🇧🇪 Eden Hazard

[bababoom 4,478]

He was much more consistent the last 3-4 months under Benitez.

He really wasn't, the best game he had was the one against West Ham, apart from that he was in and out of games similar to how his form is now. In the Europa league he played well, but the level in quality was pretty poor, just look at the teams we played; Sparta Prague, Steaua Bucharest, Rubin Kazan and Basel.

[Barbara 15,149]

I keep going back to the idea of what Hazard would be like if he played for Real or Barca and things start to get scary. It's not to say he can't be superstar player but he hasn't shown the ability to be consistently dominant game in and game out..

You put him on Madrid or Barca and his assist total would be about 20-25 right now. It's bordering on sickening in regard to how many glorious passes/crosses have been fluffed by Chelsea's shambolic strike force, and I'm not even getting into the poor/non-existent runs that are being made or the necessary runs that aren't being made.

He's creating the most chances of any of the top players in the world yet his goal and assist numbers while quite good don't accurately reflect how good he has been.

That being said he needs to be more selfish, he needs to spend the entire summer working on his finishing, and he needs to find a way to force his influence on a game.

It's almost a case of him being too good at times and the others can't assimilate those ideas into their games.

put him in Real Madrid or Barça and he'd have to outplay all the consistent players they have there. The only exception is Neymar - as they are the same age, have about the same consistency issues, except Hazard has one year over Neymar in a big league, so he's further into the development curve. He wouldn't displace Cris, Bale or even di María from RM right now. His best chances would be displacing Neymar - or an injured Messi that has had ups and downs this season because of his physical issues. And how fair is to expect or ask him to displace the best player in the world, or a guy who's been playing in RM for as long as di María has? It's not fair. But I think it's delusional to think he'd step in those teams being as inconsistent as he is at the moment and for him to have the stats you believe he'd have there, he'd have to play. He can't have them from the bench. Would Barça sacrifice Xavi? Or Iniesta? Someone has to leave the team for him to be part of it and the only case I see is Neymar. Even then, chances are if he went to Barça right now he might not completely displace Neymar and have enough matches under his belt to have those stats. You just assume he'd be part of those teams when in reality he wouldn't. That's why he should take the best our of his Chelsea period - however long that may be - as he's playing week in, week out, 90 minutes.

I'm very patient with Eden, I believe he has a lot of potential and I believe he's doing very good things at the present, but I think people are too fast to exempt him from everything he doesn't do and blame everyone else for it. He's still too inconsistent. Better players by his side would have helped him with stats, not with consistency. He still had bad periods last year with Mata by his side the same way he's had a great streak this year with 'nobody' by his side. Still he isn't the player of said streak anymore. His first months in the season aren't that much worth mentioning, then he exploded, now he's faded a little bit - all this with exactly the same players - good or bad - by his side. That's on him, not on anyone else. But that's expected from a 23yo... he isn't supposed to be as consistent as di María, Ronaldo, Bale, Messi, Iniesta, Xavi (although some of those are having a bit of dig of their own form).

But I think there's a certain of protectionism towards him that harms him more than helps. if I'm the best at whatever I do the expectations about my results should rise instead of lower simply because I'm better than the others. I can't expect Ramires to be better at passing when he simply doesn't have the ability in him, I can expect Hazard to be better at making decisions than Rami because his football IQ is infinitely better than Ramires. But just because Hazard is smarter and has more vision and does 5 good plays using it he gets a free pass not to use it even further?The only logical thing in my head is to demand more from those who have more to offer. We can't make Ramires be reborn and that's what we ask when we want him to be more technical. It's out of his reach. Hazard in the other hand could do better because he has a ceiling, a capacity, a skill, a competency to do better. But instead we blame Ramires for being technically awful and say to Hazard he's done enough when he hasn't done half his capacity while Ramires did nearly 100% of what he's capable.

I agree with whoever said he needs players to present themselves to play 2-1's with him. That was why Mata highlighted him so much. It's not simply because Mata used all his flair, it was much more because Mata was there in the first place. A player willing to do the same role Mata did (approaching him, making themselves available) would help him improve stats, make a beautiful play, help the fluidity of our attack, but it wouldn't take away his bad decisions when he makes them. If he's in a great position to shoot but decides to pass to another player and the other guy who's in a worse position to shoot, risks it, then it's a chance created statistically when imo in reality it's a chance WASTED by Hazard himself. That happens more often than I'd like it to happen.

