Maurizio Sarri says Eden Hazard was unable to start Chelseas opening Premier League fixture against Huddersfield Town after only returning to training last week.
And the new Chelsea manager, who replaced Antonio Conte earlier in the summer, admits Hazard will need to enjoy a productive week of training to prove he is able to start against Arsenal next weekend.
Sarri made the perfect start to his Premier League career by leading Chelsea to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Huddersfield at the Kirklees Stadium.
More: Football
NGolo Kante fired the visitors ahead with a first-half volley, before summer signing Jorginho doubled Chelseas lead on the stroke of half-time.
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Winger Pedro put the game to bed with ten minutes remaining, latching on to a ball from Hazard and firing past Huddersfield goalkeeper Ben Hamer.
Asked why Hazard, a key player for Belgium at this summers World Cup, did not start the fixture, Sarri said: I think that Eden in this moment cannot play for 90 minutes.
He needs to improve [his fitness] and have more training.
I thought the best thing for him was to play 15 20 minutes when the opposition was tired.
On his teams performance at Huddersfield, former Napoli manager Sarri added: I am very happy because in the first part of the season for us it will not be easy to gain points.
The first half was hard. If you look at the result you can think of an easy game.
But we were in trouble for 15 minutes against a physical team… we are not a physical team.
The best capacity was to suffer, but then I think the second half maybe they were tired and it was more comfortable.
Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner, meanwhile, said: I think Chelsea were very clinical. They had four or five chances and scored three.
More: Football
We started very well in the first half. We pressed them high and the players did very well.
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We had a very good opportunity at 1-0 where Steve Mounie hits the post and instead of being a goal up we were a goal down.
And then just before half-time we made a tactical mistake to concede a penalty.
MORE: Wilfried Zaha responds to failed Chelsea transfer after starring in Crystal Palace win over Fulham
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Maurizio Sarri says Eden Hazard was unable to start Chelseas opening Premier League fixture against Huddersfield Town after only returning to training last week.
And the new Chelsea manager, who replaced Antonio Conte earlier in the summer, admits Hazard will need to enjoy a productive week of training to prove he is able to start against Arsenal next weekend.
Sarri made the perfect start to his Premier League career by leading Chelsea to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Huddersfield at the Kirklees Stadium.
More: Football
NGolo Kante fired the visitors ahead with a first-half volley, before summer signing Jorginho doubled Chelseas lead on the stroke of half-time.
Advertisement Advertisement
Winger Pedro put the game to bed with ten minutes remaining, latching on to a ball from Hazard and firing past Huddersfield goalkeeper Ben Hamer.
Asked why Hazard, a key player for Belgium at this summers World Cup, did not start the fixture, Sarri said: I think that Eden in this moment cannot play for 90 minutes.
He needs to improve [his fitness] and have more training.
I thought the best thing for him was to play 15 20 minutes when the opposition was tired.
On his teams performance at Huddersfield, former Napoli manager Sarri added: I am very happy because in the first part of the season for us it will not be easy to gain points.
The first half was hard. If you look at the result you can think of an easy game.
But we were in trouble for 15 minutes against a physical team… we are not a physical team.
The best capacity was to suffer, but then I think the second half maybe they were tired and it was more comfortable.
Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner, meanwhile, said: I think Chelsea were very clinical. They had four or five chances and scored three.
More: Football
We started very well in the first half. We pressed them high and the players did very well.
Advertisement Advertisement
We had a very good opportunity at 1-0 where Steve Mounie hits the post and instead of being a goal up we were a goal down.
And then just before half-time we made a tactical mistake to concede a penalty.
MORE: Wilfried Zaha responds to failed Chelsea transfer after starring in Crystal Palace win over Fulham
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