London: Jose Mourinho may believe Eden Hazard is ready to challenge Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the best player on the planet, but Arsene Wenger is not convinced.
The Arsenal manager argues that the Chelsea playmaker is not yet at the level of the Barcelona and Real Madrid forwards because he cannot compete with their goalscoring record. Messi and Ronaldo both scored more than 55 goals in all competitions last season, compared to Hazard’s 19.
“He can decide the games and you always put the top players in this kind of calibre, when they can decide games by creating something special,” Wenger said.
“Hazard is in that category. To reach the other two or three who are dominating world football at the moment, I think it demands consistency and that is what he still has to do. It is all about opinions. You have to compare the numbers and players like Messi and Ronaldo still score 50 goals per season, that is absolutely exceptional.”
While Hazard may not sit on the summit of world football yet, Arsenal’s Community Shield opponents on Sunday, Chelsea, were firmly on top of the Premier League last season.
Leading throughout, Jose Mourinho’s side finished 12 points ahead of Arsenal, who ended the season third and outside of the top two for the 10th successive year.
But, with no major tournament this summer and a fully fit squad, Wenger believes this season can be different and Arsenal must challenge for the title.
“Even last year we had no excuses, just the fact that they [Chelsea] started stronger and we didn’t. There were reasons, that is for sure,” said Wenger.
“[Per] Mertesacker, [Laurent] Koscielny, [Mesut] Ozil came back [from the World Cup]. We lost [Olivier] Giroud, Koscielny and Ozil for four months right from the start. [Danny] Welbeck joined very late on September 2. This season it is different.
“I believe they were more stable than us defensively and, at the start of last season especially, they had a good start. After six games we were 11 points behind Chelsea and we finished 12 points behind Chelsea. That means after six games the decision was made. They had a strong start and we had a slow start.”
If Arsenal are to claim a first title since 2004 then one man viewed as pivotal to that charge is Ozil, who Wenger believes can compete with Hazard as the Premier League’s leading light.
The playmaker moved to the Emirates from Real Madrid in 2013 for a club record fee of £42.5 million (Dh243.74), but his late arrival that year and the World Cup 12 months later have prevented him from having a full pre-season.
This summer, though, Ozil’s preparations have not been interrupted and Wenger believes that could be pivotal. “He is physically stronger, that is for sure,” Wenger said. “More equipped to deal with the Premier League and in the second part of the season last year we have seen that intelligence of his passing.
“The fact is that he added some steel to his game that was needed, certainly in the Premier League, and I am confident he can be one of the great players of 2015/16.”
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2015
