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Eden Hazard


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What game was that cause I saw Arda Turan tracking back kicking the piss out of Hazard and Koke tracking back on Willian.. Listen I get it there was a lot of knee jerk reactions after the game about Hazard and I get why it seems easiest to just write off what happened in the match tactically but face it Atlético wide players did their job the whole match the only time we got loose on the flank was for the goal we scored.. And for the record I didn't say modern football asks most creative player to defend overlap I said modern football asks players to play two ways... When a player becomes bigger then the team that's when we have an issue... And if you watched that match again you would see what I was talking about but I doubt that you will

Tracking back 10 yards into their own box? Or just tracking back outside of it?

There's a huge difference between the two. Again, if you read my post above your initial one you'll see that I'm not saying Hazard should not track back - just how far he tracked back is what I'm disputing. As I said before, I'm not advocating that he shouldn't track back but making a player like Hazard track back 10 yards into his own box is nonsensical. The Atletico wide players did their job well because they were used well and they had a more cohesive system than ours. Hazard wasn't, and our system wasn't cohesive enough. Schurrle would've been the much better option for the role Hazard played in that game. Yes, modern football requires more from both ends of the pitch, I completely agree with you on that aspect but you have to be smart with it, not that extreme. I've watched the game 3 times since, so I know what I saw.

I'm not even discussing him being bigger than the club either - I'm merely stating that it was tactically wrong to put Hazard in such a role.

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He obviously did try to do what Jose asked of him though - only he made mistakes and unfortunately those led to goals. If Jose wanted his winger to track back like that he should've started Schurrle there who's perfect in situations like that. As you said, it isn't anywhere near one of Eden's strengths so it was the wrong gamble from Mourinho - if he was going to play Eden he should've asked him to stay forward more and maybe that would've forced Juanfran to stay deeper because of the counter attack - that is the best way to get them to stop overlapping when you have an attacking talent as impressive as Hazard.

And yeah, obviously Hazard isn't bigger than the club but personally I'm just ignoring those comments.

Agreed, and Jose needs to take some criticism and responsibility too. I think losing away to stoke and Newcastle earlier in the season pushed Jose into taking a much more conservative approach and building from the back which on the large has served us well this season. With a couple of additions, namely a striker and somebody deeper in midfield who can play we will hopefully play more expressive L, front foot football next season with a much more confident defence after this season's performances. This will hopefully get more out of hazard and willian.

My comments haven't been to knock hazard because he has worked hard on.his defensive game, it's knocking the people on here who cannot accept any bad word or criticism for him. Just as ridiculous are the people who say stupid things like sell him!

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Tracking back 10 yards into their own box? Or just tracking back outside of it?

There's a huge difference between the two. Again, if you read my post above your initial one you'll see that I'm not saying Hazard should not track back - just how far he tracked back is what I'm disputing. As I said before, I'm not advocating that he shouldn't track back but making a player like Hazard track back 10 yards into his own box is nonsensical. The Atletico wide players did their job well because they were used well and they had a more cohesive system than ours. Hazard wasn't, and our system wasn't cohesive enough. Schurrle would've been the much better option for the role Hazard played in that game. Yes, modern football requires more from both ends of the pitch, I completely agree with you on that aspect but you have to be smart with it, not that extreme. I've watched the game 3 times since, so I know what I saw.

I'm not even discussing him being bigger than the club either - I'm merely stating that it was tactically wrong to put Hazard in such a role.

and that's a fair assessment but maybe I'm being overly sensitive as a defender having an attacking player who doesn't follow his assignment was always my biggest pet peeve.. But going back to the root of the manager asks you to complete a task you gotta make sure you do this.. Not saying that the instructions weren't flawed to begin with cause like you had said above having him further up the pitch may have kept juanfran back but as I have been watching Atlético more recently because of Costa and Thibault their fullback get forward to pin you back and if you don't follow them they will hurt you like was done on Wednesday.. It was a lose-lose situation for Eden really probably came up against the wrong opponents at the wrong time.. Matic in that game as the left midfield shield would have made a world of difference to how Eden would have lined up on the defensive side of the ball
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Some people are not getting it... No one is saying that Hazard shouldn't track back and no one is saying that he wasn't at fault for the goals (it wasn't just him though there were a lot of players at fault for both goals, just bad goals to concede as a team in general), but asking your winger to track the run all the way into their own box is ridiculous.

