After less than five months of being named the player of the year in England, Eden Hazard has lost his place in Jose Mourinho’s side this season. Chelsea had a dismal start to the new season and have accumulated just 11 points from their first 9 games. They have lacked quality up front and have been shaky at the back.
But in the game against Aston Villa at the Bridge, Mourinho dropped a player that he compared to the likes of Christiano Ronaldo from the starting XI. Hazard had to start the game on the bench and did not contribute much even as Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners on the day. The manager justified his selection in the post match press conference.
Mourinho stated that the decision to leave out Eden Hazard was tactical and that it was a reaction to the team conceding too many goals. At first, the remark looks naive as Chelsea would want Hazard scoring goals and not defending but the manger is justified as we will find out in this article.
Hazard has averaged 56 sprints per 90 minutes last season and does the same so far this season. But the likes of Pedro and Willian who were used in the Villa game average over 60 sprints per 90 minutes. This shows that the Belgian does not reach the required levels of intensity that the manger wants from his squad.
Hazard played the first 8 games of the season and his number of touches has not really reduced from last season. But the problem has been what he has done when he has the ball. Hazard was the most fouled player last season and also completed the most successful take on in the league. This season, he is far from comfortable on the ball and his take on per game has reduced by 50%.
Hazard in a recent interview stated that he does not think about scoring prolifically like Ronaldo or Messi do and that he is satisfied by scoring 15-20 goals a season. This is in contrast to Mourinho placing the Belgian in their league. It may be a case of asking too much from Eden but Mourinho finally has a clean sheet and a victory without starting Hazard and it looks like he will have to work hard to get his place back in the team.
Hazard has been Chelsea’s player of the season for the last two years, but Mourinho has already sold the previous winner of the title. Juan Mata was in good form when at Chelsea and won the Player of the Year for the club in 2013. But the manager sold him soon after to Manchester United who have used him to the fullest.
Hazard will have to start proving his worth and show his manager that he belongs in the team. He has to show his willingness to run and defend like the manager needs his wingers to. Unless he can do that, his future at the club is in danger as the likes of Real Madrid already have him in their radar.
So it is clear that Mourinho is not shy of selling top-class players and if Hazard is not able to up his game, he may well be out of the team, even though it sounds harsh, by the end of the season.
Leave your take on whether Hazard deserves his place in the London club or if he has lost his spark.