"Last season, yes [Hazard was better]," Mourinho said. "In spite of the fact that Ronaldo was fantastic. He was fantastic. He scored an incredible number of goals.

"I am not saying he is not fantastic. I am just saying that, in my personal view, every football player in the world should understand that a team has to be in front and no titles."

i still think i'd take hazard instead of ronaldo any day but ronaldo still much better tho. more goals and assists than hazard

@TheGame: "Chelsea fans apparently don't; they prefer to compare motherhood with football, living in their own typical fantasy world."

Umm, so which Chelsea fan in this forum thinks that Hazard is better than Ronaldo? Please enlighten me, because I count a grand total of zero, so stop throwing bs like this at us and read the thread before posting a comment like that. And Chelsea fans are living in their own fantasy world? That's rich coming from a supporter of a club, whose fanbase thinks that De Gea is the best goal keeper in the world.

@JuanMata10, did you not look at Alex's post: "I say Hazard better than both Messi and Ronaldo combined. That's my opinion, idiotic opinion or not it's just an opinion. A mother will never say her son is not the greatest." And I hear these so-called "opinions", on a daily basis from fanatical Chelsea fans. Don't get emotional; take a look around you before blindly attacking my accurate response. That is borderline ignorance. De Gea was the best GK in the PL last season (very few would disagree with this). The gap between the qualities of the top 3 goalkeepers in the world (IMO De Gea, Neuer, Courtois) is very small, almost nonexistent. However, Ronaldo and Messi are both MILES, yes, MILES, ahead of Hazard. Funny enough, in the midst of all this, Marcus is the sanest of you lot. Always remember this quote: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"-Truzzi. If you're going to blurt out ridiculous opinions, don't get defensive when you get ridiculed.

@KTBFFHSWE, the point is that they are BOTH ridiculous statements. Just because one argument is less ridiculous than another doesn't automatically make it sound. Hazard is just a piece of a puzzle for Mourinho; last season was Chelsea's season. If he was playing for R. Madrid, he would be on the same level as James Rodriguez and nothing more. With that being said, even without Hazard, I am sure Chelsea would've bagged the PL last season. There was no competition from anyone else because all the other teams were so abysmal. Hazard was, however, the only spark in a very boring team. According to that list Mesut Ozil was a better player than David Silva last season, which is just pure garbage. You should take those stats with a grain of salt because they don't consider consistency of appearances correlated with performance when comparing the players. In other words, there is no control for sample size.

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - I most certainly will remember this quote. Well stated. Hazard truly would be equal to James in Madrid at most. He would not be able to displace either Bale, Ronaldo, Neymar, or Messi from the Barca/Madrid lineups. +1

@D, I appreciate that. This statement by Mourinho should be considered an insult to every football fan. Does he really think we're that stupid? What he said would only be considered factual in Chelsea's own little world and wouldn't be debated ANYWHERE else. Mourinho is, however, a manipulative, pathological liar so frankly I am not surprised. I mean if this guy was not a football manager, he would be Portugal's Donald Trump, going around and proclaiming himself to be a "special" prophet of some sort. It is comical more than anything else.

@The Game You probably did not understand a word of what I have said from your comment. But If you like to think of things in 1 Dimension and one small angle then my response is yes, Hazard is the best player in football history and United are still gutted that they did not sign him or may I say Hazard rejected United. That would fit an equally mature reply.

@TheGame: From the context of his comment, I actually supposed that even @AlexBatak thought that it was an "idiotic opinion". My apologies to you, if that was not his case. I think it's pretty hilarious, though, that you seem to include a quote in every argument in which you get involved in. Contrary to your beliefs, throwing out random quotes from your history books isn't actually an indicator for superior intelligence. If that was the case, you would have noticed that at no point I've ever said that Hazard was better than both Messi and Ronaldo, but because I'm a nice guy, I'll clarify: Ronaldo and Messi are both MILES, yes, MILES, ahead of Hazard, to put it in your own words. I fully agree with that. I also agree that De Gea was the best goalkeeper in England last year, but one season isn't enough to be considered the best in the world. The gap between the 3 best goalkeepers is indeed high, at least between number 1, which is Neuer, and number 2, which is Courtois. De Gea comes in third. It's a no brainer for me, but I still hear something different from United supporters. It's the same for Hazard v James. One of them plays on a top level since three years in what is arguably the best league in the world and the other one only played one season in a top league, while spending the last two in second-tier leagues, yet people still think that the latter is better? Now that is a ridiculous opinion.

Well, I like that quote!!!

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - thanks mate!!! +1

Juan what if I told you the leagues ranking does not determine the players greatness? I recall Pele playing in a substandard Brazilian league where he claims to have scored over 1000 goals, also even playing in the early MLS. Yet Pele is hailed as one of the greatest to ever play for his exploits in the league and the national squad. Do you recall James in Colombia during qualifiers and WC?

The league does not determine how great a player is. A players skill in physical and mental terms determine how good he is.