Another situation also happens more frequently than I'd like. We break into the counter. Hazard receives the ball around the midfield line and three opponents close down on him. Way too often he goes for the dribble - even against three guys - instead of passing to Schurrle for example - who's more often than not very well positioned. Even Oscar, Willian, Torres (but that'd be a waste, so I can give Eden credit here) are available to the pass, but he decides to slow down the play dragging those three players with him (dribbles included or not). Rewatch the match against PSG and count - especially in the second - how many times he's done exactly that.

It's a walking contradiction. We have a player that can dribble like few can, but sometimes instead of fuel our counter-attack, he dampers it. He drags three players with him, which means there are two less players to mark the other attackers. Obvious move? To pass the ball quickly to them (dribbles included or not), but many times he holds it. It's stretching the space others have, but it's only capitalized if he makes the quick pass (which he sometimes does). You know who I'd blame here (supposing someone is to blame in the first place)? Mourinho. But I'll divide this post in two to talk about Mourinho's part in all this.

[Barbara 15,149]

The issues Eden has on his own game should be worked more closely by Mourinho. Mourinho is there to be his guide, not only to say he's capable of being one of the best in the world, giving him a lot of confidence, allowing him to have tons of freedom and do whatever he wants, instead of guiding him on what he should be doing. How many times have people quoted (I think even Eden himself) Mourinho saying the only thing he tells Hazard before matches is that he can do whatever he wants? Sorry, Mou, the kid needs more direct guidances than just that. If no one tells him his decisions aren't the best, he won't improve them because in his mind he's probably doing what's best. What's the point of us being a counter-attack team with some great players for it (Willian, Schurrle, Salah all have incredible pace, Schurrle doesn't dribble much, but he passes by opponents easily, same goes with Willian and I'm positive Salah too) if it seems we don't have counter-attacks well drilled? I was observing PSG during the match and there was a corner for us that was deflected by defense and Thiago Motta (I guess) passed the ball from the edge of their box to the left side of midfield line without even looking there. And guess what? Lavezzi - I guess - was there. How did Thiago know without even looking? They did that in training, obviously.

Mourinho said in December he'd have to take a more defensive approach with the team because they weren't ready to do what he's planned. And we clearly did from the Arsenal match on. So maybe he's decided to change the slow development for short terms results, to ensure we'd be top4 or maybe even fight for the title. It's his call to make, his decision to take. He did what he thought was better for us and I hope he took into consideration the long term aspect because we seem kind of lost attacking. We don't seem to know what to do with the ball when we have it and while a lot of that is because we don't have a good striker to capitalize or because our pivot players have limited vision and technique and whatnot, we also seem to be lacking training in that area. But maybe Mourinho had to sacrifice it to make sure we were defensive trustworthy. The problem is Cahill and JT seemingly ran out of gas too soon. We used to say in the Luiz thread that keeping him is important because we didn't know how long JT and Cahill would carry on their amazing level. They aren't that great anymore (but Luiz is even worse). So Mourinho invested in making us more pragmatic, steady defensively, less risky, less incisive because he thought his attacking players weren't ready yet to be what he needed them to be. The problem right now is that we haven't been executing even the pragmatism well anymore. That's why I said if I had to blame someone I'd blame him, thing is I don't blame anyone in reality because this team is far from being ready and Mourinho isn't taking a lot of risks. Should he? I don't think he should. As I said, Eden is 23. So is Schurrle. Oscar is 22, Salah is 20 I guess. Willian is 25, but he only played in Ukraine and Russia since he left Brazil at age 18. Torres is useless, Iva is useless attacking, Azpili is playing in the opposite side he's naturally meant to - which also compromises his attacking influence. Should we risk our left side by bringing Cole - who's had a terrible season even when he wasn't injured - just so we have Azpili in his rightful side? So we have a good right side both defensive and offensive and we have a liability as big as the flank itself in the left with Cole? Not an easy decision to make. Also there's no one in that team that gives more to it than Mr. Branislav Ivanovic. When did we watch that man not play with his blood and heart for us? You can't ignore that when so many don't do the same.

