Hot Streak: Is Hazard in the best form of his Chelsea career?
Arguably the performance of the weekend in the Premier League came from Stamford Bridge where Chelsea dispatched of Everton with relative ease. The Blues reaffirmed their title aspirations with a thumping 5-0 win over the Toffees, who up until the weekend loss, had looked a defensively solid team that had quickly moved on from the nightmare end to Roberto Martinez’s reign at Goodison Park. Indeed, before the crushing defeat, the Toffees had conceded just eight goals in the opening 10 games of the season, the second best return in the league.
The absence of Idrissa Gueye undoubtedly played a big role in the encounter, perhaps influencing Ronald Koeman’s decision to start with a three-man central defence for just the third time in England’s top tier this term. However, without sufficient personnel, the decision backfired spectacularly as Chelsea ruthlessly capitalised on both circumstances to put another three points on the board. It was Chelsea’s fifth successive league win and marks a huge turnaround in fortunes following the 3-0 loss at Arsenal. Antonio Conte’s decision to change to a three-man defence as a result of the loss at the Emirates has certainly reaped the rewards.
Chelsea have kept five clean sheets in the last five league outings, with Conte vindicated for his decision to alter his system with the west London side one point off top spot coming into the international break. While the team as a whole looks all the better following a switch in formation, further forward the key players are thriving, especially Eden Hazard. Diego Costa leads the Premier League scoring charts with nine goals, while Pedro is perhaps the unsung hero in the front three, but Hazard has understandably drawn the plaudits for his flying form in the attack.
After a difficult campaign, the Belgian was heavily linked with a move away from Chelsea over the summer, but Conte convinced Hazard to remain at Stamford Bridge. The club are profiting from the player’s decision to stay at the club following an underwhelming season that was dogged by injury. It's worth noting, however, that he ended the campaign strongly and has continued his excellent form this term. His WhoScored rating (8.03) is bettered only by Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho (8.08) in the Premier League, further highlighting just how effective Hazard has been to date.
That in part has been due to Conte’s change in shape, with Hazard handed greater license to attack opponents, safe in the knowledge that the numbers are in place behind him able to shoulder the defensive burden. With that, the Belgium international can maximise his dribbling ability and creative qualities to hurt opponents. In fact, his fine form in October saw him earn a WhoScored rating of 8.44, better than any other Premier League player.
The relationship he has developed with Marcos Alonso means Chelsea are able to blow teams away down the left side, with the Spaniard occupying the space Hazard vacates when he cuts infield. Here, Hazard runs at opponents with intent as he drives for goal, with his 45 successful dribbles bettered only by Wilfried Zaha (49) in England’s top tier this term. His low centre of gravity means he is an incredibly difficult player to stop, with his unpredictability adding to his sense of purpose to breeze past opponents.
With confidence restored, Conte has clearly demanded Hazard chance his arm in front of goal more frequently with an average of 3.1 shots per league game his best in a single campaign in his career. It’s having a positive effect as well with his seven goals from 11 Premier League appearances considerably better than his return (4 goals) in the whole of last season. The flipside, however, is that, while Hazard is creating chances for his teammates - an average of 1.8 key passes per game is the third best return of all Chelsea players - that figure is conversely his lowest in a league season since the 2009/10 campaign with Lille (1.5).
It’s no real shock, then, that Hazard has only one league assist to his name, but then if he is scoring the necessary goals to help Chelsea to victory, supporters and peers alike are unlikely to criticise his output, particularly with the 25-year-old offering plenty when his side are not in possession. Conte’s Chelsea have developed a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘stealing the ball from the opposition’, with Hazard adhering to the Italian’s demands where he seemed less willing towards the end of Jose Mourinho's reign.
He has won possession in the attacking third more times (12) than any other Premier League player this season, with this not only limiting opponents’ chances of scoring against Chelsea, but increasing the possibility of Hazard and co. netting against a disorganised defence. This is part of the reason why no player has won more WhoScored man of the match awards than Hazard (5) in Europe’s top five leagues this season, further highlighting his fine start to life under Conte.
“I don’t want to be in the top 23, I want to be in the top five. That’s the level I want to reach,” Hazard said of his Ballon d’Or aspirations recently after he was omitted from the 30-man shortlist following an insipid start to 2016. Given his current performances, though, if he can maintain his incredibly high standards it won’t be long before the Chelsea man is considered one of the best in the world, particularly if he can fire the Blues to domestic glory once more, now arguably in the very best form of his Chelsea career.
Can Eden Hazard fire Chelsea to domestic success this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
