Chelsea may be flying under Antonio Conte this season, but the agony of last campaign still lingers at Stamford Bridge.
After all, the Blues hold the unwanted record of being the worst ever defenders of the Premier League title. It proved a nightmarish few months that saw Jose Mourinho sacked and Eden Hazard embark on an unprecedented goal drought.
Nevertheless, Hazard has since revealed his reaction to the sacking and exactly what he messaged the Special One after the decision. It’s fair to say that, despite a rather ignominious last few months, the pair are still on good terms.
With the 2014-15 season seeing Chelsea romp to the Premier League title and League Cup, all was going swimmingly for Mourinho just over a year ago.
Moreover, Hazard was collecting the accolade of the PFA Player of the Year Award with his 19 goals spearheading the silverware rush. Fast forward a few months and the proverbial hit the fan.
Chelsea’s star man didn’t the find the net at all in the opening four months of the season and took until April to end his league duck. Furthermore, he received a backlash from supporters amid rumours of exits to PSG and Real Madrid.
As for his manager, embarrassing home defeats to Bournemouth, Southampton and Crystal Palace saw his job in the balance. The 2-1 loss at Leicester proved the last straw though with Mourinho receiving his second Chelsea sacking.
While Guus Hiddink did succeed in mounting a minor recovery, the west London side could only stumble their way to tenth.
So, there can be no denying that both Hazard and Mourinho were in something of a predicament in December 2015.
The latter’s eventual dismissal saw the ending of a working relationship that had blossomed for two seasons before, rather jarringly, turning sour.
Despite this, Hazard never lost faith in his manager and even sent the Portuguese a kind text after the decision.
According to the Mirror, the 25-year-old revealed: “I sent him a message just to say ‘good luck’ and I hope he can win some games.
“Not too much because we want Chelsea to become champions – but I want him to be at the top again.”
In addition, Hazard was keen to reiterate that, regardless of Chelsea’s form, just how close he was to Mourinho. He explained: “The relationship was always the same.
“For him it was difficult to lose a game because it’s in his character to win all the time. But we were together. “We were together at the top, and in the bad moments – we suffered together.”
Nearly one year on and it appears that, eventually, the decision has paid off.
October saw Conte scoop the manager of the month award and Hazard received the equivalent for players. Not only are the Blues climbing the table at an astonishing rate, but with their star man back in glittering form.
Mourinho, on the other hand, may not have set the world alight at Manchester United, yet there is great improvement. That being said, given United’s infuriating inconsistency, it’s not hard to imagine that the Special One is missing his Belgian super star.