Hazard advised to copy Lampard Jose Mourinho has told Yahoo Sport that Eden Hazard should follow the example of Frank Lampard. Mourinho has been lavish in his praise of Hazard, 23, this season with the Belgium international flourishing into one of the English top-flights most exciting talents. To help the former Lille man continue on his current upward trajectory, Mourinho said Hazard should copy Lampard. He said: I think Eden has great examples to follow at Chelsea. He doesnt need to look outside the club to find the best examples to follow. We have Frank Lampard who is 35 and is, of course, at the end of his career. There is no better example of a professional player than him for Eden and everyone else. Hazard has been central to Chelseas rise to the top of the Premier League table, though the Blues are far from certain to pick up the English crown they last won in 2009-10. Should Manchester City win their two games in hand, they will go three points clear at the top of the table, but with four teams still in the running at this late stage in the season, Mourinho said the Premier League is more competitive than ever. He continued: The Premier League is a very difficult league. Its very different to how it was in the past. I dont remember a season in which four teams were still in contention for the title with seven games left. Its difficult for everyone, not just Manchester United. As the reigning champions, they were among the favourites but theyre out of contention now. That can happen to any team as its very tough. Like United, however, Chelseas European ambitions remain intact. Mourinho will take his team into a quarterfinal match-up with Paris Saint-Germain, which will see the Portuguese come face-to-face with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish star, 32, was a member of the Inter Milan squad when Mourinho moved to the San Siro in 2008, and his former boss drew a very different picture to the general perception that Ibrahimovic is difficult to work with. He said: Zlatan Ibrahimovic was easy. I dont understand why people say that its difficult to work with strong personalities. What is difficult is to work with people who dont want to win, or who dont want to improve. When you are in charge of a winner, a person who always wants to win, who wants to be the best and isnt afraid of great responsibility, its very easy to deal with them. I only coached him for a season and it was a good experience. For me, hes one of the best players Ive ever coached. Everyone would have liked to have seen him in Brazil, but Sweden didnt qualify.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 09:28:05 +0000
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