in depth, telling him exactly what he expects him to deliver in his second year in English football.

Hazard said: “He told us all what he expected of us, what he wants to see.

“To me, he told me to be ambitious with my game, to try things and that, if I do that, I can do something special this year.

“I told him I wanted to do myself justice, to do as well as I can, and that is all he wants to see from all of us.

"I hope it will end up being productive. His arrival is important certainly but it won’t be him who actually goes out there and wins the title.

“He’ll do everything he can to put that in place, create the ­environment for us.

“But it’ll be the players who have to deliver the trophies.

“We have to concentrate on what he wants of us and if we all give 100 per cent we have a real chance of ­winning the title.

“Of course there’ll be big rivals out there, Manchester United, City, ­Tottenham, Arsenal – they’ll all be competing with us for that title.

“But we have a real chance this year and with a good manager in place our chances are even greater.”

The Chelsea players reported back for pre-season training last Monday and flew out to the Far East on ­Thursday.

They begin their build-up ­tomorrow with a match against ­Manchester United’s conquerors at the weekend Shingha All-Star XI and it will be down to the players rather than the manager to resurrect Chelsea’s ­domestic fortunes.

Yesterday’s training session in 33-degree heat typified the hard work that Mourinho is determined to get through alongside the corporate ­responsibilities of being in this part of the world.

But the Blues chief has surprised those new charges, who have had to judge him on reputation, with his laid-back attitude.

The Special One tries to keep cool during a Chelsea training session

“To me, he told me to be ambitious with my game, to try things and that, if I do that, I can do something special this year”

Eden Hazard

Hazard, 22, added: “Well, he’s ­someone who comes across as very calm in what he does.
“We’ve only been working together for a week now and it’s been a good week.
“There’s been a lot said about him and written about him, things we’d heard and read, but I’ve found him a very good person.
“He loves his players. He laughs and jokes with them a lot out on the ­training pitch and that’s good to see in a coach.
"He’s calm, yes – although I’m sure he can lose his cool as well. But he’s calm in explaining what he wants us to do so that we understand fully his instructions, we learn.
“He won’t always be calm, ­obviously. But we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes over the course of the season.”
A lot will depend on how ­Mourinho is able to perform in the transfer ­market.
And Hazard reiterated his call from June for the club to look at bringing Wayne Rooney to Stamford Bridge.
Fellow Belgian Christian Benteke is also a target and Hazard praised the striker for having the courage to hand in a transfer request at current club Aston Villa.
“Benteke is my friend,” he said. “We get on very well. And he had an ­unbelievable first season for a young striker in the Premier League.
“His dream is to play even higher. As for his decision, I think it’s the right one because he has the quality to impose himself wherever.
“I wasn’t surprised, no. We speak all the time and he’d told me, ‘Right, I’ve done well. What next?’ I think he’s got all the attributes for a big club.”