Hazard lays into Conte's tactics: 'It's difficult to play a good game'

Far removed from his preferred position these days, Chelsea winger-turned-striker Eden Hazard shared his thoughts on manager Antonio Conte's tactical decision-making, frankly assessing his assigned role - especially in matches against teams like Manchester City.

The Belgian has been utilised as a false nine under Conte of late, replacing the likes of Olivier Giroud or Alvaro Morata to spearhead the Blues' attack. It's a job Hazard isn't accustomed to, having played on the left wing for much of his Chelsea tenure, but one he has been forced into a fair few times this season as the Italian continues tinkering.

But Chelsea's recent 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium left Hazard frustrated with a positional shift he called "difficult."

"When you leave the pitch you have the impression that you've ran, but that you haven't played a game of football," Hazard said, as quoted by Matt Law of the Telegraph. "That's a pity."

He added: "We could have played on for three 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.

"When the manager plays me up front, I try to give everything. We haven't played a good game. For me personally it's difficult to play a good game, when you only touch the ball three times.

"I try to jump towards the long balls. I played against (Nicolas) Otamendi and (Aymeric) Laporte. It's not easy to win duels against them. We haven't played with our qualities. If Giroud or Morata would have played up front, it would have been easier to play those long balls. With me, it's a little bit more complicated, but I've tried to do my best."

It's not the first time the Belgian has commented on his false-nine assignment. He previously expressed a preference for playing on the wing, though he admitted he could play at striker when Michy Batshuayi was still being shopped around in January - perhaps in an effort to help his compatriot stay.

The 27-year-old has notched 15 goals in 38 appearances for the Blues across all competitions this season. Of those goals, he only scored four in his 10 appearances at centre-forward, with the rest coming from attacking positions behind or to the left of another striker.