Antonio Conte urges Eden Hazard to fully 'exploit' his talent on the main stage after European magic

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Antonio Conte has urged Eden Hazard to seize the opportunity of returning to the Champions League this season to fully “exploit” his talent and finally prove himself as one of the finest in the game - but admitted it was also his task as a manager to bring that out.

While the Chelsea boss was gushing in his praise of Hazard at the end of a week that saw the Belgian help guide his side a memorable 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid, Conte did say he feels that the playmaker is often too happy to settle for one goal in a game, in contrast to the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

It is of course something that has been regularly said of the 26-year-old because he isn’t quite as devastating as he could be on a regular basis. The feeling has often been that his satisfactory level of drive hasn’t always matched the exquisite level of his talent, and is something his father has even discussed with his coaches.

“I think he has a style to improve in this specific situation,” Conte said on Friday ahead of the champions’ home match against Manchester City. “I think that, sometimes, Eden is... If he scores one goal, he's happy and then, if there is another situation, he prefers to make an assist rather than scoring twice.

“I see, for Ronaldo, that if he scores once he wants two, three, four. It's the same for Messi. Yes, he [Hazard] can improve. But I think that, during the games, when you create – for example, at Atletico, he was important because he put the ball in for Alvaro to score our goal... It's very important that he is important in every game for us, to make chances, to score or to provide assists for our players. Very important.

“But, as you know very well, Eden for sure is a top player. I think in this season he has a big opportunity. Because, this season, we can play in the Champions League. I think the Champions League, together with the Premier League, is important for a player to show you are a top player and can compete to be the best.”

“If God gives you this talent, you must exploit this talent. My task is sometimes to try and push him to be decisive in every moment, in every game, and also that the team-mates wait for this.”

Conte said that he didn’t want Hazard to become more “selfish”, something that is often said about the Belgian and players in such situations, insisting that is the wrong way to look at it that way.

“I don't think 'selfish' is the right word. I don't like selfish players, honestly. I like players who are used to thinking about the team. Used to thinking about 'us', not 'me'. Eden is not selfish. He's a player who loves to play football and enjoys playing football. I like this behaviour, his attitude. But, for sure, I like to repeat to him that in every game he must be decisive.

“I'm seeing great determination. Above all when he started to train again with us after a bad injury, after a surgery. He understood that he needed to work very strong to recover very well. Also because you have good competition in our squad, with Pedro and Willian and Cesc [Fabregas] is playing as a No10. I think this good competition is very important also, for him.”

Conte re-iterated that it was also up to him as a manager to encourage this in Hazard.

“For every coach, our task is to try and improve our players. To try to put our players in the best condition to exploit their talent. Then, to try to work on their weaknesses, to try and improve them. Don't forget, Eden is a young player. He has a lot of room to show he can be competitive for the best position in the world.”