European Team of the Season: AM - Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Having played a starring role in Chelsea’s Premier League title win, Eden Hazard earns a place in the European team of the season with his WhoScored.com rating (7.81) better than any other Premier League player and the sixth best in Europe’s top five leagues this term.
The Belgium international was back to his defence-splitting best for the Blues under Antonio Conte on the back of an indifferent campaign plagued by injury and inconsistency, with a change to a 3-4-3 formation ultimately benefitting the playmaker.
Here, he played an influential role in Chelsea’s title success as he continuously tore opponents apart. He completed the third most dribbles (143) in Europe’s top five leagues this season to reinforce a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘dribbling’.
What’s more is that the 26-year-old offered an end product in the final third. Too often, wingers can force their way past an opponent, yet fail to carve out any real goalscoring chances, much to the detriment of the team. Hazard, though, made more key passes from open play (84) than any other player in the top five divisions of European football as he posted returns of 16 goals and a modest five assists.
What’s more, Hazard carried out the necessary defensive duties required to ensure Chelsea were able to rob opponents of possession before springing attacks to catch them unawares. Indeed, he won possession in the final third the second most times (38) in Europe’s top five leagues this season. His performances helped him earn an impressive 13 WhoScored.com man of the match awards, with that second only to Messi (16).
On the back of Chelsea’s rise to the summit of English football and subsequent return to the Champions League, the Blues need Hazard to maintain this level of consistency if they are to battle on both domestic and continental fronts. However, Hazard has proven his credentials once more and you can safely assume that there is more to come from the Belgian sensation in the coming campaign after another stand out season at Stamford Bridge.
