Eden Hazard was called out last season by Jose Mourinho, especially after the loss to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, Jose remarked that the Belgian winger did not do enough of tracking back and helping the defence out. Rumours started flying that Hazard might be sold in the off season and that he was looking to move to a new club but Jose knows that the criticism only served to rile the winger up more. Eden stayed at Chelsea and has been working hard to make sure his manager does not have the same complaints as he did last season.
Hazard is only 23 years old and is considered to be one of the best wingers in the game, dynamic, quick and a lethal finisher, he has all the traits which will make him a terror to defences for years to come. He still is growing and learning the game though, there have always been questions about his defensive capabilities which did come to light last season, even during the World Cup, he came up with a quote that it was his time to shine but his performances at the World cup weren’t anything out of the ordinary.
More hard work at Chelsea
While Hazard is known for his dribbling and attacking ability, his work rate at the defensive end is starting to make him a better all-around player. Everyone knew that he was one of the best players in the attacking third for Chelsea but doing the hard work of tracking back and making it difficult for the opponent is something that he has had to pick up and improve this season.
His work rate has improved but he has also started making more passes in the game, his successful passes have increase to 47 per game when compared to only 36 last season, that is an increase of 30% in one of the biggest stats for an attacker.
The increase in the number of passes has led to an increase in his pass completion percentage as well, Hazard now is completing close to 90% passes for Chelsea while he was average close to an 83% pass completion rate per game last season.
His defensive work has also become better with the Belgian intercepting the ball more often; he is up to 0.64 interceptions per game this season while it was only 0.54 interceptions per game last season. Tackles won has also increased this season with Hazard winning 0.64 tackles per game when compared to 0.51 tackles won per game last season. (All stats taken from Squawka.com referring to only Premier League games)
The defensive stats might have grown just a little when compared to his attacking stats but this just shows that Hazard is willing to mend everything about his game to make him the deadly force he can become in World football.