He knows how to change the course of the game. He knows how to open a game up and surprise people. He knows how to break the lock on a bolted door with his skillful touch play and passes. This is what makes the Chelsea star Eden Hazard so watchable.
The attacking midfielder, who joined the Chelsea in August 2012, hasn't left no stone unturned to take the Blues on the top of the Premier League table this season.
The 24-year-old Hazard, who was handed the No. 10 shirt after their star player Juan Mata's move to Manchester United, has played 23 EPL games so far scoring 8 goals while making five assists this season. As a result, with the season now well into its second half, Chelsea are dominating the tally with 53 points from 23 games having lost just two of them.
Hazard said he is competing on several fronts and knows that the important thing is to be fully prepared and focused in every game that comes on his way.
What has turned Eden Hazard into an immediate success at Stamford Bridge?
Each game, I try to change something. Every game is important for me, I just go for win. I want to see my club on the top.
What aim or strategy you have for your team ahead of any match?
A hunger for victory, that's it. I want to win every game for my club. Even if I score three goals and we lose the game, it's no good for me. I want more than that, though. Every game I try to enjoy myself, to take pleasure from the game, to give pleasure to the fans and, of course, for us to win the game.
How about this season? Are you enjoying the way Chelsea are progressing?
I'm feeling good. I started the season very well; I have been able to score and make assists for the team. My job is to win the game and I get a lot of freedom on the pitch. I am free to play and I do what I have to do."
Cesc Fabregas has adjusted pretty fast at Stamford Bridge and you coordination with him is amazing. Your comments?
With Cesc, you don't need to work for years together. We just needed one game, one training session and we knew each other. It's a pleasure to play with him because he knows everything about football. He's a brain - you can see that because he has 14 assists in the league already, in January. He's very good and he has the same vision as me, so I like playing with him.
After being fouled by Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny in your home game, you looked furious and set up a 2-0 win for the team. What was going through your mind?
That game was looking like a draw and I did something, which is what the manager wants me to do in those situations, and the fans wait for situations like this. I know I am the kind of player who can do something and I try to win every game, but I don't feel pressure. I know that sometimes you can play good and sometimes you can play a bad game, but this is football. I know that in some games I will have one, two or three opponents marking me, but I try to change things in the game with a pass or a dribble.
Have you adapted your playing style to suit English football?
No, I play like I played in my garden when I was young. I don't find any difference between France and England, other than it is maybe a little more physical. It's still football. In France, you can play against a big team with a physical attitude and in England its the same. I just try to enjoy being on the pitch.
'Where do you see yourself in a few years from now?
It's really good here [at Chelsea]. I like the club, my team-mates are very good, I like everybody here - the staff, the medical department, everybody. It has been the same since I arrived here in 2012; it's a very good club to be at. When you play for Chelsea, you play for one of the biggest clubs in the world and that is what everyone wants to do in their profession - be at the top. The atmosphere is very good in all the stadiums here, not only the atmosphere around the stadium, but also on the pitch - it's very good.
Chelsea are No. 1 with half of the season already over. Are the Blues on their way to win the trophy?
We have to take game after game and not think. In May, we could be champions. We have to win the next game. When you play for a big club, you have to keep winning in order to lift trophies and this is what we want, but we take it game after game. We made a good start to the season. In the Christmas period we lost a few points, but we are still in a good position to finish top, which is what we want. We are a big team and we aim to finish first. We lost too many important games last season. We want more this time, we want to win.
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