DBasia.news – Lately, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri prefers to place Eden Hazard as the false nine. He revealed the reason.
Playing as the main striker is not a new thing for the Belgium striker because the former The Blues manager Antonio Conte also applied the same decision.
As what Conte did, Sarri thinks to place the No. 10 jersey player as the holding player is better for the squad.
But, at the same time, the decision to put Hazard is related to The Blues’ need to have a consistent and productive forward, the things that neither Alvaro Morata nor Olivier Giroud could fulfill.
“I wanted to see the solution with three small players. I think in this moment it is a very good solution because we are not less dangerous in the offensive phase and then in the defensive phase we are more balanced,” Sarri said cited by Goal.
“In the last six matches, we conceded only three goals and one was from a penalty. I think that at the moment, in the defensive phase, we are doing very well. One of the reasons I think, in my opinion, is that Eden is playing in that position.”
“For his characteristics, of course, he goes in the direction of the ball. We need to learn to attack spaces or attack the box with the other players. It was better (against Newcastle) with the other wingers in attacking spaces. We scored after 10 minutes by attacking spaces behind the lines with Pedro. I remember very well at the beginning of the second half, we had the same situation with Willian.”
“So it is better now. We need to improve in attacking the box. When the ball is outside, it is impossible for Eden to stay in the box,” he concluded.
Chelsea just got conceded 17 goals until the 22nd-week of Premier League. That’s the second best statistic (with Manchester City) and just defeated from Liverpool who got conceded 10 goals.