Eden Hazard

[The only place to be 11,313]

Fuck sake, It's not about being immune to criticism. (He's gotten a shitload of it after the game)

The thing is do you really want Hazard to be in that situation ? My point is that we should have never let Hazard get into that situation.

He's a creative attacking midfielder and man marking isn't one of his strenghts.

Hazard is an attacking midfielder if you put him into a position where he has to manmark Juanfran on his own in our own 18 yard box then yeah things aren't gonna go well.

Salah, Schurrle and Willian managed it against Liverpool.

What makes Eden so special that he can't be asked to do dirty work as well? We were in a situation where we needed 11 men to work together and stay focused on keeping their shape. This is just a perfect example of what happens when one person doesn't do their job. It undoes the good work done by the other 10.

[bababoom 4,478]

Honestly i don't think it was lazy or even a lack of concentration from Hazard. He's basically being asked to play left back in that situation. He's being asked to man mark Juanfran.

He doesn't spot Juanfran's run. Hazard looked seconds before Juanfran made the run. Hazard knew he was there but he turned his head to look at the ball and that's when Juanfran made the run.

It's one thing asking hazard to track back and help out his FB, whole other story when you're asking him to play left back and be left on his own.

Like Skipper said Hazard should never be asked to defend that deep especially not on his own.

I get what you're saying but the winger HAS to track the fullback. Atelitco' fullbacks always push up, Hazard and Azpi both had to track back with them, for the first goal Hazard did, but he got caught ball watching rather than watching his man. There's no excuse, look at Bale for Madrid in both matches against Bayern, he was basically a LB.

Although saying that i personally thought attacking-wise he was our best player, he was the only one beating his man and trying to at least create something.

[Mohammed Seif 1,451]

I don't really know why the big fuss. The kid had an injury that kept him off the pitch for a while. He returned in a tough game against tough opponents. He did his best given our tactics and the support he on the field.He is definitely not back in top form due to the injury, but he wasn't that bad. Don't know why he is being judged hard, especially when he is not playing under normal physical conditions. Could he have done better? Yes, but it is not a big deal. We didn't lose because of him. We lost as a team. Hope he gets better and finds his form as soon as he can for the remaining matches and the world cup.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

Salah, Schurrle and Willian managed it against Liverpool.

What makes Eden so special that he can't be asked to do dirty work as well? We were in a situation where we needed 11 men to work together and stay focused on keeping their shape. This is just a perfect example of what happens when one person doesn't do their job. It undoes the good work done by the other 10.

But none of Salah, Schurrle or Willian were left on their own like Hazard was in those situations.

I'm not saying Hazard shouldn't track back (do the dirty work) but we shouldn't have allowed Hazard to get so isolated on that left wing.

[Fernando 6,375]

I don't really know why the big fuss. The kid had an injury that kept him off the pitch for a while. He returned in a tough game against tough opponents. He did his best given our tactics and the support he on the field.He is definitely not back in top form due to the injury, but he wasn't that bad. Don't know why he is being judged hard, especially when he is not playing under normal physical conditions. Could he have done better? Yes, but it is not a big deal. We didn't lose because of him. We lost as a team. Hope he gets better and finds his form as soon as he can for the remaining matches and the world cup.

The side of two extremes.

One to defend everything that Mourinho does, another to criticize everything Mourinho does.

Shouldn't have played, should have played, it's all his fault and yati yati ya.

The truth is, that he is still the best player in our team and we took a gamble. Was not match ready, as his sharpness was not there and it cost us.

[The only place to be 11,313]

But none of Salah, Schurrle or Willian were left on their own like Hazard was in those situations.

I'm not saying Hazard shouldn't track back (do the dirty work) but we shouldn't have allowed Hazard to get so isolated on that left wing.

He wasn't though. Fair enough Ashley gets dragged across but it's still essentially a back 6 with the wingers as auxiliary full-backs. He doesn't have to tackle the guy he simply has to get in Juanfran's eyeline, just like he did for the third goal. Maybe it's a lack of match practice but it's just horrible to watch back because he knows the run is going to be made but he simply doesn't move.

There were obviously other problems in the team that contributed to us losing, but we're not bad at getting one goal and then putting up a brick wall. Unfortunately it is a pretty big mistake to make.

[Weckerz 3,781]

Stop scapegoating, he made a big mistake for that goal, but he's not the reason we lost. Everyone made mistakes yesterday, Mourinho included.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Stop scapegoating, he made a big mistake for that goal, but he's not the reason we lost. Everyone made mistakes yesterday, Mourinho included.

It's not scapegoating. The truth is that Atletico are a better team than us right now, and they're at a different stage in their development. They're peaking, two and a half years into Simeone's tenure whilst we're probably one transfer window away from being a 'Mourinho side'.