Hmmm. So let's see what's happening:

Mourinho: "Hazard is better than Ronaldo"
Chelsea fans: Some say Mourinho was joking and using mind games, some say they don't agree with him, some even say he is right BUT NONE in this forum are willing to criticism him for this joke of a statement
Everyone else: RIDICULES MOURINHO and calls him out for what his statement was: pure stupidity and an insult to every football fan's intelligence
Chelsea fan's response: Get defensive

@Alex, you didn't care to explain what you REALLY meant so I am still going to take what you said on face value. Everyone has an OPINION, that doesn't mean people should just agree with said OPINION. Opinions matter, especially if the person claiming those opinions are in a position of authority and influence.

@JuanMata10, so you take my statement as a means of boasting my intelligence? It is actually common sense to me, so the fact that you think it is a display of intelligence says a lot about yours. It is simple really: If I tell you that the sky is green and the grass is blue, I better damn well have a revolutionary evidence for making that statement. All I am seeing right now is another defensive Chelsea supporter. But I digress. The gap between the top 3 goalkeepers in the world is NOT indeed high. Everyone you ask has a different opinion; In this forum everyone will have a different top 5. Some even say that Buffon and Lloris are in the top 3. And that is the essence of my point: Ronaldo and Messi are the two best players in the world and everyone else is miles further down the pecking order. The comparisons between goalkeepers is very different because the distinction is not as clear. What you're suggesting is false equivalency.

@game

You completely misunderstood what Alex was trying to say ...

Ha! So everyone is waiting impatiently to find something to talk about Mourinho or a Chelsea player says everything about jealousy. I bet you all wish Mourinho or Hazard was on your side.. I will not take your opinion so serious really, because at the end it doesn't matter. You have an opinion ridiculous or not it doesn't matter it's your opinion. Mourinho is a Champion a Winner and Hazard is a Magician and Player of the year.

If you were all a real football fans you would appreciate watching Hazard play rather than talking trash about him or any other player.

@TheGame: Well, most people would think so if their counterpart throws out a statement in an arrogant know-it-all style. But don't you think that your statements are contradicting?

• tells you not to be defensive or emotional -> indirectly calls you stupid when you say that quotes are not a sign of intelligence
• says that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence -> claims that James is better than Hazard without providing any evidence

@Rai: Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Brazilian league considered one of the best leagues in the world at that time? The Brazilian national team was easily the best throughout Peles Career and nearly all of his national team colleagues, who, mind you, were absolute top players, were also playing for clubs in their homecountries, they regularly won against top European sides, too.

However, I do think that a league determines how good a player is. For example, it's easier to shine in - let's say - the Austrian Bundesliga than in the Premier League as the overall quality of your opponents is far lower. For example, Wilfried Bony was the star in the Eredivisie some time ago, but is only one of many in the BPL. To put it in other words, He was be a big fish in a small pond, but is only a small fish in a big pond, now. Of course, some may adapt better than others to a more difficult league (like Suarez when he moved from Ajax to Liverpool) and be the best players there, too, but how often does that happen? Sure, James is a very good player, but he hasn't done enough to be considered the same level as, let alone better than, Eden Hazard.

@Alex

I don't believe anyone here has said anything negative about Hazard. He is a terrific player, one of the best in the EPL. But your comment, "if you were all real football fans", is quite simply immature from a moderator.

@Alex, thanks for clarifying this situation. You *just don't want to* criticize Mourinho, because he is your club's manager. You would much rather agree with him.

@JuanMata10, when did I say quotes are a sign of intelligence? You brought that up. I was only letting you know that the quote in question is not really that brilliant, but more common sense than you think. But you seem to be having a hard time comprehending that.

Did I ever say James is better than Hazard? -> If he was playing for R. Madrid, he would be on the same level as James Rodriguez and nothing more. You're not even attacking my argument, because you have no argument. You're much more interested in making straw man accusations and dishing out ad hominems.

WhoScored:
Hazard 7.96
J. Rodriguez 7.85

But let's put this into context: Hazard gets to play in his favored position, a lot of his goals come from penalties, he plays more games but still only manages to score 2 more goals than James Rodriguez in a league that was of lesser quality last year compared to La Liga. Let's not forget how much more of a better player J. Rodriguez was in last year's WC. So at least we can actually make comparisons between the two. Messi/Ronaldo are on a different planet compared to Hazard.

I totally agree with the game, and its surely not jealousy. If Tomorrow LVG says Deepay is on the same level than Ronaldo/Messi, everyone would go nuts...
Lodatz would have been probably agreeing with Mourinho, best player in PL doesnt mean much lately specially last year, for me Aguero is better than Hazard, the closest to him would be Sanchez.
But i like the debate all around the forum, the old fans are back waiting for the next season, Cheers all.

@Tiki

Unfortunately we can't say that Sanchez was better than Hazard in 14/15 because that's heresy on FootyRoom. ;D

for all the people...here are the statistics!

Hazard seems to be a superior passer and dribbler...which are true IMO. Ronnie's game has evolved from being a dribbler to the player he is today...