Eden Hazard

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

I reckon potentially he could be our Henry , started as a winger got moved up front and turned into one off the best in the world.

It would save us a hell off a lot off money.

Would be awesome if Mourinho did this.

Well.... *DREAM MODE ON*

What if we spend £30 million on Reus instead of Costa and played.

Hazard upfront with Reus-Oscar-Willian.

[Peppen 934]

Would be awesome if Mourinho did this.

Well.... *DREAM MODE ON*

What if we spend £30 million on Reus instead of Costa and played.

Hazard upfront with Reus-Oscar-Willian.

*drool*

[Barbara 15,149]

but for Hazard to play as a striker he has to improve plenty of his finishing and goal flair. I mean, he's not awful, far from it, but I don't think his finishing is good yet for us to do that neither is he's that goal inclined yet - which are two different things, although the second I'm positive I'm not apt to define well, so I'll explain instead

There are some kind of players that 'smell' the goal, and they haunt and chase it down. Scoring is second nature to them, their natural reaction is to try the shot and they seem to be magnetically attracted to the goal. I don't see that on Hazard yet and there's no way I'd rather us to make this bet right now than sign a world-class striker. We're talking about six months from now. Can Hazard completely change his goal approach as well as improve considerably his finishing in such a short time? I think it's a risk I'm not willing to take. Another season without a proper striker for us will lead me to pull all the hair off of my head.

I also doubt that's what Mourinho has in mind. I think he's probably referring to a player that will only become available then or whose situation in their current club is likely to change 6 months from now.

Also there's no need to complicate things like that. RM has the best 'in-theory-winger' in the world, that is basically a striker and who plays with a striker ahead of him. Barça played with Villa (and others) ahead of Messi for a while. We don't need to turn Hazard into our #1 striker if he could enjoy a second striker job (whether in the wing like Cris or in the middle like Messi) while we have a poacher in the box. that's the ideal scenario in my opinion. Developing Hazard (without any rush) to his full potential, give him a free role but still have a striker ahead of him.

[DYC. 7,542]

There's only one truly succesful false 9 in Europe and that's Messi. The only reason he makes it work is because he's an absolute phenomenon who excels in the most crucial attributes in football. It's an incredibly difficult role to pull off and it can work against you.

Personally I find it a very overrated concept. Strikers are crucial.

[duo11bluecl 207]

No offense to any of you but Hazard have as much chance of ever becoming a successful false 9 as Cleverly. 1st of all the basic thing required for a good ST/CF is to HOLD THE BALL UP for team mates, Hazard is fantastic at dribbling and keeping it from opponents when doing so but a half shoulder challenge and he falls over like a fish jumping into water. I am not saying this is a bad thing, it could be a good thing as opponents might sometime get sent off or we get free kicks like we saw with Vidic a few weeks ago.

But these are the reasons why he will never make it as a CF. He is not like Rooney, who is not afraid to go all in tackling or get small bump and roll around. Unless Hazard undergoes Ronaldo transformation and become all muscular in the summer, it just won't happen. Furthermore his finishing is good but no where near the level required at a top club like Chelsea. Remember that Juve game away when he and Mata should have scored 3 between them, ended up with 0.

And lastly O don't think he is suited to that central role, he likes to dribble and this is better suited on the wing. The only exception to this rule is Messi like someone above said, but that is because he is a player that is born once every 100 years. It is not a coincidence that he is already considered the best player in history at the age of like 26-27.

[yuvala 2,167]

He wont work as a false 9..

Even Messi is not really a "false 9" IMO.. they put him there on the line-up but he just moves around wherever he wants, he has a free role.

most of the time he is in the middle, kina of like a CAM position .

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

No offense to any of you but Hazard have as much chance of ever becoming a successful false 9 as Cleverly. 1st of all the basic thing required for a good ST/CF is to HOLD THE BALL UP for team mates, Hazard is fantastic at dribbling and keeping it from opponents when doing so but a half shoulder challenge and he falls over like a fish jumping into water. I am not saying this is a bad thing, it could be a good thing as opponents might sometime get sent off or we get free kicks like we saw with Vidic a few weeks ago.

But these are the reasons why he will never make it as a CF. He is not like Rooney, who is not afraid to go all in tackling or get small bump and roll around. Unless Hazard undergoes Ronaldo transformation and become all muscular in the summer, it just won't happen. Furthermore his finishing is good but no where near the level required at a top club like Chelsea. Remember that Juve game away when he and Mata should have scored 3 between them, ended up with 0.

And lastly O don't think he is suited to that central role, he likes to dribble and this is better suited on the wing. The only exception to this rule is Messi like someone above said, but that is because he is a player that is born once every 100 years. It is not a coincidence that he is already considered the best player in history at the age of like 26-27.

First of all Hazard is excellent at holding up the ball. Don't really get why you're bringing up the Vidic tackle since Hazard himself couldn't do anything about it and Vidic was just frustrated and tackled with no intention of getting the ball.

Second He's a smart player that knows how to draw fouls however that doesn't mean that he's weak. I think a lot of people underestimate his strenght.

