Eden Hazard has opened fire on his manager Antonio Conte, insisting he ‘hates’ tracking back but has accepted he must adapt for a collective reward.
The forward has had issues with Jose Mourinho in the past, when the manager criticized him for not tracking back in Chelsea’s Champions League semi final clash with Atletico Madrid.
His role changed afterwards and after the arrival of Conte at Chelsea, the Italian manager is demanding a collective defensive responsibility of his players in order to churn out consistent positive results.
Hazard thinks it is ‘pointless’ for every player to defend but also admits he needs to continue with the demands of Conte in order to get minutes.
You don’t need that [tracking back]. You can write that. Don’t tell Conte, but you can write that it’s pointless. If you defend too much, you tire yourself out.
If I’ve spent the whole game defending, forget about me being useful after the 60th minute, and I’m quite fit. There are people who are meant to defend, while others are there to attack.
Eden Hazard, Metro
