Home » Teams » Chelsea » 3.2 key Passes vs 2.1: Manchester United’s British Record Buy vs Chelsea’s World Beater – A Comparison

3.2 key Passes vs 2.1: Manchester United’s British Record Buy vs Chelsea’s World Beater – A Comparison

Hazard vs. Di Maria: Analytical Comparison

As Chelsea have taken the league apart with their consistent run of wins at the start of the season with some great offensive displays from the team, Eden Hazard looks well settled to emulate his form from last season. Manchester United, who have dominated English football since a long time under Sir Alex Ferguson, fell off the pace last season and in a bid to refresh the team and its standards, new manager Louis van Gaal broke the transfer record set by previous manager David Moyes who bought Mata from Chelsea, by bringing in Angel Di Maria for approximately £60m pounds. With great pressure to perform, Di Maria didn’t disappoint and took off from where he left at Real Madrid and has taken the league by storm, individually handing Man Utd some crucial wins.

Here we compare and analyze these two stars, not to infer who is better, but to study how each player plays and what are the strengths and weaknesses of both these players.

The Style of Play, Strengths and Weaknesses.

Both players are great dribblers and passers but Hazard takes dribbling to a much higher level as he notches up more than 5 successful take-ons or dribbles per game in comparison to Di Maria’s 2.4 dribbles per game. Hazard also has much more tendency to draw fouls and win many free kicks as he averages 2.6 fouls suffered per match in comparison to Di Maria’s which is just above 1. From Hazard’s prolific dribbling and the way he plays the game, we easily come to know that he is the type of player who is currently attracting defenders towards him because of his ability to control the ball and drive through the congested midfield.

This often means Hazard releases a player in space who then gets to start an attack. The dribbling stats on paper, along with lower key pass stats (2.1 per game) can often suggest Hazard being a player without end product, but as is the case, his flair is something which is used by Chelsea to get the most of the team. Hazard had created maximum chances in Europe last season (92) which was closely competed by Di Maria who got 90 with Real Madrid.

Now let us study Di Maria’s style. While many may argue that Di Maria is a player very similar to Hazard, the truth is that he isn’t. Di Maria is a player who looks for a pass rather than a dribble. His work rate and running as well as his lean frame may suggest that he’s the typical winger who would love to take on a defender and beat him, which he does most often, but his main influence starts when he is in a position to release a forward with his lofted passes. The former Real Madrid man has immense ability on the ball as he boasts of a great crossing technique, with a great bend. He has 3.2 key passes per game which is better than Hazard’s 2.1, as he has a lot more directness in passing than in dribbling.

The Argentine loves passing long, as he averages a pass which is an astonishing 21 meters. Hazard passes much shorter with an average pass length of 13 meters. This obviously means Hazard involves and depends on a lot of combination play while Di Maria likes to pass long to an available forward. As a result, Hazard has a pass completion of approximately 92 percent while Di Maria’s is much lesser at 83%.

There is another aspect in which Di Maria is very crucial, as he has good work rate and puts effort in contributing to the defence as well. Hazard does that well in Chelsea but that isn’t something that comes naturally to the Belgian. Mourinho has forced the concept into him and there have been a few instances where Hazard seemed to slack off in defence. But, as a result, Di Maria’s gas runs out in 70 minutes of Premier League football. The Argentine’s as well as Man Utd’s influence on the game runs out as the second half wears on. Hazard has somehow managed to impress Mourinho with his clever work rate and help from Azpilicueta to build extraordinary stamina to play almost all of Chelsea’s games (last season) and still manage to avoid major injuries.

Conclusion: You decide whom you want in your team.

Both players are extremely highly rated based on form on whoscored.com as Hazard is rated at 8.02 and Di Maria at 8.05. With negligible difference in form, we by now have realized than Hazard is a typical winger or a trequartista, a short passer and a terrific dribbler whereas Di Maria is more of a playmaker and a wide midfielder who would cross rather than dribble. Though Di Maria has had 3 goals already in Man Utd, it is more likely that Hazard will end up scoring more than him while Di Maria will rack up the assist tally with his playmaking and service providing. With both players having significant difference in styles, but similar influence on their teams, it would be an epic battle between the two giants of English football as Manchester United will be hosting Chelsea in the end of October.

Stats from Whoscored.com and Squawka.