Chelsea star Eden Hazard seeks rebirth in brushing aside media critics

To ask those covering Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard, the ink dedicated to the front pages of football rags may as well print under the obituaries, as the Belgian's playing reputation dies a seemingly sentenced death by media criticism.

His club is in a dire run of poor form, an unprecedented level of listlessness creeping into a team that looks utterly defeated just one-third through the Premier League season. His manager, Jose Mourinho, is facing a fire that had been quelled under his foot for 10 years, heating up at unfortunate last.

It has provided Hazard a lesson in enduring, and now, with a Champions League clash against Dynamo Kyiv on the cards, he's done paying attention to his critics.

"It is the case I learn every day now," Hazard told Chelsea's official website. "I need to train and try to forget everything and be a better player.

"We try to speak about it together. The communication is very important. We know when we are in a bad way we need to keep going with communication. People are sad when you don't win but the communication is very important and we did very well because every day we spoke together, and this is good.

"In a good moment or in a bad moment, we are professional. Personally I don't read the newspapers. I try to focus only on my football and win games."

He's not the only one paying no mind to the pundits, though Hazard has bore the brunt of the criticism this year as he struggles to replicate the form that saw him win the PFA Player of the Year award last season. Hazard has yet to score this season and has been in and out of Mourinho's starting lineup.

Such is Hazard's drop off that reports of the Belgian wanting away to Real Madrid have surfaced in recent weeks, too.

But Hazard isn't focusing on that, putting his mind solely on improving the fate and form of both himself and his team.

"We are not winning games, this is the most important thing," he said. "We need to keep going in training; we want to improve together and just want to win matches. We know the season after you are champion, it is difficult as everybody wants to beat you. We missed chances, I missed penalties, it's very difficult but we need to keep going and improve."