Hazard and Willian don’t trust Chelsea teammate Alvaro Morata, says Ruud Gullit

Posted Monday, October 22, 2018 by squawka.com

Former Chelsea player Ruud Gullit believes Eden Hazard and Willian deliberately avoided passing to Alvaro Morata during the 2-2 draw with Manchester United because they lack faith in the striker.

The Blues snatched a point from the jaws of defeat during the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday against United after Ross Barkley netted an equalising goal in the dying embers of a tense clash at Stamford Bridge.

Antonio Rudiger opened the scoring in the first-half, but an Anthony Martial brace put the Red Devils in the ascendancy. However, the Blues refused to lie-down and Barkley came off the bench to net a late equaliser, compiling further misery on Jose Mourinho.

The match was somewhat marred by scenes off the pitch as Mourinho clashed with Maurizio Sarri's second assistant coach Marco Ianni, who celebrated in front on the former Chelsea manager, though the Portuguese has since accepted an apology on the club's behalf.

Commenting on incidents on the field, Gullit accused Hazard and Willian of avoiding Morata because they do not trust the Spanish marksman.

"They don't come into any positions where they create anything for him," Gullit said on beINSports (via the Mirror).

"The worst part is you can see Willian and Hazard always dribble inside because they don't trust him.

"It is difficult for a striker to play with these two who go inside all the time, you don't know where to go.

"But also when the crosses are in, I think there was a moment in the first half where you asked 'where is Morata', he wasn't there. So they don't trust him."

The late equaliser has now stretched Sarri's unbeaten Premier League run to nine matches, though the west London club have now lost ground on Man City and Liverpool, who both picked up three points this weekend against Burnley and Huddersfield respectively.

Man Utd meanwhile dropped a place to ninth, currently sitting nine points behind leaders City and Liverpool, as well as having a goal difference of minus one.

Misfiring Morata

Morata has now only netted three times in 12 appearances across all competitions this season, and he currently looks a shadow of the player who proved a huge success at Real Madrid and Juventus.

His two goals in the Premier League have come against Southampton and Arsenal, while his only other was against MOL Vidi FC in the Europa League.

With Olivier Giroud yet to find the back of the net this season, Chelsea have had to rely on the goalscoring exploits Hazard, with the Belgian netting eight times in 11 matches this season.

If Chelsea have any aspirations of mounting a title challenge then their strikers will need to start chipping in. The club next face BATE Borisov in the Europa League on Thursday.