Chelsea: Collymore brands Costa and Hazard actions WORSE than Cantona
The Chelsea trio all underperformed in the Premier League as the Blues endured a miserable defence of their title. Manager Jose Mourinho was sacked four months into the season with the club in 16th place, with Hazard and Costa scoring a combined three league goals by the time the Portuguese departed. This season all three players have excelled as Chelsea have shot to the top of the table under new manager Antonio Conte.
GETTY Collymore says Hazard and Costa last season were more unprofessional than Cantona (right)
Eden Hazard limps off during Chelsea's defeat to Leicester Mon, December 14, 2015 Chelsea's evening at Leicester went from bad to worse when Eden Hazard limped off with a hip injury Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 11 The extent of Eden Hazard's injury is unclear
There are many thousands at Chelsea who pay four figures for a ticket, and frankly they were muted off Stan Collymore
But Collymore believes Hazard, Costa and Fabregas owe it to the Chelsea fans to play at their best every week. Discussing player power with Boyle Sports, Collymore said: “(It is) most noticeably enforced by Costa, Fabregas and Hazard. “They get paid a lot of money and accept the delineation of “professional” because they get paid for a consistent level of performance over their careers. “Poor form happens to us all, so does the odd game where you are human and you’re not as in tune with the game as others, which is fine. “But essentially downing tools for a season because you don’t like the manager, what he may have said and essentially toss the whole season off is perhaps the most unprofessional thing I’ve ever seen happen in English football over 38 (sorry, 37, Hazard turned up at Anfield as his pre Euros warm up) games.”
GETTY Costa scored just three league goals for Chelsea last season by the time Mourinho was sacked
GETTY Cesc Fabregas (right) is also singled out by Collymore over his performances under Mourinho
GETTY Eric Cantona was banned for the rest of the 1994/95 season after kicking a Crystal Palace fan