HAZARD LOOKING AS GREAT AS RONALDO

REALLY great players learn how to use their frustrations to win football matches. Watching Eden Hazard take West Brom apart on Saturday reminded me of Cristiano Ronaldo at his best. For all Ronaldo’s gifts, Sir Alex Ferguson would always speak first about his bravery and, specifically, the way that the Portuguese would take constant clatters to his ankle only to keep pressing forwards. At Manchester City, David Silva is a little like that, too. At Chelsea, Hazard’s tremendous qualities have been on show for years but courage and determination were at the forefront this weekend. He was booed by West Brom fans after staying down after a challenge by Gareth Barry, but replays showed clear and painful contact right on the ankle. Hazard wasn’t going to be kicked out of the game, though, and his performance from that point on was driven by a quite transparent desire to hurt West Brom in the most primal sporting way possible. The Belgian may feel that he has won all that he is going to win at Stamford Bridge but this performance seemed to point to enduring hunger. If he is going to keep going at Chelsea through what could still be a turbulent winter, coach Antonio Conte will need more of what he saw from Hazard and indeed from Alvaro Morata at the Hawthorns.