Chelsea’s Eden Hazard has taken a swipe at Antonio Conte’s tactics in their 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday, saying he felt like he “hadn’t played a game of football”.
Hazard started as a false nine at the Etihad and touched the ball just 31 times in 89 minutes.
The Blues failed to hit a shot on target against City, who completed 902 passes in the match.
“I had the feeling that I’d ran, but that I hadn’t played a game of football.
“That’s a pity. We could have played on for three hours, but I wouldn’t touch the ball. It only went better at the end of the game.
“When the manager decides to play me as a false nine, I tried to do my best,” he added. “But it was complicated with their pressing. When we had the ball, we were immediately surrounded by 3-4 players. We should have made better decisions when we had it too,” Hazard said.