Chelsea defeated Bournemouth comfortably in the end, but Eden Hazard’s freedom caused issues again. Maurizio Sarri has the right idea to fix it.
Eden Hazard is, by all standards of measurement, Chelsea’s best player. In fact, the Blues have surely never had a player as naturally talented as the Belgian. But talent does not equal freedom from responsibility. And in the last two matches, Hazard’s freedom has held the team back somewhat.
Basically, Hazard wants to be involved in every play. Wherever the ball is, he wants to be. And when he has the ball, he wants to show just how good he is. He is, of course, excellent. But in recent matches that has left Chelsea short of options higher up.
When Hazard comes so central and deep, it is easy for the opponent to let him be. They can get into their block and let him choke up the midfield knowing that Hazard now has no wide option to stretch the opponent. Often against Newcastle and Bournemouth, Hazard would be on the same side of the pitch with the other winger. This made Chelsea very easy to defend against.
Sarri, for his part, has not simply told Hazard to adjust to his tactics. Instead, Sarri has adjusted to Hazard. The idea worked far better against Bournemouth than it did against Newcastle, but it will still take a great deal of work to match with the Sarrismo seen at Napoli.
Basically, whenever Hazard comes central, the central midfielder closest to the open flank needs to push up into the space. That makes the attack look like a 4-2-3-1 with Hazard in behind the striker. This gives Chelsea plenty of attacking options of course, but one of them is always an unnatural winger.
Keep in mind that this only happened if Hazard moved in to receive the ball. When Hazard stayed wide, both N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic would remain central in a 4-3-3 shape. Alvaro Morata, for his part, would try to drop in and pull a centerback in with him.
It should be of no surprise that Chelsea was most dangerous when Hazard stayed wide and cut into the box. His goal came about from that exact circumstance. When Hazard is wide, he sucks players in, creating space. Then he will either dribble into that space or pass the ball off to a player in that hole. Either way, a chance is created with Hazard wide.
Hazard will be vital to Sarri. There is no doubt about that. But he will not always match the expectations. It is smart of Sarri to bend to Hazard rather than have Hazard bend to him, but like all things, there must be a middle ground.
Hazard, despite popular belief, is not a player who does best when given total freedom. He does best in a system that gives him just enough freedom to be as dangerous as possible. Various managers have found that middle ground before losing it. Sarri is searching for it now, and once he finds it, he must maintain it. Hazard can continue to be a genuine threat for Chelsea. But as it stands, he has been frustrating. Frustrating because it is easy to see how he can improve. Whether Sarri or Hazard himself sees it will need to be shown after the break.