Hazard: ‘We could have played on for three hours and I wouldn’t have touched the ball!’

Hazard: ‘We could have played on for three hours and I wouldn’t have touched the ball!’

Eden Hazard has delivered a terrible analysis of their playing style on sunday: ‘We could have played on for three hours and I wouldn’t have touched the ball!’

Manager Antonio Conte played Hazard as a false No 9 at the Etihad and left target men Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud on the bench until towards the close of the game.

But Chelsea’s negative tacticstook the wrong turn as they failed to  record a shot on target on target and a frustrated Hazard was isolated against Nicolas Otamendi and Aymeric Laporte as they suffered a 1-0 defeat.

The Belgium star admitted that Chelsea didn’t play to their strengths, and it was hard for him personally when he only touched the ball ‘three times’ in the game.

Hazard believes Conte will need to rethink his game plan when they meet a similar style of opponents in Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League clash in the Nou Camp next week.

‘When the manager plays me up front, I try to give everything,’ he said. ‘But, for me personally, it’s difficult to play a good game when you only touch the ball three times.

‘I think that when we had the ball we should have done better. We have made some bad decisions too. There weren’t a lot of opportunities: we had a few situations where we could possibly create something, but we didn’t.

‘If we’d taken this opportunities, we could have maybe scored a goal. But we played against Man City, and it’s difficult.

I try to jump towards the long ball but I played against Otamendi and Laporte. It’s not easy to win duels against them.

‘We haven’t played with our qualities. If Giroud or Morata would have played upfront, it would have been easier to play those long balls. With me, its a little bit more complicated, but I’ve tried to do my best.

‘When you leave the pitch you have the impression that you’ve ran, but that you haven’t played a game of football. That’s a pity. We could have played on for 3 hours, and I wouldn’t touch a ball. Only at the end it went better: in the last 10-15 minutes we had more possession. But we should have tried to do that all game.

‘It was difficult. Against Barcelona we had at least a few chances. In that game we could have scored. Today, we didn’t create any.

‘It was complicated. Certainly to find an answer to their pressing. Once we had the ball, we were immediately surrounded by three or four players.

‘We have also wasted some simple passes. We haven’t played a good game. We are going to work hard to perform better next week.’

I try to jump towards the long ball but I played against Otamendi and Laporte. It’s not easy to win duels against them.

‘We haven’t played with our qualities. If Giroud or Morata would have played upfront, it would have been easier to play those long balls. With me, its a little bit more complicated, but I’ve tried to do my best.

‘When you leave the pitch you have the impression that you’ve ran, but that you haven’t played a game of football. That’s a pity. We could have played on for 3 hours, and I wouldn’t touch a ball. Only at the end it went better: in the last 10-15 minutes we had more possession. But we should have tried to do that all game.

‘It was difficult. Against Barcelona we had at least a few chances. In that game we could have scored. Today, we didn’t create any.

‘It was complicated. Certainly to find an answer to their pressing. Once we had the ball, we were immediately surrounded by three or four players.

‘We have also wasted some simple passes. We haven’t played a good game. We are going to work hard to perform better next week.’