Eden Hazard has credited Maurizio Sarri for his superb form, saying the coach has his team playing “the way I want Chelsea to play”.

Sarri has come under fire from supporters during his first season at the club because of his steadfast belief in ‘Sarri-ball’ and his refusal to swerve away from his principles.

Hazard may well be departing Stamford Bridge in the summer but the Belgian has paid tribute to Sarri by saying he and the coach think the same way about how the game should be played.

Hazard told BBC’s Football Focus: “It’s easy to understand each other.”

“Statistically it’s my best season, and I like to say that because the way he’s [Sarri] thinking is the same way I think football.

“Sometimes we have lost but, at the end, the way he wants to play is the way I want Chelsea to play.”

Sections of the Chelsea support have dissented against the Italian boss in recent months after the Blues struggled to build on an extremely encouraging start to the campaign.

But Hazard insists Sarri has a difficult job in stamping his mark on this team following on from Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.

“I think he is a fantastic manager. After Conte it was not easy,” Hazard said.

“He came here with his own ideas to play football and I think we have done quite well. It’s not simple to play the football he wants to play but I think now we have started to understand.

“We are working a lot because this manager is different to Conte, he’s different to Mourinho.

“It’s not easy to change everything but I think we have showed in the past two or three weeks that we have adapted well, and now we want to finish the season well.”