Eden Hazard

[SoulTaker 46]

It's been brough up quite a few times already by many including me but have you ever seen a player like Hazard who not only in club but also in NT has next to zero support from the FB ? I'll repeat it once again but if people seriously expect someone to get past defenders again and again when that defender KNOWS he only had this option or back pass the ball then something is wrong with your way of thinking.

When Hazard will have the same support and creativity around him than Ronaldo/Bale or Messi has, then you'll be able to compare them.

On another note, once again he has proven how deadly he's on counterattack, could already have gotten 3 assist in this WC just from counter.... How many more goal scoring chance does he need to create from counterattack to consider leaving him more often higher on the pitch when not in possession ? He's presence near the midfield for a posible counterattack will always bring more to a team than his presence in defense ( minus a few exceptions ).

[Daniel1980 1,425]

3- 4 years ago some people were sure Ganso would be Brazil #10 in 2014 WC. To imagine Ganso playing for Brazil today is a laughable idea. I'm not comparing Ganso and Hazard, but in 2018 Hazard can be a football superstar, Ballon D'or Winner, or can be the same player he is today. I'm still waiting for a great performance in UCL decisive match, before I can't even mention his name alongside Messi and Ronaldo.

Yes, I still remember the insane hype around Ganso. It seems ridiculous now, but back then, so many people and pundits were sure he'd be the next big thing. It shows that football is very fickle and unpredictable. Hazard has the talent and potential to be a true superstar, but he isn't yet and might never become one unless he seriously improves his consistency. Comparing him to the likes of Messi and Ronaldo is premature. Talent isn't everything. There have been many talented players who never quite realized their potential.

But it's worth remembering that the likes of Messi and Ronaldo have other amazing creative players around them. It helps. It makes everything easier. Having Fabregas in the team will take some pressure off Eden on the creative front and should only improve his stats, considering Cesc's talent for providing the final ball.

[Barbara 15,149]

This is a classic example of being overly critical of our own and overrating or overhyping other players. This is normal. If Hazard was a Man Utd player, the wankfest on here would have been crazy. And that's not a criticism, Barbara. I expect a surgeon to know more about the human anatomy than a geologist for example.

(1) You mention the Belgium matches, okay, let's talk about the Belgium gane and Hazard "fading". Let's take the Russia game for example. It's very common for us casual fans to overstate the importance of a player's individual efforts and understate the team effort. Will James look as good as he does if Colombia was playing poorly, no. Belgium have not been playing well. They have been playing, slow, ponderous, predictable football and have had the unfortunate ignominy of playing two defensive minded teams (at least in the games that Hazard started). This is obviously going to have a negative effect on individual performances, particularly of the forwards. Even more so for Hazard as he got double-marked on that left wing in both games vs Russia and Algeria. He is the only player on the Belgian team that gets this treatment. This is a big problem for him because as been discussed a 1000 times, Vetorghnen (sp?)/ Vermalean are CB's and simply do not support the winger in attack, so Hazard is left in a situation were he has to beat two players OR receives the ball with his back to goal and is closed down quickly. Back to ^^^^^^^ in a moment.

(a) It was only in when Algeria came out to play a little and lost the ball in transition that Hazard had an opportunity to launch a counter and the result was a goal for Mertens.

The Russia game was similar. The first half, stranded on the left side, facing the problems I discussed in (1). It was late in the 2nd half, when Wilmots became less defensive minded and focused on "shape" did he give Hazard a free role and he wrecked havoc on Russia's backline in a 10 minute cameo. He started drifting in to the centre where he was able to influence the game more.

What happens next, Belgium win the ball in transition, Origi lays it to Hazard and he blows by a Russian defender, cutting it back on his "weaker" foot for Origi. Goal for Origi.

So, two key actions when his team are not playing well, when the football is slow and predictable, in searing heat (both those games played at midday), when his coach is tactically inept, he still provides to match-winning moments. Very similar to Messi vs Iran and Bosnia. I dunno about you guys, but that is the mark of a world class player.

(2) It's up to Wilmots to solve the problems in (1), that even we arm-chair experts and analysts can see. Give Hazard a free role. You play with 5 centre-halves for fuck's sake. If not, start him as a 10 where he has more breathing space. Also, stop playing Dembele all the time cos he's been shit for a year or so and start Origi ahead of Lukaku because the USA are coming to defend deep, frustrate and park the bus. It's a shame Vanden Borre got injured because he looks like the only decent fullback in the Belgian team (why didn't he start in 1st two games?)

