In August 2015, Manchester City were preparing for an early-season showdown with defending champions Chelsea. For Vincent Kompany, it also meant coming up against fellow Belgian Eden Hazard, who had been named PFA Player of the Year the previous season. The City captain knew exactly how dangerous his international teammate could be.
Asked about the threat posed by Hazard, Kompany came up with a rather unconventional solution. He joked that you could almost hope the Chelsea star would suffer from diarrhoea and be unable to play. Not exactly the sort of tactical plan you are likely to find on a manager’s training ground.
City wins
Behind the joke, however, was genuine admiration. Kompany explained that tactical plans could quickly become irrelevant once Hazard started dribbling. The winger was capable of beating three or four players and creating chaos almost by himself. Kompany even suggested that in terms of natural talent Hazard could be compared with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, although the two superstars produced far greater scoring numbers.
Hazard did make it to the Etihad on 16 August and started the match. He even forced Joe Hart into a save in the second half, but Manchester City ultimately discovered that no stomach bug was required to keep Chelsea under control.
City won 3-0. Sergio Agüero opened the scoring before, fittingly, Kompany himself headed in City’s second with around ten minutes remaining. Fernandinho then completed the victory. Hazard played, Kompany scored and Manchester City took all three points — making their captain’s rather unusual pre-match solution unnecessary after all.