COMMENT: As things stand today, it is impossible to see Jose Mourinho and Eden Hazard lasting together long-term at Chelsea.
Mourinho's axing of Hazard for victory over Aston Villawas personal. But not in a combative way.
Word from Cobham is that the Belgian has slipped back into his old habits. Last season, as the accolades and awards rained down, staff at Chelsea credited it all to Hazard's change of approach to life at Cobham. The introvert had become more outgoing. He'd bought into the team ethic promoted by Mourinho and driven by the likes of John Terry and Petr Cech. They brought Hazard 'out of himself' - and his football benefited.
This season, however, Hazard is back to his old ways. He's again among the first to leave training. The banter is gone. Hazard, for the moment, is far happier going into training, doing his work, then getting away and home to wife Natasha and their two children. When the club is on its knees, with the need for team bonding at its most critical, to have your No1 player scooting off is not the message of unity Mourinho is desperately trying to rediscover.
But this isn't about personalities. Nor even tactics. This is about Mourinho giving Hazard a nudge about what took him to the summit last season. The manager knows he has a player capable of so much more.
Mourinho's complaints about Hazard's defensive game after the Villa win were a smokescreen. The Special One has worked with plenty of luxury players over the years - Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Wesley Sneijder... they're hardly known for getting their foot in.
Mourinho dropped a bigger hint of the problems behind the scenes at yesterday's Champions League presser. Asked how Hazard had reacted to his axing, Mourinho replied: "How did he train (after being dropped)? He trained like Eden..."
And that's the bottom line. Mourinho can see Hazard falling back into his old habits. He's trying to save the player from himself.
Those Mourinho speaks most fondly of - like John Terry, Frank Lampard and Diego Costa - have wrung every bit of ability out of themselves. These are Mourinho players. Mourinho men. And he really believed he'd cracked it with Hazard last season, even putting him on the same level as Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
But now, those concerns Mourinho had about Hazard have resurfaced. And he's not the only one.
Some have been critical of Mourinho taking aim at Hazard in public this week. But Marc Wilmots, the Belgium coach, has been on the player's back for much of the season. Even admitting he's been playing Hazard on reputation - and nothing else.
And if the penny doesn't drop, then you can see Chelsea cashing in. Mourinho denied reports yesterday, but he was in Ukraine last week taking a look at Dnipro's goalscoring winger Andriy Yarmolenko. Mircea Lucescu, the Shakhtar Donetsk coach, also claimed the Blues manager was checking on Yevhen Konoplyanka, of Sevilla. Both attacking midfielders. Both capable of being regular goalscorers. Both similar to Hazard.
The Hazard case is perplexing. He's not a disruptive influence. He can still be a matchwinner on his day. If nothing changes, the Belgian would still be regarded among the best players in the world.
On the open market, Chelsea could rake in £75 million from a Real Madrid or PSG. It'd be wrong to say then Hazard would be their problem. But without that real inner drive to be the best he can be, is this now the right time for Chelsea to cash in?
Mourinho demands more from his players. He's spoken often this season about everyone at the club rediscovering a winning attitude. Not just among his squad, but right through to Chelsea's junior teams. It will be exasperating seeing his most talented player, the one the club's youth teamers look up to most, doing just enough in training and around the club to get by.
He wants the low-key, self-reliant personality of Hazard with the obsessive drive of Ronaldo. The perfect Mourinho player. And he thought this was what he was witnessing last season.
Picking up his PFA and Football Writers' Player of the Year awards last season, Hazard made it clear to all of us his goal was "to be the best". But then, just recently, confessed he may lack the "drive" to match the goalscoring achievements of Messi and Ronaldo.
The shift in attitude is glaring. And Hazard's form has suffered as a consequence. If the Belgian is to hit previous standards he needs to listen to Mourinho. This is no personality clash. The manager is trying to help him.
Whether Hazard realises this will decide his future at Stamford Bridge.
