Eden Hazard must be man-marked if Chelsea are to be stopped, says former Blues striker Tony Cascarino

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James Benge8 November 2016

Opponents will need to man-mark Eden Hazard if they are to keep the Belgian star quiet, according to former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino.

Hazard has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance in form over recent months and netted twice in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Everton, taking his tally for the season to seven.

Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 has freed Hazard from making the sort of defensive contribution Jose Mourinho demanded of him and it has led to the sort of form that earned the Belgian international the PFA Footballer of the Year prize in 2015.

Indeed Cascarino believes that Hazard’s form is so fearsome that teams will have to start paying particularly close attention to the 25-year-old.

Cascarino wrote in the Times: “Everybody knows that Antonio Conte is giving Eden Hazard a free role at Chelsea, so it drives me mad that opponents aren’t getting a player to stick on the Belgian and follow him everywhere.

“Martin Keown was like a rash for Arsenal, he just used to stay with people, no matter where they went on the pitch. He was brilliant at it.

“Why is nobody trying to man-mark Hazard? Mousa Dembele at Spurs could. He’s quick and strong, and it would take that type of player to do it. No teams try it, no manager says, ‘We’ll sacrifice x to stop y.’”

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