Jose Mourinho: Referees must protect Chelsea or Eden Hazard will leave Premier League

Jose Mourinho has stirred the pot once again, as the Chelsea manager has endured a tumultuous week in the Premier League. Chelsea were hammered 5-3 by Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Day, as they are now joint-top of the Premier League with Manchester City after dropping more points away at Southampton in a 1-1 draw on Dec. 28.

Following that game against Saints, Mourinho said there was a "campaign" against Chelsea following a booking handed to Cesc Fabregas for simulation by referee Anthony Taylor when it looked like the Blues had won a clear cut penalty.

Now, Mourinho is once again hitting out at the officials after their shock shellacking at Spurs to see in 2015. The Portuguese boss is worried that constant fouls from opposition defenders on Chelsea’s star man Eden Hazard could force the Belgian to move away from England.

“People in love with football in this country, people must be in love with Eden Hazard,” Mourinho said. “The way, match after match, he’s being punished by opponents and he’s not being protected by referees, maybe one day we won’t have Eden Hazard. It’s one, two, three, four, five, 10 aggressive fouls against him. They kick and kick and kick, and the kid resists. He’s a very honest guy in the way he plays, but that’s another problem.”

Hazard is in sensational form for Chelsea this season, scoring 11 goals and against Spurs he was a pest all game long despite the Blues conceding five times. The 23-year-old is attracting interest from Real Madrid and it seems as though Mourinho is worried Hazard may get fed up of being kicked all over the place week in, week out in the PL.

I get what Jose is saying but if you look at the Spanish league, it would be no different for Hazard if he moved there. The amount of times Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are scythed down during games is comparable. It is a fact that in any sport, you try to stop the oppositions best player any way you can and find ways around the laws of the game to do that. Hazard is “very honest” as Mourinho puts it, but playing in the EPL means you have to be ready for the psychical nature of play.

This seems like yet another mind game from Mourinho. His conspiracy theories are starting to mount up, just as cracks start to appear in Chelsea’s title charge...

What do you think?