Chelsea News: Eden Hazard reveals how Sarri is different from Mourinho and Conte

What's the story?

Speaking with the Times, Eden Hazard revealed how Maurizio Sarri's tactics are different from Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

In case you didn't know...

Maurizio Sarri was appointed as the manager of Chelsea last summer and the Blues performed brilliantly during the initial few months of the season under him. The Londoners remained unbeaten in the opening 12 league games of the campaign and were going toe-to-toe with Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title.

However, they lost momentum and eventually found themselves competing for the Champions League place. They are currently fourth on the Premier League table and lost two of their last three league games.

The heart of the matter

Eden Hazard admits that Chelsea are still adapting under Maurizio Sarri but also believes that the club is benefiting from his different approach to the game.

He said, “Possession! Possession! The manager likes possession! He’s a lot about statistics. Numbers. Possession. Shooting. Goal opportunity.”

“In the past, we used to play more counterattack. It is different with Sarri than with Conte and Mourinho. Sometimes we keep possession, and I understand the fans want us to go forward [more directly], but it is part of the football."

He further added, “Sarri is a great manager. He’s an old man but the way he thinks is the same way I think about football."

“When we have the ball, we have a lot of freedom, not just me but the striker [Gonzalo Higuaín] and the right [attacker] Willian or Pedro, so we can move a lot."

What's next?

Chelsea will play the defending champions, Manchester City, next in the league before facing Malmo FF at the Swedbank Stadium for the first leg of Europa League Round-of-32 match on February 15.