Also about a striker needing to be "all muscular" 1 word : Aguero.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

He wont work as a false 9..

Even Messi is not really a "false 9" IMO.. they put him there on the line-up but he just moves around wherever he wants, he has a free role.

most of the time he is in the middle, kina of like a CAM position .

Kinda the definition of a false 9 mate...

[Gilvorak 3,734]

False 9's only work on FIFA.

[duo11bluecl 207]

First of all Hazard is excellent at holding up the ball. Don't really get why you're bringing up the Vidic tackle since Hazard himself couldn't do anything about it and Vidic was just frustrated and tackled with no intention of getting the ball.

Second He's a smart player that knows how to draw fouls however that doesn't mean that he's weak. I think a lot of people underestimate his strenght.

Also about a striker needing to be "all muscular" 1 word : Aguero.

By holding the ball up it doesn't just mean standing still and keeping the ball, while waiting for other players to make run then past. Anyone can do that, actually that is like the really basic for a good football player. But it is like Drogba, sort of bully defenders, head the ball down, keep the ball by shielding it...etc and Hazard just isn't suited to that no matter how you look at it. He is more suited to running at other players and get them to challenge him. And fair enough about Aguero but even then City play 2 strikers and same in Argentina team, because usually if he is alone in attack of a 4-3-3 formation it won't work as well. Actually did he ever played alone role? At Madrid he had Forlan, Argen got Higuain, Messi, Tevez, City he had Tevez, Negredo, Dzeko...etc

And Hazard doesn't have strength mate to be honest, usually half harden challenge and he would fall over. Most of the time it is a foul for us so it is all good. But you will just never see him beating a player at shoulder to shoulder challenge, it is just his way of playing and style.

Btw I am not criticizing him in anyway, he is our best player atm by a mile. Just pointing out his weaknesses relating to this argument.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

By holding the ball up it doesn't just mean standing still and keeping the ball, while waiting for other players to make run then past. Anyone can do that, actually that is like the really basic for a good football player. But it is like Drogba, sort of bully defenders, head the ball down, keep the ball by shielding it...etc and Hazard just isn't suited to that no matter how you look at it. He is more suited to running at other players and get them to challenge him. And fair enough about Aguero but even then City play 2 strikers and same in Argentina team, because usually if he is alone in attack of a 4-3-3 formation it won't work as well. Actually did he ever played alone role? At Madrid he had Forlan, Argen got Higuain, Messi, Tevez, City he had Tevez, Negredo, Dzeko...etc

And Hazard doesn't have strength mate to be honest, usually half harden challenge and he would fall over. Most of the time it is a foul for us so it is all good. But you will just never see him beating a player at shoulder to shoulder challenge, it is just his way of playing and style.

Btw I am not criticizing him in anyway, he is our best player atm by a mile. Just pointing out his weaknesses relating to this argument.

Don't agree with you. one of Hazard's main qualities is holding up the ball. A lot of the times he's even able to turn his marker due to his low centre of gravity and pace.

"He's more suited to running at other players" and you think he won't be able to run at players when he plays as a false 9 ? Messi would strongly disagree.

Really underestimating his strenght. Like i said before he's a smart player that knows how to draw fouls. Been plenty of challenges on him where he stayed on his feet when he could have gone down.

Why would he try and beat players shoulder to shoulder when he can outrun most of them ?

Also for people saying his finishing isn't good enough or that a false 9 only works with Messi or on FIFA.

You do realize that the False 9 existed before Messi right ? It wasn't used that much but it existed nonetheless.

Also the primary role of a false 9 is that of a creator not a goalscorer.

[manpe 10,855]

I like Hazard on the wings. He has more room to run into and do damage on their flanks. You aren't really given enough time to think or hold the ball when you're charging through the middle and most of the time, against compact solid teams, you end up passing it sideways to someone for an answer because there's more room and time to cook something up. I'd rather that someone was Hazard, he's given me no reason to think otherwise. Plus there's the defensive side of things as well - I'd rather someone more reliable occupied that space (Oscar).

[iseah100 5,612]

Get Reus! 35-40 mil? Put him up front, he can play there. It should be done.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Get Reus! 35-40 mil? Put him up front, he can play there. It should be done.

As much as it would be fancy to have Reus, we need target man ala Cavani or Costa in attack. We looked bad vs West Ham and someone like Cavani (and good crosses to him) would do the difference. Reus isnt typical striker and I doubt he would make impact.

[iseah100 5,612]

Get Reus! 35-40 mil? Put him up front, he can play there. It should be done.

As much as it would be fancy to have Reus, we need target man ala Cavani or Costa in attack. We looked bad vs West Ham and someone like Cavani (and good crosses to him) would do the difference. Reus isnt typical striker and I doubt he would make impact.

Yea, I know. He's my favorite non-Chelsea player so I'd love to see it. I prefer them to get Costa would be good. Not Cavani or Falcao. They're gonna be pushing 30 soon. I'd love for them to get Aleksandr Kokorin from Dynamo. He's Russian. Look him up dude is good.

