Eden Hazard not the same as last season, says Matt Le Tissier
Thursday 17 September 2015 11:39, UK
Eden Hazard does not look the same player that lit up the Premier League last season, according to Matt Le Tissier.
Hazard missed an early penalty in Chelsea's comfortable 4-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League.
Willian was brought down by visiting goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic inside the box on five minutes but Hazard looked a nervous man as he stepped up for the penalty and ballooned the ball over the crossbar.
Hazard was taken off penalty duties later in the game with Oscar showing him how it should be done to make it 2-0.
Last year's PFA Player of the Season struggled to trouble his marker Yuval Shpungin throughout the evening as his slow start to the season continued.
His team-mates spared the Belgian's blushes in the convincing Chelsea win and Le Tissier, who was watching the game for Sky Sports, felt that Hazard's form will be a big worry for Jose Mourinho going into this weekend's fixture with Arsenal.
This boy does not look like the same person that shone so brightly last season.
He said: "This boy does not look like the same person that shone so brightly last season.
"He really is out of sorts. You could see that from the penalty. With his penalties he always looks at the goalkeepers anyway but this time he looks at the 'keeper, looks down, then looks up again.
"As he's going to take this penalty and I don't know if he's seen the goalkeeper move the way he's going to hit the ball and panics slightly but he skies it miles over the crossbar. There's a real lack of confidence in his play at the minute."
The result was Chelsea's first win at Stamford Bridge this season after a dismal start to the campaign.
Willian, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas joined Oscar on the scoresheet as they completely dominated the champions of Israel, keeping their first clean sheet for nine games in the process.
Le Tissier added: "Even after missing that early penalty you didn't think Chelsea were going to be in any kind of trouble.
"The only thing really was whether they could keep a clean sheet as they hadn't in a while and they almost did blow that at the end when the visitors missed a simple chance. But they got the clean sheet and it was a comfortable night all round."