It's not ridiculous in the slightest, especially a few minutes before half-time when the emphasis has to be on maintaining a lead going into the break. Col got caught out of position tracking a run, but JT actually shifted along the line because in a TEAM you cover one another. Hazard knew Juanfran was his man because he looks at him at least twice. He fucked up and it cost us a goal. That doesn't mean the loss was his fault but people who are trying to excuse him don't know the first fucking thing about sport in my opinion.

There's a huge difference between the two. Again, if you read my post above your initial one you'll see that I'm not saying Hazard should not track back - just how far he tracked back is what I'm disputing.

Oh, so he should track players runs but only up to about 20 yards from goal....and then stop?? Juanfran was his man. He should've tracked the run as far as he needed to. JT even points to him and tells Eden to watch him.

But maybe JT is wrong about this.

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It's not ridiculous in the slightest, especially a few minutes before half-time when the emphasis has to be on maintaining a lead going into the break. Col got caught out of position tracking a run, but JT actually shifted along the line because in a TEAM you cover one another. Hazard knew Juanfran was his man because he looks at him at least twice. He fucked up and it cost us a goal. That doesn't mean the loss was his fault but people who are trying to excuse him don't know the first fucking thing about sport in my opinion.

If you read what I said I'm not saying he did not make mistakes.

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If you read what I said I'm not saying he did not make mistakes.

No, you're saying that a player like Hazard shouldn't be asked to track runs into the box from a full-back in the 44th minute of a second-leg when we're looking to go into the half-time break with a lead.

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No, you're saying that a player like Hazard shouldn't be asked to track runs into the box from a full-back in the 44th minute of a second-leg when we're looking to go into the half-time break with a lead.

Yes, exactly that, because Hazard isn't a natural defender and he's bound to make a mistake that way, especially when he isn't 100% sharp. I'd much rather Cole stay a little bit wider with eyes on the left channel, and stay cautious of the overlap (it isn't something new Atletico have implemented they've been doing it all season) and one of the midfield men picking up the winger that has drifted inside.

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Yes, exactly that, because Hazard isn't a natural defender and he's bound to make a mistake that way, especially when he isn't 100% sharp. I'd much rather Cole stay a little bit wider with eyes on the left channel, and stay cautious of the overlap (it isn't something new Atletico have implemented they've been doing it all season) and one of the midfield men picking up the winger that has drifted inside.

Schurrle, Salah and Willian aren't natural defenders either. They aren't being asked to stand in the six yard box and clear crosses for 90 minutes, just to track runs from full-backs like he has done many times this season.

He fucked up. That doesn't mean he's a bad player and it doesn't require people to leap to his defence for the most bizarre of reasons, but when you're assessing why we conceded then it's an obvious error. Atletico did very well to spread the play and move us around, but you simply can't make mistakes at the top level like he did and not expect to be punished.

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Schurrle, Salah and Willian aren't natural defenders either. They aren't being asked to stand in the six yard box and clear crosses for 90 minutes, just to track runs from full-backs like he has done many times this season.

I'll only speak about Schurrle because he's the only one that could've replaced Hazard on Wednesday - he's far more adept at playing in the role that Hazard was asked to simply because he's played in a similar system and role for years at Leverkussen. Hazard on the other hand has played as a creator for his whole life, always in the final third of the pitch, never really had much to do defensively. He's done very well in general this season at defending and holding the correct shape but when he isn't 100% sharp it's obvious he'll make mistakes like that because that isn't what he's done regularly, it doesn't come naturally to him. That's what I'm trying to convey.