With all those problems and limitations we were a striker away from winning EPL imo, we are three players away from the ideal starting XI but God knows how much time we are away from making this team live up its potential. A football system is a living system, just like our body. All parts have to work well and in harmony otherwise it collapses. The brain is Mourinho, but even his pragmatic decisions seem to be justifiable imo. We just aren't ready. That's why we struggle to beat minor sides, that's why we probably won't win anything. That's why we stopped the evolution in the tactical movement and became more predictable, boring, etc... If we could clone Ivanovic's approach of matches into all other 8-9 players that aren't like him, we'd be ready. thing is we can't, in addition to having a lot of young players. They're young technically, tactically, but also mentally.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

To play in Rm/barca, they would have to splash 100m for him. The pricetag itself would demand him to play. He has the skill to play ahead of Bale/Dimaria/Neymar IMO. He is much more dynamic than those three and he can not only play for himself, but also for team. In Chelsea, he has limited role, but in Real or Barca, he would have free role. Sure he would be behind Messi or Ronaldo, but would be efficient at least as Bale/Neymar. Stats are not everything. Eden is mould of Ribery and someone like that would fit Real/Barca and Messi/Ronaldo more than 'wannabestar' Neymar or Bale.

I wont even go to the dribbling ability between Hazard (natural talent) and Bale who is only pace and power. Neymar never suited barca in the first place, not with Messi in team atleast.

[Barbara 15,149]

To play in Rm/barca, they would have to splash 100m for him. The pricetag itself would demand him to play. He has the skill to play ahead of Bale/Dimaria/Neymar IMO. He is much more dynamic than those three and he can not only play for himself, but also for team. In Chelsea, he has limited role, but in Real or Barca, he would have free role. Sure he would be behind Messi or Ronaldo, but would be efficient at least as Bale/Neymar. Stats are not everything. Eden is mould of Ribery and someone like that would fit Real/Barca and Messi/Ronaldo more than 'wannabestar' Neymar or Bale.

I wont even go to the dribbling ability between Hazard (natural talent) and Bale who is only pace and power. Neymar never suited barca in the first place, not with Messi in team atleast.

I believe his ceiling is much higher than all those three. But with the exception of Neymar, all those players are more consistent than him at the moment (and the moment here is the season as a whole, not the last two, three months). What's better? To have a player that gives you the same 7 rated at all matches, with some 8, 8.5 in the mix, or one that sometimes plays 9, others even 10-rated matches and then doesn't contribute at all in others?

Talking about a player I do know - Neymar fits Barça just fine. Messi or no Messi, he's just as inconsistent as Eden - if not even more - so it's difficult for him too.

I also agree Hazard is more talented than Bale (I don't even like Bale as a footballer to start with, but he's a few steps ahead of Eden when it comes to consistency imo for many reasons, one of them, being raised in a much more competitive league than Eden was), I agree with most things you said when I think about potential, talent, ceiling, future. Present time, Eden still has ups and downs and let's not forget he takes literally months to go full throttle. The current Eden, or the Eden from December to February could play in those teams, but let's not forget he takes from August to December to reach that level. It's not so simple, but I think it's acceptable given his age.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

I believe his ceiling is much higher than all those three. But with the exception of Neymar, all those players are more consistent than him at the moment (and the moment here is the season as a whole, not the last two, three months). What's better? To have a player that gives you the same 7 rated at all matches, with some 8, 8.5 in the mix, or one that sometimes plays 9, others even 10-rated matches and then doesn't contribute at all in others?

Talking about a player I do know - Neymar fits Barça just fine. Messi or no Messi, he's just as inconsistent as Eden - if not even more - so it's difficult for him too.

I also agree Hazard is more talented than Bale (I don't even like Bale as a footballer to start with, but he's a few steps ahead of Eden when it comes to consistency imo for many reasons, one of them, being raised in a much more competitive league than Eden was), I agree with most things you said when I think about potential, talent, ceiling, future. Present time, Eden still has ups and downs and let's not forget he takes literally months to go full throttle. The current Eden, or the Eden from December to February could play in those teams, but let's not forget he takes from August to December to reach that level. It's not so simple, but I think it's acceptable given his age.

