Eden Hazard is better than Cristiano Ronaldo, says Jose Mourinho

"Last season, yes, in spite of the fact that Ronaldo was fantastic," Mourinho said when asked if Hazard had a better season than Ronaldo.

"Eden is coming with big status now and was voted one of the top 10 players in Europe last year. In my opinion he should be in the top three not in the top 10.

"I think Eden is the best player in our country. The best player in England. [The Football Writers Association] voted him, too, the best player in the Premier League. As the Premier League is the top competition in the world, I think he is among the top players."

Mourinho also argued that a truly great player needs to win titles with their team, saying: "They have to win some titles, no? Football without titles is nothing. Messi won the treble. He won three competitions last year, he reached the Copa America final. He had a fantastic season for him and for his team. I don't like players or managers to win individual trophies without the team."

Mourinho seems to be taking a very specific definition of the term "great player". Ultimate success might be essential when you're judging a team, but not necessarily when you're judging an individual. Plus, of course, he dismisses the value of individual accolades - thus nullifying all Ronaldo's accomplishments last year, unless they're accompanied by team trophies - while bragging about Hazard's own gongs. It's an impressive sleight of hand by the master rhetorician.

Incidentally, he's not wrong that football without titles is nothing - but it seems pretty bleak when put that starkly. There's no acknowledgement of the sheer pleasure of watching Messi, Ronaldo, or indeed Hazard. Maybe that's not important to Mourinho, focused as he is solely on results, but it's important to the rest of us, who may not care for the team but enjoy seeing these stars ply their trade in the spotlight.