Old and busted: Antonio Conte is hopelessly rigid and only ever plays the same tired group of players. New hotness: Antonio Conte scuttled Chelsea’s Champions League hopes by rotating his players.
Antonio Conte announced at his press conference on Tuesday he would heavily rotate. But after Chelsea’s draw to Huddersfield, this completely obvious, predictable and justifiable decision became the centre of criticism, particularly regarding Eden Hazard.
Eden Hazard gave the full measure against Liverpool. For 86 minutes he threatened, deformed, challenged and otherwise wrought havoc on the Reds’ fragile defence. Hazard only had 30 minutes against Huddersfield, but he failed to have anywhere near the same effect. This has as much to do with the opponent as it does Hazard himself.
Hazard needs a compliant defence to be at this best. Hazard is a trickster, a happy warrior troll with the ball at his feet. He wants you to come at him so he can embarrass you with a turn and a step. He and his teammates want defenders to come at him so they will abandon their post, setting off a series of compensations that creates more space elsewhere on the pitch for Willian, Pedro, Alvaro Morata, Cesc Fabregas or Hazard himself to move into a few passes later.
Liverpool, like Arsenal, are the perfect defence for Eden Hazard. They are good enough to be a challenge, and the rivalry adds extra motivation. But more importantly, they take the bait Every. Damn. Time.
Liverpool’s defenders tried to meet Hazard in one’s and two’s. Hazard would stand over the ball a few feet in from the touchline, knowing he was an irresistible magnet for the over-eager defenders. Once they did, Liverpool lost their defensive shape and Hazard was on the playground. He could easily dart behind them, or make a series of feints so they would follow him to where he wanted them to go. With each step, Hazard took them farther from where they should be.
Huddersfield were not so compliant. Perhaps it’s ego or discipline or coaching, but throughout the season Chelsea’s creative wingers have run up against the uncreative walls of bottom-half defences. Huddersfield waited for Willian, Pedro and Hazard to come at them. The Terriers had the advantage. All they wanted to do was protect their goal. They were not interested in possession or scoring, unlike Liverpool or Arsenal. Such defences are Kryptonite for Eden Hazard.
Antonio Conte surely knows this, which is why he chose to start Hazard on the bench. Hazard was still fatigued from Sunday’s fixture, and Wednesday’s was not a good match-up for him.Hazard took only two shots in his 30 minutes: one was blocked, one went through to goal. Both were long-range efforts from the centre of the pitch. In short, his shooting was nearly identical to Pedro’s and Willian’s.
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The issue is not that Conte did not start his star winger. The issue is that Chelsea apparently need their star winger to defeat a team in fighting the drop in their first season.
Every time Eden Hazard is on the bench – whether he starts there or is subbed off – an increasingly vocal subset of Chelsea fans decry the decision to ever remove him unless Chelsea are in a commanding lead. Pundits ask if Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah or Kevin de Bruyne would ever be left out of an XI if Champions League qualification was on the line.
Each of those players, for all their importance, are not the only ones who can achieve their team’s mission. Mohamed Salah is the number one reason for Liverpool’s success this season. But the Reds would not be in the Champions League final if not for Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. Kevin de Bruyne has been Manchester City’s all-around best player. But they would not be setting records by the week if not for Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Ederson and David Silva.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have enabled their clubs’ sustained excellence. Without them, Real Madrid and Barcelona would be able to sustain greatness. And they would be occasionally excellent, on a season-by-season basis. They would still win La Liga, contend for the Champions League and be among the best in Europe. Ronaldo and Messi do not make it possible for them to do it in a given year. They make it possible for them to do it every year.
If Chelsea need Eden Hazard every week just to launch a challenge for fourth place, their problems are much deeper than whether Antonio Conte starts Hazard, subs him on too late or off too early. A single player cannot determine a club’s Champions League fate. If that is the club’s position, then their fate is already determined.
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Antonio Conte made a calculated, intelligent and completely justifiable decision to start Willian and Pedro over Eden Hazard. Chelsea’s board – as well as the fans – need to be asking why any Chelsea XI cannot defeat Huddersfield (or Crystal Palace, or West Ham), and why they have become so dependent on one man to accomplish what should be the minimum expected task for a club like this.