I firmly believe Hazard would be more consistent in better team.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Partly agree on that. As much we are better defending, we are average in attack. No runs in free spaces, no creativty, no pattern, no passing triangles, no one-twos. Fullbacks not joining in attacks...

Mou needs to at least try something about that. If we play counter football it doesnt mean we have to play with such lack of technique.

Look at Bvb last year counter football. Their attacks were joy to watch. Everyone invloving in attacks, defending. Trying to pass, create spaces, make intelligent runs and passes.

It takes time though for such play and Mou will have to show it next year.

When we get out goal scorers up front (I'm beginning to believe mourinho is going to look for a goal scoring AM too) he will take off the attacking shackles and we would go more attacking, similar to what jose did in his second season at madrid, outscoring teams 5-2, because they got fire power up front.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

He really wasn't, the best game he had was the one against West Ham, apart from that he was in and out of games similar to how his form is now. In the Europa league he played well, but the level in quality was pretty poor, just look at the teams we played; Sparta Prague, Steaua Bucharest, Rubin Kazan and Basel.

We tend to remember the best (and the worst) but rarely the average, and he did have a lot of pretty average performances in his first season. In fact, his consistency has improved a lot this season but obviously still needs to improve even more.

Eden can be so brilliant at times that we tend to forget that he's still a work in progress.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Eden can be so brilliant at times that we tend to forget that he's still a work in progress.

Imagine him the finished article Gonna be some player injuries permitting.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJQ9AWwnA2Q&list=UU-KQIG4-dyR1kIHCQFOJ-hQ

Pretty awesome compilation for an awesome player.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

For me he is one of the top 10 best players in the world.

(1) Messi

(2) Suarez

(3) Ronaldo

(4) Ibrahimovic

(5) Iniesta

(6) Hazard

(7) Aguero

(8) Vidal

(9) Thiago Silva

(10) Lahm

My list is a little top heavy with attacking players, but these guys always get all the limelight anyway.

[Coop 114]

Lahm for Yaya and I agree with you ;-)

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

I believe his ceiling is much higher than all those three. But with the exception of Neymar, all those players are more consistent than him at the moment (and the moment here is the season as a whole, not the last two, three months). What's better? To have a player that gives you the same 7 rated at all matches, with some 8, 8.5 in the mix, or one that sometimes plays 9, others even 10-rated matches and then doesn't contribute at all in others?

Talking about a player I do know - Neymar fits Barça just fine. Messi or no Messi, he's just as inconsistent as Eden - if not even more - so it's difficult for him too.

I also agree Hazard is more talented than Bale (I don't even like Bale as a footballer to start with, but he's a few steps ahead of Eden when it comes to consistency imo for many reasons, one of them, being raised in a much more competitive league than Eden was), I agree with most things you said when I think about potential, talent, ceiling, future. Present time, Eden still has ups and downs and let's not forget he takes literally months to go full throttle. The current Eden, or the Eden from December to February could play in those teams, but let's not forget he takes from August to December to reach that level. It's not so simple, but I think it's acceptable given his age.

Methinks you overrate Bale too much. When was the last time he ever did anything worthwhile against any good team? Plus he is pretty inconsistent himself as he disappears completely from games when he coasts too much. Plus Bale is 24 and was only considered a world-class player in his last year at Spurs, while Hazard has been world-class since he was 21.

And saying Neymar is just as inconsistent (Hazard is not even an inconsistent player, ffs) as Hazard is ridiculous. Neymar first and foremost is a pretty overrated player. I have watched many games of his, and I fail too see anything special about him. He is not in the same class as Hazard whose talent level is in the same realm as the Zidane's and Iniesta's of this world. Neymar is an improved version of Robinho plus he is the biggest diver I have ever seen play football and I'm not exaggerating. Even Brazilians think he's overrated. You just have to read comments on sites like Globoesporte to see what I mean.

