That quote is classic. Hint; Hazard's not the only true **** at Chelsea Football Club. John Terry, Roman Abramovich, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Ron Gourlay, the racists in the stands, the firms in the pubs.......
But no, it's 'we know what we are Champions of Europe' every time. It sometimes vexes me about football that tribalism masks almost everything that is wrong with a club's actions. The fans will defend it to the death, regardless of what it does, every single time. It's not just Chelsea; we'd do it too, and only the truly saintly will deny it.
If we bought ****s like that, had an owner like that, threatened referees like that, created controversies like that......I'd like to say I'd be conscientious and abandon the club I love, but I know I won't. I'll be around ,defending what we do, and excusing what we do. I'd justify it to myself by saying it's because of the memory of what the club used to be, but I'd be lying. Because the only thing that would change is that it would be me doing the defending, and other clubs' fans doing the pointing and laughing.
This tribalism is what has electrified and simultaneously irrevocably damaged football. It has given it a passion unrivalled by other sports, but it has made otherwise decent people do things and excuse things they normally would never consider doing themselves, and gives the real ****s of society, the racists and the hooligans, the blanket approval they feel justifies them in some way.
Short of outright racism and abuse,because I believe there are some things most Spurs fans will never countenance... there's little that Chelsea fans do that we wouldn't also do.
And to be honest, Sol Campbell and Arsene Wenger would beg to disagree with the first part of the last sentence anyway.
And so we fall to the lowest common defense; we're not the only ones, and we're by far the least offensive of the lot. Only, every club's fans think that.
Will this change? I don't know. And to be honest, it scares me that I don't know if I want it to change or not.