He fucked up. That doesn't mean he's a bad player and it doesn't require people to leap to his defence for the most bizarre of reasons, but when you're assessing why we conceded then it's an obvious error. Atletico did very well to spread the play and move us around, but you simply can't make mistakes at the top level like he did and not expect to be punished.

I'll say it again... He did make the mistakes, I'm not denying that at all. I'm not disputing any of the above you've said... All I'm saying is that it was bound to happen given the scenario and that a player that has spent much of career not really worrying about defending, has been out for a while, obviously not 100% sharp will make mistakes like that in the 18 yard box.
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I'll only speak about Schurrle because he's the only one that could've replaced Hazard on Wednesday - he's far more adept at playing in the role that Hazard was asked to simply because he's played in a similar system and role for years at Leverkussen. Hazard on the other hand has played as a creator for his whole life, always in the final third of the pitch, never really had much to do defensively. He's done very well in general this season at defending and holding the correct shape but when he isn't 100% sharp it's obvious he'll make mistakes like that because that isn't what he's done regularly, it doesn't come naturally to him. That's what I'm trying to convey.

Under Benitez he improved dramatically when it came to defensive positioning. I think people are underestimating his ability to do a job defensively, or simply rewriting history to cover his arse.

He made a mistake. People make mistakes, especially when they're young. I don't think anyone is saying he should be sacked or flogged for it, but simply that it should be acknowledged. I guarantee the coaching staff will make it very clear to him, because that's how people learn from mistakes.

I'll say it again... He did make the mistakes, I'm not denying that at all. I'm not disputing any of the above you've said... All I'm saying is that it was bound to happen given the scenario and that a player that has spent much of career not really worrying about defending, has been out for a while, obviously not 100% sharp will make mistakes like that in the 18 yard box.

And I disagree that it was bound to happen - if it was bound to happen then he wouldn't have been trusted in that position. It was a one-off mistake, I don't think he's a brainfart machine like David Luiz.

I don't really think a lack of match-sharpness is the cause either. He knows exactly where his man here but he simply doesn't track it for some reason.

The discussion about it makes it seem like a far bigger deal that it is. It was a mistake so why people feel the need to defend it or the fact he was put in that position is bizarre to me.

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Schurrle, Salah and Willian aren't natural defenders either. They aren't being asked to stand in the six yard box and clear crosses for 90 minutes, just to track runs from full-backs like he has done many times this season.

He fucked up. That doesn't mean he's a bad player and it doesn't require people to leap to his defence for the most bizarre of reasons, but when you're assessing why we conceded then it's an obvious error. Atletico did very well to spread the play and move us around, but you simply can't make mistakes at the top level like he did and not expect to be punished.

What you're saying is true but it's also true that the fact Hazard was there ( in his own box ) is circumstantial and mistakes are bound to happen in case like that. Mourinho put him in this role knowing it isn't its forte. Was hazard at fault ? Yes, no doubt about that. Could he have done better ? Yes, no doubt about that either. Was he the man for this kind of situation ? No.

In the end Hazard was nothing more than a part of the gear that led to the goal.

What I think it's that Hazard is misued right now. A player like Hazard who has the potential to be a worldbeater should be trained and played in a way that would bring his skills set to their paroxysm it would be way more efficient for him and for Chelsea than to try to make him an all round player ( at least I'm under the impression that's the way it is right now ).

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the french press is doing everything they can to get their "chou chou" back it seems

if they ever pull it off, i bet the day he signs a contract will be a national holiday

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Pointing out a player's mistakes/faults/weaknesses doesn't make you any less of a fan. Surely you should know that given how you've been criticising Oscar recently!

Best to ignore that fella. Yes, we lost a big game and it was disappointing but he's making it out as though someone just passed away and we shouldn't make any criticism, which is not even the case!

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