Chelsea boss questions Eden Hazard’s leadership ability

Maurizio Sarri has questioned the ability of Eden Hazard as a captain for Chelsea ahead of their Caraboa Cup semi-final with Tottenham Hotspur.

The Blues chase a 1-0 deficit in the second leg of the domestic cup semi-final; however Sarri has voiced potential tensions amid the Chelsea squad by publicly questioning one of his players’ leadership ability.

Hazard has scored ten goals for the Blues and created another ten goals in the League for Chelsea; however, with the Chelsea top-scorer having been involved in half of their goals scored this season, the Belgium international has been referred to as a player with individual quality rather than with leadership qualities.

Speaking to the media ahead of the tie at Stamford Bridge, Sarri said:

“I don’t know in this moment… In this moment, he’s more an individual player than a leader. He is very important for us, of course, because he is a great player.

“He always can win the match in two minutes. Sometimes in one minute. But, at the moment, he’s not a leader. He’s a great player. One of the best in the world.”

The London club sit fourth in the Premier League but are enduring a dip in form in which they have won just two of their previous five games in all competitions, beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the Emirates FA Cup and Newcastle 2-1.

However, Sarri picked out two of his players who need to play a leading role in rescuing Chelsea’s form.

“I know very well the situation can change suddenly without a logical reason sometimes. It depends on the atmosphere around the players.

“But we have some players with the characteristics to be leaders. As [Cesar] Azpilicueta, David Luiz… so I think they can help all the other players to get the right mentality.”