Diego
Costa is thriving under Guus Hiddink but Eden Hazard is still struggling. We
look at the pair's contrasting fortunes under the Dutchman...
Diego Costa's fine finish against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night may
have been in vain but it was a further example of the forward's return to
form under Guus Hiddink.
Costa's first-half strike was his 11th in 15 games under the Dutchman.
That's some improvement on his return of four in 21 before Hiddink's
arrival.
However, while Costa is heading back to his best, Eden Hazard continues to
struggle and was booed from the field by some Chelsea fans.
The pair were key figures in Chelsea's march to the title last season and
both slumped at the start of this campaign, as Jose Mourinho's champions
made the worst-ever start to a Premier League defence.
But while Costa has driven himself out of his bad run of form through his
typical mix of belligerence and brilliance, his Belgian team-mate seems
stuck.
Costa before/under Hiddink - 2015/16 Premier League
Before Hiddink Under Hiddink
Games played
14
10
Goals per game
0.21
0.8
Assists per game
0.07
0.4
Total shots per game
1.50
2.7
Chances created per game
1
1
Shot conversion rate %
14.29
29.63
Hazard before/under Hiddink - 2015/16 Premier League
Before Hiddink Under Hiddink
Games played
16
10
Goals
0
0
Assists per game
0.13
0.1
Total shots per game
0.94
0.3
Chances created per game
2.75
1.2
In Hiddink's first game in charge, a 2-2 draw with Watford, Costa scored
twice. It set the tone and, since the change of management, the Spaniard has
scored more goals, made more assists and increased the rate at which he's
shooting, creating chances and putting away his opportunities in the Premier
League.
Over the past three-and-a-half months Costa has hounded and harried
defenders, thrown himself into physical battles and rolled up his sleeves to
turn his and Chelsea's fortunes around. The sight of him pulling off his
protective mask and tossing it away against PSG summed up his spirit.
"I'm very proud of him, the way he's playing and, going not over the edge,
but he likes to fight in the real way of the game," Hiddink said ahead of
the last-16 second leg.
"That's what we like. I protect him and support him when he's doing what he
has done in my period at Chelsea. In the Premier League he frequently is
scoring now, since December, January."
There's been no such improvement in Hazard's statistics. In fact, last
season's player of the year has seen his numbers in key attacking categories
drop since Hiddink's arrival.
The 25-year-old has had groin and hip problems this term but he's still
played 34 times in the Premier League and Champions League. His return has
been a meagre four assists and no goals.
Of course, Hazard is not a bruising, all-action battler like Costa. That's
not his style. But, aside from his struggles for form, half-time shirt
swapping with Angel Di Maria and telling the French press he would struggle
to refuse advances from PSG have done little to win him sympathy with the
Chelsea support.
Missing the decisive penalty in Chelsea's Capital One Cup shoot-out defeat
to Stoke was forgiveable. So, too, perhaps, is a young player's failure to
match the extremely high standards he set last year.
But, in changing shirts with Di Maria in the midst of Chelsea's desperate
bid to save their season, it feels like Hazard's latest PR slip-up was one
step too far.
"I think it's a joke," Tony Cottee told Sky Sports News HQ. "It's not the
first time we've seen it - he's not the only player to have done it. But
clubs issue rules at the start of the season about all sorts of things you
can and can't do. Surely one of them should be that you do not swap shirts
at half-time.
"It's an insult to the Chelsea fans. It's not even as if he's done it in the
tunnel. It's blatant in front of everyone. I'm a big fan of Hazard when he's
playing well - which he hasn't been this year."
Fellow pundit Tony Gale is adamant Hazard "wants away" - but his numbers
this season are hardly those of a player Real Madrid, PSG or other European
heavyweights would normally chase.
Perhaps Hazard should take a look at team-mate Costa for an example of how
to turn his struggles around.
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