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Chelsea FC star Hazard, who won the PFA Player of the year last, was again reminded of his effectiveness on the wings by his manager Jose Mourinho.
The Belgian stara s poor form coincided with the cluba s disastrous start to the season, and with the Belgian slowly recovering his last seasona s form, the club too has found itself on the right track. Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho, though, had to tinker Hazarda s position from the left wing to the No. 10 role, but the manager doesna t believe that it is his best position, and reminded Hazard that he would be reverted back to the wings once he rediscovers his sparkling form.
Mourinho, when pressed on Hazarda s future as No. 10, said(via The Telegraph): a It depends on the game and what we want for the game.
a It depends on the opposition and where the opposition is strong. But, obviously, when the player is not playing well we have to try solutions to help him recover his confidence.
a I think his best position is the position where last season he was the player of the season. With confidence levels high and with the team playing well I think ita s his best position. In that Noa 10 position, he can also do it. Hea s trying a lot. We could feel that he tried against Norwich, and hea s OK, hea s improving.a
Hazard: A Number 10?
The Portuguese believes that Hazarda s game is better suited on the wings, where he can take on the players and not in the centre as he will always have multiple players marking him.
a Because he can attack defenders more in an individual way. When he gets the ball ita s more about him attacking the right-back and the right-back is always in trouble against a player who has his best quality in a one-against-one.
a When he plays at Noa 10, he gets into areas where sometimes he is surrounded by teams who play zonal(marking) with two or three players in the same zone. Many times he receives the ball with his back to the opponents and I know he can turn well, but I also know that players can be very aggressive with him and press him from behind and make lots of fouls like he always had. He can do both things. Leta s see match after match what we think is the best for him.a
The Belgian star favours himself as a number 10, but has a lot of rough edges in his game-play that needs to polished for him to play centrally rather than on the wings. He has the talent to make people jump out of their seats, but he is essentially missing the calmness that is required in a number 10. Hazard has a habit of rushing things and if he can learn to control it, he will transcend the boundaries that are currently holding him back from doing justice to his world class talent of being an advanced playmaker.