That means we can't beat them in a level game, and have to out-manoeuvre them just like we did against Liverpool at the weekend. We won that game because every player did their job. Every player marked their man, tracked the run and was in exactly the right place at almost every time.

What yesterday highlighted is just how much bs Rodgers was spouting when he said it was easy to coach - it isn't. It requires intense focus and no mistakes, and unfortunately Eden dropped a massive clanger. It's unfair to say he cost us the game because there are factors that go back years that contributed to us not winning (signing Torres, not signing midfielders, suspensions etc.) but he was at fault for that goal, and it turned the entire tie on it's head.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

I get what you're saying but the winger HAS to track the fullback. Atelitco' fullbacks always push up, Hazard and Azpi both had to track back with them, for the first goal Hazard did, but he got caught ball watching rather than watching his man. There's no excuse, look at Bale for Madrid in both matches against Bayern, he was basically a LB.

Although saying that i personally thought attacking-wise he was our best player, he was the only one beating his man and trying to at least create something.

I know but it's the same as what i said against TOPTB.

"I'm not saying Hazard shouldn't track back (do the dirty work) but we shouldn't have allowed Hazard to get so isolated on that left wing."

Didn't Bale used to be a left back though ?

To be clear i'm not saying Hazard isn't at fault but it think in the future we should try and avoid getting him into situations like this.

[Special Juan 27,093]

The Belgian Bat light has just gone across the sky.

[Moros 86]

I know. But how do u talk to a person whose only reply to whatever argument u give is "hazard is awesome, he played well!!!!"

Actually to be fair, I don't think he did play that badly. Yes he made a defensive error, but then again what do you expect from a player that's pretty much specialized in attacking? Forwards just don't do well there. An interesting statistic was said on Belgium tv when Eto'o committed the penalty error, the 5 last penalties Chelsea conceded in the CL were caused by forwards. You just don't want them to do too much defending. The first goal was certainly an error, but it's a typical error for an offensive player in that position. You see those often enough. They just don't have the concentration and just aren't that used to man marking. Still it was certainly an error. But to me one that is understandable. Especially when you lack games.

However I do not agree that Hazard played badly at the other side of the game. When you say he was doubled up by defenders you're actually not telling the truth. Most of the time he was ganged up on by three players. Even if got past the first two the third would have positioned himself so that he could recuperate the ball. Also even if he got past three players he still didn't have anyone to pass to. Are you seriously suggesting that he should be able to get past the double layer of defensive players on his own , especially when pressed at the sidelines, with very little else distracting Athletico's players? That's madness. Chelsea never dared to commit to attack, and hence could barely ever attack effectively against a strong, dangerous side who itself is good at defending and counter attacking. Atheletico was both committed to both attacking and defending. We only to the latter. Which means you've got a lot more defending to do. Which means a lot of players who aren't defenders need to do more defending. Which also means the other side feels safe committing to the attacks and tend to be able to get the ball back quickly if a clearance is made,...

Seriously I'm not saying that we per se had the wrong tactics to start out with, but when you need to chase a goal or more against a team who's specialized in counter attacking and perhaps the second best in the world at it (I guess RM showed they are truly the best). Well then you know it's going to be difficult and luck would become a bigger factor than tactics.

Hazard made 5 succesfull dribbles (most of all our players, actually it's one dribble away from being the total amount of dribbles made by all our other players). Ge made a few crosses after reaching the backline on his own. But as we usually only have one player (Torres) in the box , he sadly couldn'y reach anyone. Often when ganged up on by multiple players he got free kicks or corners out of them. Which is if we're being honest the best he could do. Even Messi and Ronaldo wouldn't have pulled off dribbles followed by shots on targets from there. Perhaps they could manage a cross, but then... to whom? Except for that he had a passing accuracy of 87% which is the second highest percentage of the players who played a full game. Terry had the best of these lot, but he only made half as many passes. William who played for 77 minutes had 89%, but he as well had about half the amount of passes. Add 4 crosses, 3 accurate long balls and 2 key passes and we can only conclude that his passing game even against such a defensive team was more than good enough. 5 dribbles and 9 times fouled means his dribbling was as well. Cause let's not forget often when he got past players they took him down, so what could he do? He also managed 2 shorts on target, which is again the most of all our players. And while William was involved with the goal, I wouldn't say he was better at attacking on average. No doubt he is better at putting on pressure, tackling and backtracking. But I doubt these were the qualities we bought Hazard for.

Whoscored.com one of my favourite sites to go to for post match stats, rated hazard as the best CFC player and the third best man on the pitch. Now that might be a little exaggerated. But I think the site who bases everything on statistics rather than emotions probably gives a better view on reality than our disappointed minds.

