Making a Case for Eden Hazard to Win the PFA Player of the Year Award

How are we judging Eden Hazard and Chelsea these days? After a limp display against Manchester United last weekend that saw them lose 2-0, the fallout suggests it's not very highly.

Despite being four points clear at the top of the Premier League, it seems that one result has sent Chelsea's season spiralling. Diego Costa and Gary Cahill have come in for some harsh criticism, and Hazard hasn't been shielded from the frank assessments himself.

Where the Belgian is concerned, the criticism is influenced by his lack of impact at all in the game. Man-marked by Ander Herrera, Chelsea's talisman struggled to impose himself on the game. It was because of that absence the Blues were unable to penetrate the United back line.

Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho would speak gallantly of Chelsea's inability to overcome his tactics in the 2-0 win for his side. For all that we saw, however, it was the focus on Hazard that proved most telling.

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But rather than it show Hazard to be a poor player—overrated has been the claim from some—his ineffective display at Old Trafford outlined just how important he has been to Chelsea's season.

We can talk 3-4-3 formations and all the rest of it. The truth is that without the Belgian on top form, Chelsea aren't quite the same side.

It's why he's deserving of the PFA Player of the Year Award.

Indeed, we shouldn't take it as a coincidence that Chelsea's form has improved this season at the same moment Hazard has rediscovered the magic that has so endeared him to the English game.

When the team crashed and burned to a 10th-place finish in 2015-16—despite being reigning champions—the collapse happened when Hazard was at his lowest ebb. Carrying a hip injury for much of the campaign, Hazard lacked the explosive bursts of power to take him beyond opponents, and he looked jaded.

Chelsea's poor transfer window leading into that season meant there wasn't a ready-made replacement to give Hazard the rest he needed. It wasn't just he who suffered, but the club with it. Six months after being crowned a Premier League champion for the third time, Mourinho was sacked as Chelsea boss.

The club was in turmoil without Hazard, and it was telling, that, when Paris Saint-Germain knocked the Blues out of the Champions League last 16 in early March that season, we wouldn't see Hazard again until the end of April.

It was a six-and-a-half-week window that he was given to find his full fitness. Chelsea's season was over after that PSG loss, so what else did they have to lose? They had no FA Cup to play for, and European qualification was also off the cards. The focus was about the moment we find ourselves in now, with manager Antonio Conte coming in to restore Chelsea's position at the top of the English game.

For the Italian to ever achieve that in such rapid fashion, he needed Hazard, and Chelsea made the right choice in not playing him until he was ready. That luxury hadn't been there for much of 2015-16, and we saw the results instantly when the Belgian returned against Bournemouth in a 4-1 win. He would score twice in that game at Dean Court.

Just over a week later, it was Hazard scoring the equalising goal at Stamford Bridge that denied Tottenham Hotspur's title hopes as the Blues gift-wrapped the Premier League for Leicester City.

That night alone beneath the Stamford Bridge lights was a reminder of what Chelsea are. That they revelled in the misfortune of a rival's despair wasn't the point; it was the fact Chelsea arrived for the big moment.

That has been the core characteristic of the club ever since club owner Roman Abramovich's arrival, and it was among the few times they had done it all season. The chief protagonist was Hazard. Chelsea's best moment, however contrived it was, was all about him.

Nearly a year on, and it's been the same story in 2016-17. The best we have seen of Hazard this term has been the best we have seen of Chelsea. That they have been top of the pile since late November through to now tells us all we need to know about Hazard's form.

From his dazzling display against Everton in November to that solo goal against Arsenal four months later, he's been the catalyst for all that Chelsea have achieved.

In the aftermath of defeat to Manchester United, Conte was pensive. He was annoyed and unhappy with how his team had surrendered three points, allowing their advantage at the top to shrink to four points in the process.

The result means Spurs are feeling buoyed right now, clawing away at Chelsea's supremacy to be within touching distance as the season edges to its climax.

For Chelsea, though, their position is as unexpected as it is strong. They can still afford another hiccup and be crowned champions, whereas Spurs need perfection from now until the end.

Chelsea may be in control, but when Conte inherited the mess that had been left over from the previous regime, few were predicting the Blues to be champions, which he reminded observers.

"Something important is happening this season," the Chelsea boss told the Sky Sports cameras. "We are doing a quick job, a miracle this season considering the problems last season."

It's because of players like Hazard that those miracles happen. Last term was the Year of the Fox. When Riyad Mahrez did something similar, he finished the campaign with an avalanche of personal accolades, with the PFA Player of the Year award chief among them.

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The same has to happen with Hazard. His exploits on the pitch throughout 2016-17 have been the glue that has helped fix, not only Chelsea's season, but the club's sense of pride. They have their swagger back.

Costa, Pedro and unlikely heroes such as Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso, have been vital in that process, but without Hazard, the verve just isn't there.

That much was evident on Sunday, and if the Blues do have enough to top Spurs come May, we shouldn't underestimate Hazard's role in any of it.

There hasn't been a better player in England at doing what he does. Hazard's left the rest of the Premier League in his wake.