Mourinho praises Hazard's initiative, sees continued improvement

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was pleased with his squad's performance against Manchester United on Sunday, even if he wasn't satisfied with the result. During his post-match comments, he single out the effort of Eden Hazard today, a player with whom he was impressed:

‘He had initiative. He’s showing that in big matches – to take responsibility, to get the ball and try to create. He did it in the first half and he did it in the second. I am so happy with the kid. He’s another one who, believe me, is improving.’

I actually came away from this match a bit disappointed by Hazard's performance, though he's been setting ridiculously high standards with his performances of late. Eden had a few moments where he looked like he was causing United real headaches, but they were too few and far between for my liking.

That said, it's easy to see what Mourinho saw that he liked, as Hazard was moving from the left side quite a bit to try to get himself involved with the play. It should have resulted in at least one goal, and had the United defense collapsing on the Belgian whenever he approached the box.

Here's hoping that Mourinho is right, and that the best is still yet to come from Hazard. He's already been awfully fun to watch lately, I'm not sure how much better it can get.