Was this truly a good game for him? No. But considering the context he did rather well and was far from one of our worse players. Nor was he the only one making defensive errors. And if there's one guy that doesn't need to be criticised to harshly for a defensive error, it's the team's attacking talisman. Who made it possible for us to be at these stages of competitions. Does that mean he shouldn't get any blame. No. But let's not get crazy either.

Or are we letting ourselves get mad because he said we are better at counter attacking and compared us to a CL finalist and favourite? Cause that'd just be plain silly.

Edit: Note I'm not directing this personally to Didierforever. The you was directed to people in general or in other words the reader of this post.

[Weckerz 3,781]

It's not scapegoating. The truth is that Atletico are a better team than us right now, and they're at a different stage in their development. They're peaking, two and a half years into Simeone's tenure whilst we're probably one transfer window away from being a 'Mourinho side'.

That means we can't beat them in a level game, and have to out-manoeuvre them just like we did against Liverpool at the weekend. We won that game because every player did their job. Every player marked their man, tracked the run and was in exactly the right place at almost every time.

What yesterday highlighted is just how much bs Rodgers was spouting when he said it was easy to coach - it isn't. It requires intense focus and no mistakes, and unfortunately Eden dropped a massive clanger. It's unfair to say he cost us the game because there are factors that go back years that contributed to us not winning (signing Torres, not signing midfielders, suspensions etc.) but he was at fault for that goal, and it turned the entire tie on it's head.

I agree with 90% you're saying but laying the blame on Hazard (not you in particular btw) is scapegoating. Admittedly the goal came at a very annoying time but there were 2 more goals scored.

I don't think any individual is to blame for tonight's loss, as you said, Atletico are the superior team and deserve to be in the final.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

I'm glad he made those comments though. Let it be out there just like how mourinho made comments about our strikers and they started scoring, maybe we'll learn how to play in possession now

[didierforever 7,349]

Actually to be fair, I don't think he did play that badly. Yes he made a defensive error, but then again what do you expect from a player that's pretty much specialized in attacking? Forwards just don't do well there. An interesting statistic was said on Belgium tv when Eto'o committed the penalty error, the 5 last penalties Chelsea conceded in the CL were caused by forwards. You just don't want them to do too much defending. The first goal was certainly an error, but it's a typical error for an offensive player in that position. You see those often enough. They just don't have the concentration and just aren't that used to man marking. Still it was certainly an error. But to me one that is understandable. Especially when you lack games.

However I do not agree that Hazard played badly at the other side of the game. When you say he was doubled up by defenders you're actually not telling the truth. Most of the time he was ganged up on by three players. Even if got past the first two the third would have positioned himself so that he could recuperate the ball. Also even if he got past three players he still didn't have anyone to pass to. Are you seriously suggesting that he should be able to get past the double layer of defensive players on his own , especially when pressed at the sidelines, with very little else distracting Athletico's players? That's madness. Chelsea never dared to commit to attack, and hence could barely ever attack effectively against a strong, dangerous side who itself is good at defending and counter attacking. Atheletico was both committed to both attacking and defending. We only to the latter. Which means you've got a lot more defending to do. Which means a lot of players who aren't defenders need to do more defending. Which also means the other side feels safe committing to the attacks and tend to be able to get the ball back quickly if a clearance is made,...

Seriously I'm not saying that we per se had the wrong tactics to start out with, but when you need to chase a goal or more against a team who's specialized in counter attacking and perhaps the second best in the world at it (I guess RM showed they are truly the best). Well then you know it's going to be difficult and luck would become a bigger factor than tactics.

Hazard made 5 succesfull dribbles (most of all our players, actually it's one dribble away from being the total amount of dribbles made by all our other players). Ge made a few crosses after reaching the backline on his own. But as we usually only have one player (Torres) in the box , he sadly couldn'y reach anyone. Often when ganged up on by multiple players he got free kicks or corners out of them. Which is if we're being honest the best he could do. Even Messi and Ronaldo wouldn't have pulled off dribbles followed by shots on targets from there. Perhaps they could manage a cross, but then... to whom? Except for that he had a passing accuracy of 87% which is the second highest percentage of the players who played a full game. Terry had the best of these lot, but he only made half as many passes. William who played for 77 minutes had 89%, but he as well had about half the amount of passes. Add 4 crosses, 3 accurate long balls and 2 key passes and we can only conclude that his passing game even against such a defensive team was more than good enough. 5 dribbles and 9 times fouled means his dribbling was as well. Cause let's not forget often when he got past players they took him down, so what could he do? He also managed 2 shorts on target, which is again the most of all our players. And while William was involved with the goal, I wouldn't say he was better at attacking on average. No doubt he is better at putting on pressure, tackling and backtracking. But I doubt these were the qualities we bought Hazard for.

