Hazard vows to rebuild Chelsea reputation
Fabregas sent off in Chelsea’s friendly win over Liverpool
Eden Hazard has vowed to recover from a nightmare 12 months and reclaim the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year Award, as Antonio Conte prepares to rebuild Chelsea’s damaged reputation.
Hazard is on a mission to wipe away the bitter memories of last season, when he was held up as one of the prime reasons for Chelsea’s alarming decline.
The Belgian attacker was named the PFA Player of the Year in April 2015 after playing a key role in the title triumph under Jose Mourinho, with 14 goals and nine assists marking him out as one of Europe’s leading talents.
But the following campaign proved a dismal experience as Chelsea limped to a 10thplaced finish, with Hazard’s season plagued by a persistent hip injury and claims of a fractious relationship with manager Mourinho. However, there were flashes of individual brilliance at Euro 2016, with Hazard producing an outstanding performance in Belgium’s 4-0 win over Hungary, and Chelsea have made it clear that he will not be sold this summer at any price.
Conte, the new Chelsea manager, held talks with Hazard before pre-season training and outlined his expectations from the 25-year-old, insisting he can make him one of the best players in the world alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Hazard has admitted at Chelsea’s training camp in Los Angeles that he is determined to rediscover his best form and help Conte challenge for the Premier League title.
“I want to be the best, like I was two seasons ago. I said — after the season like this — I wanted to stay at Chelsea because I didn’t want to finish like this,” he said.
“I played a very bad season. We didn’t start the season well because of injuries and everything seemed to go against Chelsea. It wasn’t easy and wasn’t a good season. We want to forget it. We’ve got to show to everybody we are Chelsea, we’re big players, we’re a big team and we didn’t finish in a good place last season. Now we want to do better and win the Premier League. We need to do this.”
Meanwhile, Hazard’s Chelsea teammate Cesc Fabregas was sent off for a reckless lunge at Liverpool new boy Ragnar Klavan, overshadowing a 1-0 friendly win at the Pasadena Rose Bowl on Wednesday.
Spanish midfielder Fabregas, 29, could have no complaints as he got his marching orders in
Chelsea
the 70th minute for sliding late into Klavan with his studs up.
Chelsea’s head coach Conte told reporters after the final whistle the match was more competitive than he had been expecting, apologising for Fabregas’s foul. “I think that in this period, the fatigue sometimes can bring a (player) to go too late,” he said.