Hazard has 17 goals this season (and will score more before it's over). He has created more chances for his teammates than any other player in EUROPE! And he is not even an archetypal playmaker. Playmaking is not his number 1 asset. I find that incredible really. That's a Messi-like statistic. You talk of time-frames but how many players perform consistently well for an ENTIRE season? Did Bale perform well in every month when he won POTY last season? The guy had one fantastic half-season and won the award. The only attacking players that I know of that have changed the landscape of football understanding and have performed at an incredible level for an entire season are Messi and Cristiano. Zidane was "inconsistent" (going by your very rigid understanding of the word). So was Figo, Stoichkov, Rivaldo, Laudrup, Nedved and so on. Hazard might have been inconsistent in his first season in English football, but that's because it was his first season in the hardest league in the world, playing for a team in disarray.

Nani is an inconsistent player not Hazard. Guarin is an inconsistent player not Hazard. You can't be one of the best in the business and be inconsistent. Plus this is a player that just turned 23 in January. No other young player in the world can match his consistency level. Not Gotze, not Isco, not Neymar, Moura, Verratti or Alcantara. The only young player that can match it is Pogba, but you see, Pogba's style of play and position (CM) makes it "easier" for him to be consistently brilliant. Hazard's style of play is very risky, but he still has the consistency, level-headedness and intelligence to maintain his level.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Lahm for Yaya and I agree with you ;-)

Yaya is a good shout, but the guy sometimes doesn't show up against the "lesser" teams. It's a big complaint that Man City fans have against him. Lahm on the other hand plays on the same level every time I watch him and he's been the best full-back in the world since God knows when.

Another thing about Toure. He's dominated us in the past when our midfield was "Maticless" and when we had no managers (sorry AVB and RDM) but he against strong teams, really strong teams with strong midfields, he rarely stands out. He was rubbish against Bayern in the CL, a non-factor in both legs against Barca, Matic matched him in that classic league match and I don't remember him being a factor against Liverpool too. He is a bit of a flat-track bully..

There's no doubt he's one of the best midfielders in the world, but I'll have Vidal ahead of him, any time.

[Atholy 1,293]

SIGH

I really don't want to participate in a discussion with utter fools... but after reading this I cannot keep this unanswered:

We ALL, as football fans in general... should be f*cking grateful that people like Hazard are giving us the joy to watch their amazing skills, cleverness, technique & understanding of the game we all love so much. Not only should we be thankful football players like him exist.... THIS GUY EVEN PLAYS IN OUR OWN TEAM!!!!!!!!!

Criticizing him and stating 'I don't understand the fuss'... 'this isn't hazard fc' ... 'he's arrogant and doesn't have to think his as good as messi & ronaldo'...

=> I can only feel pity for the people who write this. If you spend your time posting these things over a player who gives us the benefit to enjoy the beauty of the game at our own Stamford Bridge.... I'm afraid this means you know utter shit about football OR you just love to spend your day criticizing all & nothing, really pathetic way to go through life!!!

ps: probably you guys are the same people that think:

• Barcelona is a crap side with only divers like Messi
• Ronaldo is an arrogant and selfish tanned Portuguese gay model
• Ibrahimovic only plays for the cash and is really overrated
• Ronaldinho looks like a horse
• Ronaldo is soo fat these days... I bet he never was any good
• Thierry Henry is a bad player because he didn't succeed in Barcelona
• Bergkamp... wasn't he the guy who was to afraid to fly that he drove for hours through Europe to play CL
• etc...

[Barbara 15,149]

Methinks you overrate Bale too much. When was the last time he ever did anything worthwhile against any good team? Plus he is pretty inconsistent himself as he disappears completely from games when he coasts too much. Plus Bale is 24 and was only considered a world-class player in his last year at Spurs, while Hazard has been world-class since he was 21.

And saying Neymar is just as inconsistent (Hazard is not even an inconsistent player, ffs) as Hazard is ridiculous. Neymar first and foremost is a pretty overrated player. I have watched many games of his, and I fail too see anything special about him. He is not in the same class as Hazard whose talent level is in the same realm as the Zidane's and Iniesta's of this world. Neymar is an improved version of Robinho plus he is the biggest diver I have ever seen play football and I'm not exaggerating. Even Brazilians think he's overrated. You just have to read comments on sites like Globoesporte to see what I mean.