Whoscored.com one of my favourite sites to go to for post match stats, rated hazard as the best CFC player and the third best man on the pitch. Now that might be a little exaggerated. But I think the site who bases everything on statistics rather than emotions probably gives a better view on reality than our disappointed minds.

Was this truly a good game for him? No. But considering the context he did rather well and was far from one of our worse players. Nor was he the only one making defensive errors. And if there's one guy that doesn't need to be criticised to harshly for a defensive error, it's the team's attacking talisman. Who made it possible for us to be at these stages of competitions. Does that mean he shouldn't get any blame. No. But let's not get crazy either.

Or are we letting ourselves get mad because he said we are better at counter attacking and compared us to a CL finalist and favourite? Cause that'd just be plain silly.

Edit: Note I'm not directing this personally to Didierforever. The you was directed to people in general or in other words the reader of this post.

i am sorry to say this then, that hazard does not "deserve" to start at this big a stage for a team that basically oozes defence out of its every pour. we play in a system that has been set out by our coach and every player of this squad has a role in that "system" and no one, NO ONE is exempt from that. we sold our twice POTY cos he could not adjust to our philosophy.

defence is the hardest thing to do in football. 90 minutes of PERFECT play and all right calls and decision making can be hopelessly spoiled by a moment's laziness. that is what happened yesterday. for the 1st goal, hazard saw the runner, but thought that the ball was going out and simply dint track him, it had NOTHING to do with 1. his injury, 2. his match fitness, 3, his defensive prowess. even if hazard had tracked him back and only tried to shield the ball from him, it would definitely have gone from a goalkick.

as in the attacking half on the match, he was decent. as i told stingray, i may have gone over-board cos of "haranr's" persistence, but that simply does not and will never give exclude him for doing the dirty side of the work for us too.

Was this truly a good game for him? No. But considering the context he did rather well and was far from one of our worse players. Nor was he the only one making defensive errors. And if there's one guy that doesn't need to be criticised to harshly for a defensive error, it's the team's attacking talisman. Who made it possible for us to be at these stages of competitions. Does that mean he shouldn't get any blame. No. But let's not get crazy either.

Or are we letting ourselves get mad because he said we are better at counter attacking and compared us to a CL finalist and favourite? Cause that'd just be plain silly.

how did he do well when he has made the most basic mistake which renders our whole system incompetent. "do not let an opposition player get behind the defence". twice. also, no one is going crazy here. but if u keep saying, hazard is awesome and should have no blame whatsoever, people are going to get over u. he can say what he wants, i ll prefer to judge him on what he does on the field.

[iseah100 5,612]

Funny, without Hazard we wouldn't be here. So blame him all you want, just remember the role he plays on our team.

[Jase 43,479]

I agree with 90% you're saying but laying the blame on Hazard (not you in particular btw) is scapegoating. Admittedly the goal came at a very annoying time but there were 2 more goals scored.

I don't think any individual is to blame for tonight's loss, as you said, Atletico are the superior team and deserve to be in the final.

Inclined to agree but think there's a difference here in actually pinning the blame on Hazard for the defeat and just criticizing the mistakes he made for the 1st and even 3rd goal conceded. From what I've read in the past few pages, the talk has mostly been about the latter with only a few, very few, probably suggesting the former. Yet to see everyone turning this into a scapegoating and blowing it out of proportion by saying things like "Hazard is the reason why we lost!".

[laura90 556]

No one should blame Hazard for yesterday's result.

It's so easy to blame players for individual mistakes without taking into consideration how big their roles are.

Every single of our eleven players has to defend. Every single.

And only Hazard and Willian and maybe Torres needed to attack, with Hazard and Willian doing far more.

So, is it easy for Hazard to carry every our attack against very organized and quality side while concetrating 100% on defefense at the same time?

He had to do enormous job yesterday, he made mistake, it happens when people are under pressure.

We had perfect defense against Liverpool because players could carry out their game plan whatever it was.

We had less than perfect defense yesterday because I suppose we couldn't carry out our game plan as we wanted to. Simeone set up his team to prevent us to play our game and made us pretty uncomfortable. They defended deep, we had possession and attacked and this was the situation where our players didn't feel, let's say comfortable and overly confident.

Our midfield of two defenders and Ramires couldn't do the job either. We missed some players.

They were mistakes prone almost entire game, and reason for that goes beyond individual mistakes, something went wrong in the system.

[Roquila 1,335]

Funny, without Hazard we wouldn't be here. So blame him all you want, just remember the role he plays on our team.

Why's that? Dont get me wrong, i am not saying that Hazard is useless but you cannot say we wouldnt be here without Hazard. He didnt contribute anything extraordinary. If there is one player that deserves the praise for this CL campaign then it's Schurrle.