There's no doubt that Chelsea haven't seen the same level of play from many of their stars so far this season. Diego Costa is misfiring. Cesc Fabregas has continued the slow decline he received as a Christmas present. Nemanja Matic has forgotten how to do that magical telescopic leg trick. The list goes on. (Yes, I'll get to Branislav Ivanovic. Have a little patience.)
Despite the long list of under-performing players, the face of the decline must be reigning Premier League Player of the Year Eden Hazard, who capped off an awful run of games with a penalty miss against Maccabi Tel Aviv so bad that Jose Mourinho felt compelled to joke about it:
Jose Mourinho jokes Eden Hazard's penalty miss was something he did as sponsor for the rugby world cup. #CFC
— Matt Lewis (@mattlewis27) September 18, 2015
Fortunately that didn't impact the match, which turned out to be a very easy win, but it was symbolic of just how different this year's version of Hazard is from the flying, buzzing terror we've seen in previous seasons. Is Mourinho worried? Nope:
Jose says Eden Hazard is still the penalty taker, and he is the best player playing in England. #CFC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 18, 2015
Jose says that soon Eden Hazard will be a man of the match again. #CFC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 18, 2015
Nor is he stressed about his defence:
Jose says he has total confidence in John Terry and he is one of his men. Being on the bench one game doesn't change anything. #CFC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 18, 2015
Jose says no criticism from him about the performances of Branislav Ivanovic. He doesn't separate individuals from team displays. #CFC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 18, 2015
You wouldn't expect him to criticise players in public, of course, so there's not much to read into these statements. Chelsea fans aren't going to chance their vitriolic reaction to certain players being out of form (they save the entirety of their support for useless, hideously expensive strikers, as it turns out) based on what the manager has to say. But at least the likes of Hazard, Terry and Ivanovic will see that Mourinho has their back in the press. That can't hurt.