Hazard has 17 goals this season (and will score more before it's over). He has created more chances for his teammates than any other player in EUROPE! And he is not even an archetypal playmaker. Playmaking is not his number 1 asset. I find that incredible really. That's a Messi-like statistic. You talk of time-frames but how many players perform consistently well for an ENTIRE season? Did Bale perform well in every month when he won POTY last season? The guy had one fantastic half-season and won the award. The only attacking players that I know of that have changed the landscape of football understanding and have performed at an incredible level for an entire season are Messi and Cristiano. Zidane was "inconsistent" (going by your very rigid understanding of the word). So was Figo, Stoichkov, Rivaldo, Laudrup, Nedved and so on. Hazard might have been inconsistent in his first season in English football, but that's because it was his first season in the hardest league in the world, playing for a team in disarray.

Nani is an inconsistent player not Hazard. Guarin is an inconsistent player not Hazard. You can't be one of the best in the business and be inconsistent. Plus this is a player that just turned 23 in January. No other young player in the world can match his consistency level. Not Gotze, not Isco, not Neymar, Moura, Verratti or Alcantara. The only young player that can match it is Pogba, but you see, Pogba's style of play and position (CM) makes it "easier" for him to be consistently brilliant. Hazard's style of play is very risky, but he still has the consistency, level-headedness and intelligence to maintain his level.

I don't like Bale as a footballer, fact is he carried Spurs last season and he's adapting admittedly fast in La Liga and Real Madrid. He provides what Carlo needs from him quite often, he scored and assisted match winners for RM quite frequently lately (or scored important goals in matches that were won by more than two goals). Do I like him? No. Do I think RM needed him? Not, at all. Can I deny he delivers whatever is requested to him? No, because he does. He's playing very well the last few months, even when he doesn't score or assist. I don't think he's much more consistent than Eden, just a tad more and we still have to remember he's adapting to a new league.

Hazard is young, he doesn't perform high level in every match. He literally takes months to reach his best level and carries on it for another few months. During his peak months he still has matches where he doesn't do much, average matches as others said. If you admit that or not, it's up to you, I won't repeat the same thing over and over again.

As for the chances created stats, for the thousandth time, I don't like it. It's not that accurate imo and if you read my signature, you'll learn my opinion about only looking to stats. But you're free - obviously - to think whatever you want. Zidane didn't have outstanding stats, nor does Pirlo and they're two of the biggest players this century. Messi and Ronaldo are stellar and have astonishing stats, but many amazing players didn't have that much impressive stats and were unbelievable, while many poachers have amazing stats, but are very limited footballers. I'm not labeling Bale, Neymar, Hazard, etc in any of those categories, I'm just illustrating how your point is moot in some cases imo.

Zidane was inconsistent in YOUR understanding of the word, not mine, as his stats weren't the best in Europe like Hazard's chances created for example. If I take everything you said literally (which I'm not stupid to do because you didn't mean them literally), then Hazard is already better than Zidane and Pirlo - among others - simply because of a flawed stat that I really wish didn't even exist to start with. Or maybe because he's a fancy dribbler. Or an exciting player who isn't anywhere near his full potential nor is capable of producing the same level of football throughout the whole season. As I said, he was barely worth a mention from August to early december, then he was amazing from mid-december to February and ever since he's been alternating good matches and average matches (sometimes average matches in a row).

I don't need to read anything, anywhere about Neymar because I've watched him play for years here. I like him as a footballer, but I like Eden much better - not that it matters to the discussion (as much as me disliking Bale doesn't matter). I agree about the diving, but if he's gone to any other club in the world he'd be taught to let it go (in Barcelona they'll teach him how to do it even more theatrically). I wasn't even comparing the players themselves, just their consistency, and said Neymar is more inconsistent now.

Where was Hazard when we needed him against Palace? Against Villa? Even against Gala in one of the legs? He's had average matches lately, but he always provides the exciting dribble so people like you automatically think he had a great match just because of it or a pass to someone 30 yards from the goal, who decided to shoot on goal and who added to his chance created stats.

