Eden Hazard has been criticised as ‘unprofessional’ for his successful Panenka penalty during the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.
Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino believes the Belgian’s audacious chip over Ederson, when taking the Blues’ fifth and most crucial penalty, showed he was not taking the game seriously.
Despite a promising performance from Maurizio Sarri’s men, they were beaten by City on penalties in a game overshadowed by Kepa Arrizabalaga’s refusal to be substituted in the dying moments of extra-time.
And talkSPORT host Cascarino, writing in his column for The Times, suggests Hazard’s penalty typifies everything wrong at Chelsea under Sarri.
“Hazard is by no means captain material but he should be one of the senior players leading by example,” Carscarino said.
“Instead he was taking the mickey with his Panenka penalty in the shoot-out against Manchester City. It was bordering on ridiculous.
“There should have been someone in the dressing room after that saying, ‘What the f*** are you doing?’
“Would he do that in a World Cup final? No chance. He was not taking it seriously and it was completely unprofessional.
“It summed up what is wrong at Chelsea. Players such as Hazard and Arrizabalaga are pushing boundaries because they know they can get away with it — and Maurizio Sarri’s uncertain future as head coach adds to their complacency.”
While there were plenty of positives for Sarri to take from the defeat at Wembley, he remains under immense pressure following a string of dreadful results since the turn of the year.
And Cascarino puts the Italian’s woes down to a lack of leadership among the players, highlighting Sarri’s treatment of club captain Gary Cahill.
The 33-year-old has been frozen out at Stamford Bridge this season, with his style not suited to Sarri’s possession based philosophy.
“It is no surprise that the club are lacking leadership when their club captain, Gary Cahill, has been discarded by Sarri.
“It was the case in my career — and something that I think still stands — that it really helps for your captain to be born in the same country and have a strong connection to the club.
“Cahill is the only player who really ticks those boxes. He has been there since 2012, won two league titles, a Champions League, a Europa League and an FA Cup but this season he has started six games and played 21 minutes of league football.
“Chelsea should have made Cahill a similar figure to Vincent Kompany at Manchester City — but instead they have sidelined him.
“There is no one whom Sarri can trust to help him.”