Hkibou

I saw the game today, Chelsea played but it pained me to see Hazard like this. He was shite So shy, unwilling to display all of his abilities, i don't understand why. He is reluctant to dribble whereas in Lille he managed most dribbles than anyone else in the league. He tries to be a bit too collective, in order to not get too much responsabilities. That doesn't fit to his character at all, at Lille he was the man, he carried the team and he loved it. Maybe he's tired in that case RDM should put him at rest soon. Maybe it's a lack of confidence, and then it won't get better without at least trying to make the difference by himself. He has the abilities to create so much danger, to eliminate on his own one or two defendes before releasing the ball...

What was the score then ? Because with his former team, and former coach, it was like Barcelona : possession is key. Counter attacks are good but only if you're sure it will end at least in the surface, so that you can press right back high in the pitch if you lose the ball. If one doesn't see a sure way to be dangerous quickly, no need to risk losing the ball. Might as well take our time, controlling the game and be dangerous another way. Especially if we're leading. So it might also be a bit cultural. It's how he's been learnt to play, and maybe it benefits your team. Not rushing things isn't always the bad option in football.

Lol you think defenders just understood a month ago he needs special care ? Don't forget he's terrorized Ligue 1 defenses the last four years. Every game he was marked by 2 to 4 defenders depending on the other side... That's why players like Gervinho could shine around him, with all the space he created. He realised long ago it will always be that way. Didn't stop him from being 2nd best scorer and best passer of Ligue 1 though.

Be honest with me. What can LOSC fans expect from Salomon Kalou in return (supposed to fill the void left by Eden ) ? Up until now he's been mostly injured... And on the pitch he displayed hints of talent, but too irregularly.

A completely useless but reassuring stat about Eden Hazard : in his career with Lille or Chelsea, once he took the first place of the league, he never lost it. According to this stat you will be champions and never leave the top of the league until then. Enjoy

By the way, if you want to see one of the "touched by god" matches all the long time followers of Eden are talking about, you should try to find his Ligue 1 game LOSC - Monaco (2 - 1) in November 2010. I recall it as one of his most impressive game, technically. Impossible to find a resume focusing on his match though. All i have are the highlights and goals (2 Hazard's assists), but it doesnt fully transpire his genius during these 90 min. Starts at 2min6 : http://www.losc.fr/losc-tv/videos/j14-losc-monaco-fc-2-1-2010/11

I've read the last few pages, it's quite fun because you're all praising his talent (and you should) but you haven't really seen it yet. You're even more lucky than you think You're totally right when you say he's shy at the moment, his true meaning on the pitch is to lead the team, to lead the offensive. Frankly up until now it's still average/low Hazard compared to last season in Lille. At the moment he's still adapting to the new league and partners. When he'll feel more in confidence, you will see I envy you

European Supercup : Chelsea - Atletico Madrid PL 6th : Arsenal - Chelsea PL 8th : Tottenham - Chelsea PL 9th : Chelsea - United PL 11th : Chelsea - Liverpool PL 13th : Chelsea - City By that time you'll know why you made a bargain

All true. But it seemed on the pitch he began to work on the second point a few months ago, probably bracing himself to the roughness of the PL. Anyway, i hope your referees tend to protect players like him, because he's gonna get some bad hits this season. Not that he wasn't already, but still ... Something to be optimistic though : since his debut in pro he had only one injury i can remember, and it was 3/4 days for sthg in the foot. He played the game that followed...

One of the most memorable game of Eden Hazard in Lille to me, was one where he hadn't been decisive, statistically speaking. That is the beauty of the playmaker role : one can uplift the whole team and be at the stem of the victory just by playing simple and just, all the time

The back heel is even more genius than that, given that Torres changes the course of his run whil Hazard is focusing on the ball

Hazard is a good finisher. He scored 20 goals last season for Lille, that's something. Plus, in Lille tactics attacking players were switching position all the time, so he played a lot as a striker during games, even if he started'em as a winger or playmaker. He can handle well being alone up front, even if his lack of aerial skills is an issue in that position. As for the shooting, indeed, it's not a "natural" skill of his. But the nice thing with Hazard is when he decides to improve sthg in his game, he learns so fast. 2010/11 season he was quite poor at long shots, the year later he decided to work on that, especially the "tomahawk" shot like ronaldo, which is the most difficult to master. And yet he's still far from Ronaldo or Hulk, his improvements on that matter were stunning, as if we could see every week he had progressed a bit more. And don't forget he's only 21... Still a lot of time to get better !

