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What's the story?
Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea side played out a disappointing 2-2 draw against Burnley on Monday night in the Premier League, which further threatened their chances of finishing in the top four. And ex-Chelsea player Craig Burnley was quick to point out that Chelsea are over-reliant on their star playmaker Eden Hazard, remarking that although the Belgian is a very good player, he is no Lionel Messi.
In case you didn't know...
Sarri has struggled in his first season at Stamford Bridge, with his side's form becoming inconsistent, especially now in the business end of the season. Earlier this season, they had lost the League Cup final to Manchester City and were eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester United. Recently, they had lost 2-0 at Liverpool and in last week's midweek UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg, were only narrowly able to beat Czech outfit Slavia Praha 4-3 at home. They are currently 4th in the Premier League table with 67 points, but Arsenal who are on 64, have a game in hand. Hazard has been Chelsea, best player this season, with the Belgian scoring 19 goals and setting up 13 morein 46 appearances in all competitions.
The heart of the matter
Burnley was a Scottish international, who played for the Blues between 1989 and 1997 and was a member of their 1996-97 FA Cup winning team. He is a vocal critic of Sarri's Chelsea and was quick to point out their shortcomings after the disappointing 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
"Chelsea’s plan this season has been to get the ball to Eden Hazard. When that fails, the plan is to get the ball to Eden Hazard, then it’s still the same, and everybody is waiting on this guy. He’s had a good season, but he’s carrying so much weight on his shoulders of those who haven’t performed consistently"
Burnley is an admirer of Hazard but stated that he is not at par with Messi and that other Chelsea players have to take up responsibility too.
“He’s not Messi. He’s a great player, very good player, but you can’t rely on him to get 40 goals per season. Others have to take charge, take responsibility. Too often they think ‘he’ll dig us out of the hole, he’ll get us a result’, but today proved that isn’t always going to be the case.”
What's next?
Chelsea will next face fellow top four hopefuls Manchester United on Sunday.
