Chelsea forward Eden Hazard says that he is still happy
to endure the kicks of Premier League opponents as he
eyes a second consecutive league title.
The Belgian, named the PFA Player of the Year last
season, has been working to bulk up in order to deal
with the aggressive approach often used to try to nullify
him, but would welcome extra protection from referees.
“Sometimes I am in pain after games,” he told The
Observer. “I have to take some anti- inflammatories or
something like that.
“I like to have the ball at my feet and, when I have the
ball at my feet, I get a lot of kicks… but this is football.
“If I don’t work and do the training, the defenders will
kill me. It’s my job. “If the referees can protect me, it
would be good for me because they know now that I
get a lot of kicks and I want to be protected by the
referee. Whenever I feel pain, I try to keep a
smile on my face. Always happy.
“Sometimes I get kicked, sometimes not. We have a lot
of physios and they work very well because we play
every three or four days. It’s important. I am able to
stay calm, though.
That’s just the way I am. I don’t speak a lot to the
players or the defenders. I just want to play, to dribble,
to do some skills.
“I never reacted to tackles, even when I was younger.
Maybe growing up playing with my brothers helped me.
When I was younger, I kept the ball at my feet and my
brother tried to catch the ball and, of course, I got a lot
of kicks but it became a habit.
“The worst one last season was against Stoke, with Phil
Bardsley. When I see the video… it’s crazy. I just play. I
always say after the game that, if I’ve had a lot of
kicks, the game was good. I don’t care about kicks – I
just want to score.”
Hazard’s style of play is often compared to Lionel
Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and the Blues star is
excited about pushing himself towards their level.
“If I want to reach this level, I have to score 40, 50
goals just for one season,” he remarked. “I think last
season I scored 19. Maybe it’s good but maybe it’s not
enough.”
Hazard continued on Chelsea’s prospects this year:
“Everything is possible. If we train hard, if we play like
we did last season, we can be better. Of course, in the
Champions League we have to do better to reach the
final or the semi-final. It will be a good season.”