I can translate it later if you want

Oh he can shoot all right ! Even with his left foot, 35m away from the goal ... You of all people should know :dance: A little reminder : Otherwise, i wanted to mention smthg that surprised me. Just after the shock between Luiz and Ba at the end of the game, Hazard launch the couter attack (aborted by Luiz's head injury) with a beatiful header toward ramires. Don't be fooled guys, he's shite in the air, it was a lucky shot and won't happen again ^^

If it's anything like his LOSC seasons, it will be between 15 jan / 15 feb approximately. But in France there is a break during christmas holidays, so it may change his routine ...

If he's not PL man of the month, then i don't know who will !

Only saw the second half ... Not very exciting, as Eden Hazard seemed tired and not too keen on keeping his usually amazing work rate. I guess his first half was pretty decent though ? I've got one question btw : why the fuck Luiz and Meireles shooting the free kicks ??? Hazard would've done so much better (especially Luiz's one, his favorite position to score a free kick)

The two PL top scorers at the moment are where they are entirely thanks to Hazard

Hello again, i just wanted to show you concrete examples of what i was saying yesterday. I couldn't put a word on it, but now i've thought about it and saw the focus vids on Hazard against reading and wigan, i know exactly what crucial quality of his you haven't seen yet : his ability to play in one touch, by deviating the ball and taking every defenders by surprise. Because for using these skills, he must know really, really well his partners ... For example, in this vid : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdmWgc9ZUSE The action at 08:40, he would not have given it to Mata if playing for the LOSC. He would have made a one touch deviation to pass it in the timing of the run of Lampard (i think it's him).

And it never occured to you that if there was such a hype around the lad, it's because those who actually knew him thought he was ballon d'or material ? Damn, the guy won two ligue 1 best players awards in a row ... And because you saw five games (btw, i'd like to know which one) that didn't convince you, then he's less good than every one else say ? Are Yyou really that narcissical that you think your first based opinion is more accurate than everyone else's, including those who really know what they're talking about ? If so I'm sorry for you dude :/

Lol do you realize you told me to "know what the fuck i'm talking about", whereas the few lines before you just explained me you based your opinion about Hazard on bits of 5 Lille matches and Youtube vids ? Get your ideas straight, you're not thinking coherently... As for talking about what we know, if we must speak about the Belgian's level, then i'm think i'm pretty much the only one who's allowed to talk. Everybody else shut the hell up Once you're gonna have to deal with the fact that in football, you cannot judge players until you saw them play at least a whole season ...

It's pretty easy to say that after you have been judging him without knowing the player. Judging Hazard with only his pre season mathec was a big mistake, and you'd have known if you had made some preliminary researches about the lad, that he only plays his best in "real" matches. As for thinking that he lacked techical abilities ... i must say i don't know how you can say that : with his pace, it's his most blatant quality !! Albeit it's more understandable if you base your opinion on one failed backheel As for your question ; "who is to say Hazard will go on a big dip on form in the next few weeks?" , i daresay that i am one of those who can say, with empirical bases, that you're up for plenty more of Hazard's talent to shine.

To quote the famous add : "Well, what did you expect ?" He's 21, twice best Ligue youngster, followed by two best player awards, he equalized the record of Ligue 1 assist last season while scoring 20 goals on top of that. What you saw today was a good Hazard, but who's only discovering a new league, a new team, and not at the top of his physical form yet. I'd say that on the 55-60 games he plays each season since 2008 at Lille, 10 to 15% are bad/useless, 40% are at the level he had tonight, 40% are a bit better ... And well, the last 10% .. It's those 5-6 games per year where he's touched by god. And then, it's just magical to watch.You will see very soon You can even hope he becomes more and more constant as he grows up. Added to that all the decisive fouls (and penaltys) he will provoke this season, you now understand why most of LOSC fans think we've been fucked by this 40m bid...

As i said above, it was average Hazard you saw today. I even noticed some unnatural choices for him, when he could have done better, which shows he still has to adapt to his new team mates yet. At one time for exemple, he clearly stopped his move and turn back waiting for one of a classic run of Debuchy, our LR, but Ivanovic was still in defense. he's far from his top form. Trust me, i've seen many better games of Eden Hazard in my career as a LOSC supporter

Hello, i'm a LOSC fan, i posted a while back on the eden hazard transfer thread. I see that it didn't take long for him to adapt to Premier League I'm not surprised at all, as i say since a long time, for me Hazard is a potential ballon d'or, as i said on my first post here. I saw the match today, and he was good, but it's really average Eden Hazard, i can assure you. When he is in his best form, you will see ... and enjoy every part of it His pass to Ivanovic, he would have never done that last season ... I think he's going for the most assists given in the Premier League, knowing he can't compete against rvp, rooney, aguero and all ... His long distance duel against David Silva will be thrilling ! We miss him a lot in Lille ... take good care of him