Sarri: Hazard must change and Chelsea fans must be patient

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has reiterated that Eden Hazard needs to change in order to fit in with his style of play.

Sarri has caused controversy in recent weeks by being publicly critical of his players.

And he again spoke about Hazard at a press conference on the eve of Chelsea’s game against Huddersfield.

Sarri said: “I think that he is changing. He was used to playing as an individual player and now he has to play in a cooperative way.

“It’s not easy for him, because he became Hazard playing in another way.

“I can see that now he is more available to play in this way. Of course he needs to improve, that is normal.

“He is fantastic from a technical point of view and I think he can do more tactically.

“At the moment it is not easy for our striker to play in this team because have a lot of individual players like Hazard, Willian and Pedro, so it’s not easy for the striker to do the right movement at the right time.”

Sarri is under pressure, having been jeered by Chelsea fans during this week’s 4-0 defeat at Bournemouth.

The Italian says he understands their frustration but insists they need to show patience.

“First of all we have to say sorry to them because the result was a disaster,” he said.

“I can understand them (being angry) very well. They have to be patient with us at the moment because we are trying to do something great.”