Gianfranco Zola says Eden Hazard and Willian ‘suffered’ under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea

Eden Hazard and Willian ‘suffered’ under the management of Maurizio Sarri last season according to the Italian’s then assistant Gianfranco Zola.

Sarri’s reign at Stamford Bridge started well but faded with Zola saying Chelsea players got bored of Sarri’s training methods.

The 61-year-old would deliver the club the Europa League after a 4-1 victory over Arsenal as well as Champions League football for the current season with a third place finish, but left the club at the end of the season.

Gianfranco Zola was assistant during Maurizio Sarri’s one year spell in charge last season

Zola told beIN Sports: ‘There were talented players, like Hazard and Willian, players who know how to win games on their own, but they were suffering from the type of exercises and type of training we were doing – but it was necessary for the others.

‘I’ll be honest, they were brilliant because they got bored, but they kept doing it throughout and that was the reason why when everyone was dropping, we were going up towards the end.’

Zola who scored 80 goals in 311 appearances as a player for Chelsea, admitted that players got bored due to the repetition of Sarri’s training methods.

Eden Hazard had his best year in terms of goals and assists at Chelsea before leaving the club

‘At the beginning, the players were very much behind everything that we were saying, they were brilliant.

‘They were following everything but then as the weeks passed due to repetition and the amount of games they were playing, the players got tired and they also got bored in a way.

‘But boring is part of our job. Sometimes you need to get bored but when you get bored you persist in what you’re doing and you get better.

Willian and Hazard were both said to have ‘suffered’ under Sarri’s training methods at Chelsea

Sarri would help the club win the Europa League before deciding to leave to join Juventus

‘I remember that when I was learning to play football, kicking a ball for example, I used to do it 300-400 times a day at least.

‘There were moments when I got tired but I needed to do it repeatedly because if I wanted to become a part of me, this was the process that I needed to get through.’

Following the season Sarri decided to return back to Italy with Juventus instead of seeing out his three year contract at Chelsea, with Zola also departing after Frank Lampard’s arrival as manager.

Eden Hazard also departed for Real Madrid after producing his best season for the Blues in terms of numbers as he scored 16 league goals and provided 15 assists.