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Chelsea star Eden Hazard told how to reach Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's levels
EDEN HAZARD needs to change his approach to matches mentally to begin scoring goals and reach the heights of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Andy Gray: Eden Hazard is the best player in the world
That’s the belief of Sky Sports pundit Danny Murphy.
Hazard has been talked about as the best player in the Premier League recently and produced another moment of brilliance last night.
The Belgian helped Chelsea into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with an eye-catching mazy dribble and finish at Anfield to earn the Blues a 2-1 win.
That was Hazard’s sixth goal of the season with the Real Madrid-linked forward having enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, earning Man of the Match against Liverpool despite only entering the field of play in the 56th minute.
The 27-year-old is in the peak of his career and Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri and assistant manager Gianfranco Zola have both spoken of Hazard being the best player in England and possibly even in Europe.
Yet Hazard is not quite considered on the level of the superlative pair of Barcelona ace Lionel Messi and Juventus marksman Cristiano Ronaldo given their jaw-dropping goal and assist outputs over the last decade.
And former Premier League midfielder Murphy thinks that in order to catch up to the duo’s stunning yearly numbers, Hazard must first tweak his psychological approach to games.
“I love watching him play, he’s dynamic, he beats people,” Murphy told The Debate on Sky Sports after Hazard’s match-winning Liverpool cameo.
The reason I think he should be one-in-two is because of his ability
“I think if you said to a defender, ‘Who would you rather not play against?’, he’d be in the top one or two of every defender in the Premier League and that’s a compliment in itself.
“If you want to be Messi and Ronaldo like, your end product has got to go up. I know he’s not a central striker but [Mohamed] Salah scored all those goals from wide [for Liverpool last season] and he’s only done it for a year while Hazard’s been doing it for a long time.
“Hazard’s continually rinsed people and been brilliant but he’s a one-in-three in terms of goals.
“Now his assists are up there - really high numbers. But his goals are one in three.
“The reason I think he should be one-in-two is because of his ability, is it within him to be on top of his game every week and have that desire to want to score every week?
“Say you go back to Chelsea, [Frank] Lampard at Chelsea, his numbers were phenomenal. But he had that every week, goals, goals, goals.
“I’m not sure Hazard thinks goals, goals, goals. It’s not the way he thinks but it doesn’t mean he’s not more talented, it’s just a way of thinking.
“But I think something in him could just think goals is what change games. His manager says he should be getting 40 a season, that’s a compliment.”
Despite his need to boost his numbers, Murphy gushed with praise for Hazard’s general play and quality in possession.
“There’s not many - [Sergio] Aguero, Salah - in terms of goals that are better than him and [also] have that ability to go past people and dribble and beat people,” he said.
“One-on-one, I think he’s unplayable. I can’t think of someone who could cope with him one-on-one. That means people have to double up on him and create space. Watching him play is a joy.
“I think the question mark over him is attitude. Many have said it who know him better than I, that he’s a bit chilled, a bit laid-back. It’s not about not wanting to work.
“I played with Berbatov, on the eye he looks a bit lethargic at times but actually his numbers weren’t quite like that. Can you change the way someone is? Sometimes with that relaxed attitude, that’s how you play the way you do because you’re not so concerned, you don’t worry about the game, you don’t get nervous.
“If you try and change something about someone, it might not work. I just think he is the way he is. He looks like he’s enjoying football, he says all the right things about enjoying London, enjoying Chelsea, we’ll have to wait and see.
“Only if he went to one of the really big clubs in Europe would we really be able to judge it.”