Gary Neville Points Out Change in Eden Hazard's Game Which Could Be Affecting the Chelsea Star
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has revealed what he thinks Eden Hazard has stopped doing which has led to the Belgian's faltering recent form.
Hazard has shown his class on numerous occasions for Chelsea this season and there is no doubt he is a top quality player, but too many times he has gone missing in big games where it really matters.
The 27-year-old did not perform well in Chelsea's 3-1 home defeat to Spurs on Sunday, and Neville discussed on his latest podcast for Sky Sports what he thinks is going wrong for the player who is so important to Chelsea.
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“It just dawns on you sometimes: how many times does he make runs past the central striker anymore? How many times does he make what I would call the Freddie Ljungberg run, you could call them the Ji-Sung Park run, you could call them the Leroy Sane run, Raheem Sterling’s doing it.
''The runs that you make four or five times a half as a wide player or a winger that nine times out of 10 you don’t get the ball but you’ve got to keep making that run. Hazard has stopped making that run.
''It’s a tough run because you don’t always get the ball a lot and sometimes it’s a decoy run but...Dele Alli made it for the goal.
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''Morata didn’t have a lot of runs past him and what Hazard ended up doing in the end - I’ve been critical of Alexis Sanchez in recent weeks for taking the easy option and playing too deep during games - get in where it hurts.
''Dele Alli made the run in between two defenders - and that is the most difficult run for a defender to stay with because you don’t know whether to pass on to your centre-back, you don’t know whether to play offside.''
Hazard has scored 11 goals in 27 Premier League appearances for Chelsea this season, but has proven inconsistent and has not shown the ability to turn a game on its head. It may be the case that Hazard has had his head turned by serious interest from Real Madrid.
