As the most fouled player in the Premier League, you might expect Eden Hazard to be bored of having his legs taken away from under him. But he, doesn't seem to mind, saying he is used to being kicked by opponents, and it spurs him on to be a better player.
Hazard has fouled 102 so far this season, in League and Champions League games, but the Chelsea star claims it actually makes him happy when opponents target him, and he has learned not to react.
'I don’t see the point in reacting,' Hazard told the Independent. 'True, it’s a human response but it is the way I have been brought up. I have been used to taking the knocks. The more I take, the happier I am.
'It always makes me want to outdo them but in a football way and I don’t want to make their life a misery by kicking them. I want to hurt the opponent but in terms of the football.
The one time Hazard did respond, it was a ball-boy on the receiving end, with the 24-year-old dismissed in controversial fashion.
'That [Swansea red card] was the only one,' he added. It’s true that I don’t normally get red cards. I am still young. Maybe with age it will come. Maybe I will become more aggressive but I hope not.'
Hazard has been in scintaliting form this season, overcoming the knocks to score 13 goals already this season, and create plenty more, something he attributes to manager Jose Mourinho's guidance.
'It’s true we do have a special relationship,' continued Hazard, who will hope to inspire Chelsea to success at Wembley on Sunday in the Capital One cup final.
'What is good about him as a coach is that he lets us play. He lets me play. He is not always on at me and I really appreciate that.
'If it isn’t good he says so, if it is good he says so. He is always direct. But I don’t think he has changed me. He has taught me to become more professional and to be better on the pitch.
'I don’t think I have changed my mentality. You can’t change that. I am who I am. He has always taught me to get the best out of myself.'
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