(3) You said Hazard is "lazy", no he's not. Check the facts. He covers an insane amount of kilometres per game for a winger. People also accused Messi of being lazy, calling him Walkessi and all that silliness. None of them highlighted how Barca's system was not as fluid as before. Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets triumvirate was not as good as before. Pressing game was not as good as before. Pep, the guy responsible for a fair share of the success of that GREAT Barcelona was no longer there. Then comes the "Messi is just walking". . "He's not calling for the ball" etc, without mentioning all the other subtleties. It's the same with Hazard. People, like you (no offense) criticize him for things that are beyond his control instead of looking at the broader picture.

Then the Bale thing is wrong. This is what annoys me. Bale has been known to disappear from games at his time with Tottenham and Madrid. Watch him, he does those exact same things you say Hazard does. Bale does not demand the ball. He is quiet on the pitch. What you did there is what I call overrating the opposition player and underrating our own. I even read someone here put Bale in the same sentence as Messi and Ronaldo. Many players disappear from games for various reasons, Messi included.

You can't deny that Hazard has not suffered from this problem this past season because he's under the best tactician in the world, Mourinho. Almost everything good about our attacking play came through Hazard. Maybe when we have a better team than the average one we saw last season, we can see Hazard in a more fluid system.

It's amazing how many conclusions you come to from a bunch of games. Surely, most of what you said doesn't hold true for the Hazard that we all saw dazzle for Chelsea this past season, so I'm assuming it's mostly based on the World Cup.

All the names thrown around. Reus, Bale, Neymar, Robben, Sanchez Ribery. I won't take any of these players ahead of Hazard. I don't consider any of these players to be better than Hazard, neither do I consider them to have his talent. The thing this guy is able to do with a football is beyond scary. The only winger I put above him is Ronaldo and that guy is not even a winger anymore. The only player I'll swap him for is Messi. And I say this as a football fan, not a Chelsea one.

haven't seen this until now.

I praised Eden and compared him to Messi's efficiency in this WC by deciding matches in a few minutes, so your first whole point hasn't been ignored by me. Most of my ideas regarding Hazard come from me watching him at Chelsea, not Belgium, although Belgium is the NT I've watched more matches from the last couple of years. So you telling me the obvious about how he solved the matches for Belgium is nothing new and nothing I haven't said myself in the post you quoted and in the match threads and Belgium NT during the WC.

If we're are going to wait until teams don't have 2 players marking Hazard for him to solve matches for us, we better wait the end of the season, when most teams are tired and player won't have much gas to double on him 90 minutes. How many players do you think mark the Robben, Ribery, Bale, Suarez (and I'm making a point to keep Messi and Ronaldo out of the conversation, as they're a league of their own and I can't compare Eden to them). I'm quite aware Eden is developing, is growing, but I don't suck him up, ignoring all his limitations, pretending he's the best thing since sliced bread. I call the areas I see he needs improvement and putting more effort is one of them. I said with all words I didn't call him lazy, so I didn't even bother to read a word further in that section of your post. If you can't say the difference between passive and lazy, find a dictionary.

The difference between Bale and Hazard now - other than one being older and therefore being further in his development curve is that while both disappear in many matches as you said, Bale was decisive in many important matches for Madrid - especially the ones Ronaldo himself disappeared. That's not my opinion, those are facts (about Bale) and Henrique mentioned some of those matches in his post. Now where was Hazard in the UCL SF? Allow me to be harsh, but he was allowing his man to get passed him as if he didn't care. Where was him against those small sides we couldn't break? Lacking as much interest and looking as uninspired as many of the other players (nearly all players, all in the attack, definitely). I have no problem calling those young players flaws, the areas they need to improve because they're suppose to mature. But I won't close my eyes and pretend they're astonishing just because they play for us.

Thanks for stating the obvious - about the Belgium matches - something I did myself in another post. I don't expect you to retract from your assumption that I called him lazy when I said I didn't and better luck next time to talk about Bale. But hey, at least it's popular

[The only place to be 11,313]

And is it just me or are Chelsea fans in particular overly critical of their players? We've become like Barcelona fans.

I think you're placing far too much stock in the internet fans and the bs spouted on Twitter. Even on here most people are fair-minded about our players so I don't know where you get off comparing Chelsea supporters to Barcelona supporters.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

02

haven't seen this until now.

02

I praised Eden and compared him to Messi's efficiency in this WC by deciding matches in a few minutes, so your first whole point hasn't been ignored by me. Most of my ideas regarding Hazard come from me watching him at Chelsea, not Belgium, although Belgium is the NT I've watched more matches from the last couple of years. So you telling me the obvious about how he solved the matches for Belgium is nothing new and nothing I haven't said myself in the post you quoted and in the match threads and Belgium NT during the WC.

