Manchester United’s Ander Herrera set out to to man-mark Chelsea’s Eden Hazard throughout the game. Herrera was able to more or less shut down Hazard by often denying him the ball and not allowing him to create attacking chances for Chelsea. I wonder if we won’t see more of this in the English Premier League, especially against creative attacking players like Hazard.
But you just don’t see man-marking like this in modern football, where one player follows around the other player throughout the game. It’s interesting though, I’m sure it throws off the player being marked like this. They have to make adjustments and it must mess with their head at least at the start of the game to have a player follow them around as Herrera does Hazard.
Imagine trying to focus on the game or the next play when a defender is constantly following you around the pitch and standing right next to you even when the ball is out of play. It’s also tiring for the defender, chasing one player across the field and not passing them on to another teammate to defend.
Watch Ander Herrera man marking Eden Hazard in the video below. Man marking Hazard might just become more common when teams face Chelsea if they have a player like Herrera who can mark him like this throughout the game.