Jose Mourinho defends Eden Hazard ‘relegation’ as Chelsea down Aston Villa

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said the struggling English champions will stick to their back-to-basics approach after a hard-fought 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday in which Eden Hazard started on the bench.

He added that the Belgium winger, Chelsea’s stand-out player in last season’s title-winning team, was among the substitutes as part of a revamp to end his side’s miserable run of form.

“I left out Hazard because we are conceding lots of goals, we need to defend better, we need our midfield players to be just in the central area of the pitch,” Mourinho said.

“When, for example, a central midfielder has to be worried about providing cover to one of the sides, it’s like a blanket, you pull this side, you have your feet in the cold, you know?”

Hazard, the Premier League’s player of the year last season, had previously started every league game for Chelsea this season but only came on as an 83rd-minute substitute on Saturday.

By then, the game was effectively over, thanks to a first-half goal by Spain striker Diego Costa and a 53rd minute own goal by Alan Hutton who deflected in a strike by Costa.

Mourinho, asked whether he would continue to leave Hazard on the sidelines, said he wanted to see the Belgium international emulate the kind of defensive work rate shown by Chelsea’s other wide-playing midfielders, Brazil’s Willian and Pedro of Spain.