If we're are going to wait until teams don't have 2 players marking Hazard for him to solve matches for us, we better wait the end of the season, when most teams are tired and player won't have much gas to double on him 90 minutes. How many players do you think mark the Robben, Ribery, Bale, Suarez (and I'm making a point to keep Messi and Ronaldo out of the conversation, as they're a league of their own and I can't compare Eden to them). I'm quite aware Eden is developing, is growing, but I don't suck him up, ignoring all his limitations, pretending he's the best thing since sliced bread. I call the areas I see he needs improvement and putting more effort is one of them. I said with all words I didn't call him lazy, so I didn't even bother to read a word further in that section of your post. If you can't say the difference between passive and lazy, find a dictionary.

02

The difference between Bale and Hazard now - other than one being older and therefore being further in his development curve is that while both disappear in many matches as you said, Bale was decisive in many important matches for Madrid - especially the ones Ronaldo himself disappeared. That's not my opinion, those are facts (about Bale) and Henrique mentioned some of those matches in his post. Now where was Hazard in the UCL SF? Allow me to be harsh, but he was allowing his man to get passed him as if he didn't care. Where was him against those small sides we couldn't break? Lacking as much interest and looking as uninspired as many of the other players (nearly all players, all in the attack, definitely). I have no problem calling those young players flaws, the areas they need to improve because they're suppose to mature. But I won't close my eyes and pretend they're astonishing just because they play for us.

02

Thanks for stating the obvious - about the Belgium matches - something I did myself in another post. I don't expect you to retract from your assumption that I called him lazy when I said I didn't and better luck next time to talk about Bale. But hey, at least it's popular

I think he's misunderstanding what u said.

We all love hazard, but we are allowed to express our opinions on his positives and weaknesses.

Like mourinho said, the people with more talent to reach higher levels will get more criticism because we know they can do more than other players. If we criticize him it doesn't mean we hate him, it means we care for his development and hopes he reaches higher heights as fast as possible.

Hazard isn't lazy, he is just different from our typical wingers. He isn't direct like schurrle, u'll never see hazard make runs in goal scoring positions like schurrle did for Germany yesterday. One of the most important attributes of a winger is the ability to run into space, and this is not a strong point for hazard. He is a creator more than the scorer, he'll rather come to collect the ball instead of run. He should be having the most touches of the ball in the team with that attribute of his. That's what will suit him IMO, its bad for a player with his extraordinary talent to have 10-15mins spells without touching the ball because of being triple marked and secluded away from teammate's support in the wings(this won't happen in the centre).

He is one of the best in the world at keeping the ball in tight spaces, and making turns, very similar to iniesta in play style in terms of strengths and weaknesses baring speed. All these attributes point to a fantastic AM to me. But that's just my opinion.

[Toli 977]

poor 1st half from him. and another time poor attitude from him. is barely running aroudn, just jogging and seems without any motivation whatsoever. dont know what is going on with him in this WC...

[Mustafa 885]

Should have done better when he got into good positions in the 1st half... Hasn't been bad. But we all know he can do much better!

I expect better from him in the 2nd half

[Korea 734]

He had good moments in the game, but the 20 year old american is attacking him regardless because Hazard doesnt defend.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,733]

He had good moments in the game, but the 20 year old american is attacking him regardless because Hazard doesnt defend.

You think he'd have learned after the heartbreak against Atletico, unless Wilmots doesnt want him to.

[Hamilton 2,118]

Imo he was decent 1st half, at the beginning we didn't use him, more and more he came in to the game, but the USA keeping everything closed very well when they don't have the ball.

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

poor 1st half from him. and another time poor attitude from him. is barely running aroudn, just jogging and seems without any motivation whatsoever. dont know what is going on with him in this WC...

Maybe just being clever, it's very important to keep control of the stamina in this World Cup.

[Mustafa 885]

Extra Time....

Still think he'll do the business for his country

[Joelasticot 111]

He's being quite good at linking up the play in the centre of midfield.

[Roquila 1,335]

Sorry but he was bad the whole WC.

[Bacika 188]

Any stats fron.tonight, how.many km did.he run?

[Sheva. 5,373]

Dp.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Many of the chances he had the pass before the pass. Better performance than the first 2 games.

[Styles 9,790]

Most of his best work came through the middle. Brilliant pass in the first half that Vertongen wasted and he started off some decent moves.

6.5-7'ish out of 10 performance.