[Thor 2,121]

By holding the ball up it doesn't just mean standing still and keeping the ball, while waiting for other players to make run then past. Anyone can do that, actually that is like the really basic for a good football player. But it is like Drogba, sort of bully defenders, head the ball down, keep the ball by shielding it...etc and Hazard just isn't suited to that no matter how you look at it. He is more suited to running at other players and get them to challenge him. And fair enough about Aguero but even then City play 2 strikers and same in Argentina team, because usually if he is alone in attack of a 4-3-3 formation it won't work as well. Actually did he ever played alone role? At Madrid he had Forlan, Argen got Higuain, Messi, Tevez, City he had Tevez, Negredo, Dzeko...etc

And Hazard doesn't have strength mate to be honest, usually half harden challenge and he would fall over. Most of the time it is a foul for us so it is all good. But you will just never see him beating a player at shoulder to shoulder challenge, it is just his way of playing and style.

Btw I am not criticizing him in anyway, he is our best player atm by a mile. Just pointing out his weaknesses relating to this argument.

I've never even attempted to be rude on here, but do you even know what you're talking about?

One of Hazard's greatest attributes is his ability to hold the ball. His other being exactly what you're trying to claim as a weakness; ability to hold the ball under a tackle, or physical pressure. Hazard is one of the rare categories of footballers along with the Messi's, Maradona's, Rooney's, etc, in which it is damn near impossible to get the ball off him when he is dribbling in field/sideways. Simply due to his short and bulldog like nature on the field. He gets his feet set hard in the ground, and gives him tremendous ability to either push off or protect the ball brilliantly with his low center of gravity.

Hazard is extremely strong on the ball, simply due to his build, and because he knows how to use it, much like Messi. Impossible to get the ball off of at times.

[iseah100 5,612]

By holding the ball up it doesn't just mean standing still and keeping the ball, while waiting for other players to make run then past. Anyone can do that, actually that is like the really basic for a good football player. But it is like Drogba, sort of bully defenders, head the ball down, keep the ball by shielding it...etc and Hazard just isn't suited to that no matter how you look at it. He is more suited to running at other players and get them to challenge him. And fair enough about Aguero but even then City play 2 strikers and same in Argentina team, because usually if he is alone in attack of a 4-3-3 formation it won't work as well. Actually did he ever played alone role? At Madrid he had Forlan, Argen got Higuain, Messi, Tevez, City he had Tevez, Negredo, Dzeko...etc

And Hazard doesn't have strength mate to be honest, usually half harden challenge and he would fall over. Most of the time it is a foul for us so it is all good. But you will just never see him beating a player at shoulder to shoulder challenge, it is just his way of playing and style.

Btw I am not criticizing him in anyway, he is our best player atm by a mile. Just pointing out his weaknesses relating to this argument.

I've never even attempted to be rude on here, but do you even know what you're talking about?

One of Hazard's greatest attributes is his ability to hold the ball. His other being exactly what you're trying to claim as a weakness; ability to hold the ball under a tackle, or physical pressure. Hazard is one of the rare categories of footballers along with the Messi's, Maradona's, Rooney's, etc, in which it is damn near impossible to get the ball off him when he is dribbling in field/sideways. Simply due to his short and bulldog like nature on the field. He gets his feet set hard in the ground, and gives him tremendous ability to either push off or protect the ball brilliantly with his low center of gravity.

Hazard is extremely strong on the ball, simply due to his build, and because he knows how to use it, much like Messi. Impossible to get the ball off of at times.

Yea, idk what that dude is talking about. Hazard is similar to Messi in several ways, including dribbling with the ball and difficult to dispossess. Thor doesn't know what he's talking about.

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

No offense to any of you but Hazard have as much chance of ever becoming a successful false 9 as Cleverly. 1st of all the basic thing required for a good ST/CF is to HOLD THE BALL UP for team mates, Hazard is fantastic at dribbling and keeping it from opponents when doing so but a half shoulder challenge and he falls over like a fish jumping into water. I am not saying this is a bad thing, it could be a good thing as opponents might sometime get sent off or we get free kicks like we saw with Vidic a few weeks ago.

But these are the reasons why he will never make it as a CF. He is not like Rooney, who is not afraid to go all in tackling or get small bump and roll around. Unless Hazard undergoes Ronaldo transformation and become all muscular in the summer, it just won't happen. Furthermore his finishing is good but no where near the level required at a top club like Chelsea. Remember that Juve game away when he and Mata should have scored 3 between them, ended up with 0.

And lastly O don't think he is suited to that central role, he likes to dribble and this is better suited on the wing. The only exception to this rule is Messi like someone above said, but that is because he is a player that is born once every 100 years. It is not a coincidence that he is already considered the best player in history at the age of like 26-27.

Are you sure the Hazard you talked about is Chelsea's Hazard? Eden nobody-can-dispossession-me Hazard?

Numerous occasions he was surrounded by half of dozen opponents he still made his way out due to his excellent close ball control and immense lower body strength. The latest prime example would be the Sunderland match, second half around 57mins 40secs, go find it out and enjoy.