I wasn't even talking about his quality and I said I'm quite okay with him having ups and downs, not winning us matches as he can, because I think he's too young and he'll learn. I'm not even implying he should always bail us from jail. But if he's our best attacking player by a very fair lead, it's also fair to expect more from him than from others. What do you expect to ride better, a Ferrari or a Fiat? So of course I expect more from him than from Willian, Oscar, Schurrle, Etoo, Salah, Torres, Ba (the last two I don't expect anything at all to be honest). I'm not saying though he HAS to deliver, just that he's the one who has more quality to win difficult matches for us and the only reason he doesn't do it more frequently is because he's not consistent enough yet, because he's young, and that's okay.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Even if we get 150m, we should never ever sell him, at least not for several years. Best clubs in the world dont sell their best players. Simple as that.

[yuvala 2,167]

For me he is one of the top 10 best players in the world.

(1) Messi

(2) Suarez

(3) Ronaldo

(4) Ibrahimovic

(5) Iniesta

(6) Hazard

(7) Aguero

(8) Vidal

(9) Thiago Silva

(10) Lahm

My list is a little top heavy with attacking players, but these guys always get all the limelight anyway.

On his day, that's true .

But he isn't consistent enough to put him in the worlds best 10, IMO. Not yet anyways..

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Where was Hazard when we needed him against Palace? Against Villa? Even against Gala in one of the legs? He's had average matches lately, but he always provides the exciting dribble so people like you automatically think he had a great match just because of it or a pass to someone 30 yards from the goal, who decided to shoot on goal and who added to his chance created stats.

Therein lies the problem I guess. Nitpicking games to prove your point.

(1) You are quick to forget Hazard turning Rafinha then sprinting into Bayern's half before slotting in Schurrle who crossed to Torres, GOAL.

(2) What about his solo effort in that same game? What about Hull City? Did he not provide for us when we needed him? Remember how rubbish we were in that game.

(3) Against Sunderland, which was one of the best solo performances of any CFC player I have ever seen, on par with Jimmy Floyd against Spurs.. did Hazard not step up in that match?

(4) Against Liverpool, who provided the inspiration for the comeback again, with that ridiculous curler past Mignolet? These are BIG matches.

(5) Against Man City Matic and our back four were immense, while Eden terrorized them. Their fans were gushing about him on their forums after that game.

(6) Swansea in the league? Won us that game on his own. We were SHIT. Aren't these "difficult" matches in which Chelsea were not playing well?

(7) It was Hazard who provided the spark against Fulham in the second half too, alongside Schurrle, who was ruthless with his finishing. We were SHIT in that game.

I can go on, but I'll stop at 7. .Was Bale's last season any more or less impressive than what Eden has done this season? And Bale was pretty "inconsistent" that season too. He was average for the entire first half of it. Ok, he scored more goals in the league that season (and will) than Eden will in this one, but Eden has already scored a lot and assisted (including chances created) much more than Bale did. And Hazard is not even THAT type of shoot-on-sight winger that Ronaldo, Robben or Bale are. He is more like a Ribery type, but HAS taken games by the scruff of the neck and won us many points on his own this season. Too ask for any more is unreasonable and unfair. The fact is that others need to step up. The Brazilians especially who have been poor this season.

"I wasn't even talking about his quality and I said I'm quite okay with him having ups and downs"

You said it yourself, Barbara. We aren't even disagreeing with each other.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

On his day, that's true .

But he isn't consistent enough to put him in the worlds best 10, IMO. Not yet anyways..

You can't prove Hazard is inconsistent. It's a ridiculous tag that has been placed on him from his first season at the club, which was unfair in the first place, since it was his first season. I just can't understand how anyone who has watched this guy play this season can call him inconsistent when he's been anything but that. Maybe you don't understand that players sometimes have not so good games and you confuse that with inconsistency.

That's one of the main differences between this season and last. The others are intensity in his play and defensive contribution. Those two are all about Mourinho. Hazard wants to destroy teams for 90 mins now. He hardly ever "coasts" in games any more. And nowadays, when he get's tired, like against Spurs recently, he has developed his game to simply drop deep and pull the string from there.

If not for Suarez, POTY would have been fairly straightforward, but Suarez has been a top 3 player in the world and deserves it. I doubt he'll be as good next season when his team play in Europe though.