Last year’s player of the season, Eden Hazard, has had a tough time this time around. However, could his performance last weekend rejuvenate his Chelsea FC career?
Eden Hazard returned to the goals last weekend as Chelsea FC beat Bournemouth 4-1 in what was a very dominant display at the Vitality Stadium. Will these two goals help the Belgian rediscover his form and shine under new manager Antonio Conte next season?
There’s no denying that Eden Hazard hasn’t hit the heights of last season but there was a difference in his attitude and his performance last Saturday that we have not seen in the whole of this season. He looked happy again and now that he’s got the monkey off his back of scoring his first Premier League goal this campaign, he can once again show what a talented player he is.
After winning the PFA Player of the Year award last year, everyone expected him to kick on and maybe in two or three years time be in contention for the Ballon D’or. But now it’s almost a sense of starting again and seeing what Conte can get out of the player to go that extra step to be in the same bracket as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s a big ask, but it is certainly possible.
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Former Blues boss Jose Mourinho was critical of Hazard at times for not tracking back and helping the team out defensively. Conte will demand his team to defend properly and keep some good organisation. This could require the Belgian to do what Mourinho asked him to do when he was in charge.
Hazard is a honest and humble player who will surely take on board whatever his manager says, but when he’s had such a bad season like this one the only way to get back to normality is by doing what he is good at and that is scoring and creating goals.
I think you can tell by his reaction after his first goal against Bournemouth that he is happy and enjoying football once more. There was a lot of speculation linking him with a summer move to Real Madrid or PSG but he’s openly come out and stated that he is happy at Chelsea and is looking forward to working with Conte next season.
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Hazard’s focus turns to the huge London derby against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Monday and hopefully we will see another performance like we did against Bournemouth. Once the season is over, the Belgian will head off to France to represent his country in the European Championships. If he can have a good tournament, then this could be the confidence booster he needs to thrive once again for his club next season.