Former Chelsea winger and Real Madrid star Eden Hazard has admitted that training sessions under Zinedine Zidane are much more fun than they were under both Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea.
The Belgian spent seven years at the Blues after joining from Lille in 2012, he went on to score 110 goals in 352 games and bowed out with a brace in the Blues’ Europa League final victory over Arsenal.
Hazard eventually quit the Premier League for Real Madrid in the summer, moving to Spain in a switch which could surpass £130million
He played under both Conte and Sarri at Stamford Bridge who were his last two managers at Chelsea but has now aimed a dig at both Italian managers who are both known for their tactical methods of training.
“The training is always with the ball,” he said, before adding:
“When you have experimented with Italians, as I have done with Conte or Sarri, you have much less fun. Everything is more framed.”
Upon asked to compare Sarri’s style of management with that of Zidane’s, the 28-year-old replied: “It’s hard to compare.”
“I was attracted to Zidane at Madrid and felt very identified. He fascinates me and has even some power over me. During Euro 2016 he told me: ‘It would be good if you came’. And when Zidane calls you it’s hard to say no.”
“He loves his players and you feel that the dressing room is happy to have him as a coach.”
Even before he moved to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer, Hazard made no secret of his admiration for the former France international and revealed that he supported France when he was a boy.
He hasn’t enjoyed the best of starts to life in the Spanish capital under Zidane, though, as he has scored just one goal in 11 games for his new side.
