Analysis: Sky is the limit for Chelsea’s Eden Hazard
By Quinn Allen
Hazard leads the Premier League this season with six goals and is playing like one of the best players in the world right now.
Chelsea skipper Maurizio Sarri said it best last week when speaking to English media.
"“I thought he was one of the best in Europe but after his form lately, he could be the best player in the world”."
A huge comment to make considering the number of quality players that exist throughout Europe, but based on his recent form, Hazard could be the best one right now.
He’s a vital reason Chelsea currently sit in second place in the EPL table through seven games. Along with his six tallies, he’s also registered two assists. Hazard has been involved in eight of Chelsea’s 15 Premier League goals this season.
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Hazard looks to break his best previous season best of 16 goals back in 2016/17, considering he’s already scored six.
Sarri clearly thinks high of Hazard, but his style of coaching has definitely helped the young Belgian reach heights that he’s never seen.
Sarri’s coaching methods helping Hazard
Sarri plays a very attack-driven and possession type football, which is a lot different than Chelsea’s last manager, Antonio Conte. This style of play has been the exact answer for Eden Hazard.
It’s all about getting the ball into the opponent’s half and creating scoring opportunities. In the 4-3-3 formation, it’s vital that Hazard doesn’t have to retreat back too much, instead, just focusing on the attacking chances. This is exactly what he’s been doing this year. Hazard isn’t exerting worthless energy as he did at times in past years in a different formation under a different coach. Chelsea’s midfield has become a whole lot stronger with Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic and they do a very good job of keeping possession of the ball while looking for the chances to thread the ball through to one of their strikers.
I really believe this whole methodology Sarri has brought to Chelsea is really helping Hazard reach his true potential.
He could reach new heights
When we think about some of the best players in the world, names like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi automatically come to mind. What makes them so brilliant? It’s the fact they can single handily dribble through an entire defense on their own, and finish time and time again. Their skill and goal-scoring ability are superior to most in the world.
Hazard has always had the skill to dribble the ball extremely well, usually being able to get through numerous players and get a shot on net. But there has also been a lot of times in the past where he tries to do too much and loses the ball. This year, that hasn’t been the case. Everyone on Chelsea knows that he’s the main man right now. Get Eden Hazard the ball, and he will somehow find the net.
His latest two goals against Liverpool in the Premier League and the Carabao Cup showed exactly why he could be the most impressive player in the world right now. The most recent one this past weekend was a perfect example of his skill, making a spectacular run onto a through ball from Mateo Kovacic and using the sharpest of angles to finesse the ball past Allison into the bottom right corner. But it’s the one in Carabao Cup against the reds that really awed everyone and could end up being the best goal of the year. All on his own, he went through three Liverpool defenders and smacked home a beautiful strike into the net. Take a look:
Hazard is 27, but it really looks like he could be reaching his full potential right now. Sarri is the right manager for him to play under as I mentioned above, and he has the right players around him to feed him the ball into space.
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Whether he’s doing it all on his own or receiving through balls from his midfielders, Eden Hazard is making the most of every opportunity so far this season.
Sarri also continued to say last week after the Liverpool match that Hazard could reach the 40 goals a season mark. Anything is possible when you see the way he’s playing the game right now.
If he continues this impressive form, there is no doubt that big name clubs will be calling about the 27-year old Belgian international.