- Dennis Wise is adamant that Antonio Conte made a poor decision in playing Eden Hazard upfront against Manchester City
- Both Alvaro Morata and Oliver Giroud was left on the bench in the 1-0 loss at the Etihad
- READ MORE: Chelsea star suffered health scare in build-up to Premier League clash
Former Chelsea skipper Dennis Wise believes that Antonio Conte was wrong to play Eden Hazard upfront against Manchester City, Sky Sports reports.
The Belgian was left isolated in attack as the Blues spent large portions of the match penned in our own half as City dominated possession in the 1-0 defeat.
Conte has played the 27-year-old numerous times in the false nine role and it rarely has come off for the Italian. Wise is quoted by Sky Sports, insisting that Hazard isn’t a striker despite how well he played as the team’s talisman in the 1-1 draw against Barcelona.
“Hazard is not a centre-forward, I don’t believe.
“Maybe he [Conte] felt against Barcelona they did well in that system, he felt it could work against City. It didn’t.”
Even when Chelsea retained the ball, it came to little use as Pedro and Willian offered little support for Hazard, much to his frustration.
Surely Conte can’t think that this is a role that our star player can succeed in, especially when there are natural strikers like Alvaro Morata and Oliver Giroud at his disposal.
Hopefully, Hazard will play on the wing or as a supporting striker for the remainder of the season.