Jose Mourinho believes Manchester United are in ‘trouble’ if they only focus on Eden Hazard and stressed that players such as N’Golo Kante and Willian can also hurt them at Stamford Bridge.
Hazard has had a scintillating start to the campaign, scoring ten goals in 14 games for club and country, and the Belgian will be licking his lips ahead of this weekend’s encounter with a United side reeling from recent results.
While a spirited comeback victory over Newcastle slightly eased the pressure on Mourinho before the international break, he knows that the turnaround is far from complete.
Mourinho has tasked Ander Herrera and Scott McTominay with the responsibility of man-marking Hazard in recent times but insists that Maurizio Sarri has many other dangerous players at his disposal.
‘If I only think about Eden, we are in trouble,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘It’s Eden, It’s Willian, it’s Kante. It’s really hard to play against a team and focus on one man if that special man is surrounded by special players.’
Hazard is expecting to be on the end of some rough treatment from United’s players at Stamford Bridge.
‘Yeah, I think so because the last three years it has been like this,’ the Belgian said.
‘Every game versus Man United with Ander Herrera or I remember last year the young guy, McTominay, so yes I expect that.
On the most effective way to lose a man-marker, Hazard replied:
‘First, to play simple and then pass and go. ‘Because if Herrera is marking me I know I’m quicker than him so if I pass ball and I’m just running I can do something good.
‘And also [I can] play with my team-mates, move the ball quickly and when I’m in the box I try to do something.’