Hazard can go, for me.
He quite literally has contributed next to nothing for the team this season. His attitude stinks - summed up by his decision to substitute himself in two matches without even waiting for the expertise of medics and doctors. He shows zero fight and commitment and I would much rather see someone like Pedro, who can be quite enigmatic and offer nothing for much of the game but then suddenly spark into life, play instead of Hazard. He is the most undeserving recipient of the Player of the Year award I can remember, probably since 2009 when Ryan Giggs was given it out of sentiment after one of the worst Premier League seasons of all-time, where not one individual player stood out. Let's be fair, he had several good spells last season, but in terms of consistency, the fact he beat Terry, Azpilicueta and Matic, who were all utterly outstanding from start to finish, to that accolade was an absolute piss-take. Hazard had the opposite season to Costa - he started meekly (which we didn't notice because of the outstanding performances of Cesc, Costa, etc.), and then when players like Diego and Cesc and Oscar lost form after Christmas, because he suddenly turned into our main source of goals, people, for some reason, identified him as the man who fired us to the title. He hasn't had one consistent season for us - in fact, I'd say his debut season was probably his most consistent and you knew you'd get some Robben-esque excitement from him. Now he is a predictable dribble-merchant with little end product and his confidence is absolutely shot. Time to get rid, I think.
If he goes, it'll be for mega money that we can reinvest elsewhere. He has proven to be a worthwhile short-term investment but it has always been clear that Chelsea would be a stepping stone on towards a bigger club, i.e. Real Madrid. Let him go and play for his "idol" and you'll more clearly be able to see exactly where in the world's pegging order he is. He'd struggle to get into that Real side. Who, out of Benzema, Ronaldo and Bale, is he going to displace? I just hope Madrid are stupid enough to offer us Bale or James in exchange, or that we use the money to bring in someone like Griezmann, Reus, or even Yevhen Konoplyanka, who would be a brilliant acquisition.
I'll get a lot of hate for this post, but I can deal with that. It's my opinion. He's been fantastic for three years and I thoroughly appreciate all he did for helping us win the Europa League, League Cup, and Premier League in his time here. But this season has demonstrated to me that he has little interest in playing for this club, and there is no point in keeping a player against his own interests. If he wants to move, then so be it. If he wants to stay, he needs to severely buck his ideas. We play better without him at the minute. That's how poor he's been. People are willing to slag off Ivanovic (who ironically has been a solid 6 or 7 out of 10 in every game he's play since Guus Hiddink came back) despite what he's helped the club achieve (which is a helluva lot more than Hazard has helped contribute towards), yet people give Eden the benefit of the doubt, which is grossly unfair. Past accomplishments shouldn't even come into it. We shouldn't be having to look into bringing back heroes like Drogba to incentivise him to stay. I don't buy the "Hazard struggles under the Mourinho system" bollocks, either. He's given far more freedom on his flank (the reason Azpi plays LB is because he is far better defensively than any other full-back we have or have had since Mourinho's return) than any other player in the squad. You aren't allowed the freedom in the Premier League that Barcelona can offer Messi, Neymar, and Suarez. The freak anomalies of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs aside, almost every wideman at every big club in England has had to do their defensive responsibilities over the years. The best example I can think of is Freddie Ljungberg, who was an absolute work-horse, as was Pires, as part of Wenger's policy of "defending from the front". You don't see Willian complain about it, do you? Similarly, you don't see a limitation to Willian's attacking play just because he effectively has to play as a right-back. Wide midfield is the most taxing position in the game and if Hazard can't hack the physicality, he needs to reinvent himself either as a number 10 (where he struggles to impose himself on the opposition) or as a second striker, but, as we've seen, his lack of confidence in his shooting abilities makes him far, far, far less effective in the final third than players like Bale or even de Bruyne.
Either he sorts his shit out, or we flog him for £65 million. For me, the second option is the more appealing because I don't think he has the stomach to be a truly world-class player. I'd love for him to prove me wrong, but I've yet to be convinced by the boy, and he's been here for four years now. Conversely, players like Willian have completely won me over despite being here for only half the time. That's because Willian isn't afraid to get his hands dirty when our back's against the ropes. Hazard doesn't have the fight nor the stomach, and that's why he is completely outshone at the highest level (UCL and international) by his team-mates.
