Torres has faced plenty of criticism for his lack of end product during Chelsea’s winless run, but the Belgian has also been ineffectual in recent weeks, should Chelsea be expecting more from their £32 million signing?
When you’re on a run off seven games without a win in the league, individual players are often singled out to receive more of the blame than others. For Chelsea, Fernando Torres has received a shedload of criticism in recent months, having gone over 10 hours without a goal in the league.
It makes sense to single out the Spaniard, as a £50 million striker playing with some fantastically creative players behind him, he should be doing better than four league goals by December. However there are other players not performing for Chelsea, and Eden Hazard is surely one of them.
The Belgian is a wonderful talent, and demonstrated that in the early weeks at Chelsea, when he picked up six assists (including winning penalties) and a goal in his first three league matches. However since then, Hazard’s output has dipped considerably, and in recent weeks he has look increasingly out of sorts.
Since his two assists against Spurs, the last match Chelsea won, Hazard has scored one and set up one in the seven league games he has played, and his three performances in the Champions League have yielded no direct returns at all. Hazard is still a threat with his direct running, but he isn’t necessarily a good foil for Torres, and if not on form he can be wasteful going forward.
Three league goals and nine assists is a decent return for the Belgian in his first season so far, but the lack of attacking returns he has provided in the past few weeks has been a factor in Chelsea’s winless run, and he should be facing some of the criticism Torres has received.
Hazard perhaps escapes focus as he is playing as a midfielder, but given the advanced role he has in the side, he should be contributing more goals.
Chelsea paid £32 million for Hazard’s services, on the back of a season where he scored 21 goals and set up 18 more for Lille, he’s not been anywhere near that kind of form in recent months, and Chelsea fans have a right to expect more from him.
What do you think? Does Hazard need to step it up?
image: © BruceW
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