Eden Hazard

[LukakutoStamford 779]

Too much of a FIFA influence in judging players. Take Hazard away and Chelsea is battling for 4th place.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

He's very far from Messi , Ronaldo , Neymar and Robben , i can't deny that but that's all

Troll. He's far away from Messi but he's as good as the remaining 3.

[Rom2013 446]

Troll. He's far away from Messi but he's as good as the remaining 3.

The others are also better, but Ronaldo it's realy incomparable. Neymar and Bale proved it also doing every season what Hazard can't do in one single. And the difference between Hazard and other players like Sanchez and others is slim.

Hazard is a great player, maybe the best we have... bt far from the super star you say he is.

[nicol 2]

for Neymar it's his first season lol

[Gilvorak 3,734]

The others are also better, but Ronaldo it's realy incomparable. Neymar and Bale proved it also doing every season what Hazard can't do in one single. And the difference between Hazard and other players like Sanchez and others is slim.

Hazard is a great player, maybe the best we have... bt far from the super star you say he is.

Watch games instead of obsessing about stats. Hazard is easily better than Bale. He's as good as Neymar, Robben and Ronaldo too.

Ronaldo barely influences games anymore. This isn't 2012.

[nicol 2]

for the ballon d'or , there are only stats

[WNDS 502]

He's very far from Messi , Ronaldo , Neymar and Robben , i can't deny that but that's all

He's still some way off Messi and Ronaldo (and probably Robben as well), but he really isn't 'very far from' Neymar's level. Neymar's attacking stats (goals/assists) ARE better than Hazard's tend to be, but this is because Neymar is a 'finisher', whilst Hazard is an 'initiator'; they are two different types of player and carry out fairly different roles within their teams.

Hazard's technical attributes (ball control, dribbling, long and short passing etc.) are all superior to Neymar's, and he augments these key abilities with his exceptional balance and decent upper-body strength. Hazard is comfortable playing in tight, confined spaces, and is significantly more capable of riding challenges than Neymar is. This means that Hazard is considerably more effective than Neymar at breaking through the opposition's lines in both midfield and wide defensive positions.

Neymar, despite playing in what is nominally the same position as Hazard upon the pitch (LM/LW), plays the role in an entirely different fashion; he is always looking to finish attacking moves, either by getting a shot away, or by providing a square pass/pull-back in the box to a teammate who is in a better position. His dribbling is at it's most effective when he has isolated a member of the opposition back-line in a 1-on-1 situation and has space to run into behind him. He gets into good shooting/finishing positions significantly more frequently than Hazard does, he is a better finisher than Hazard is, he's better at taking direct free-kicks, and he is also faster. In addition to this, he has a superior mental strength to Hazard, and is entirely capable of scoring a goal or two whilst putting in a terrible all-round performance (Hazard rarely seems capable of doing this). This last point is due in part to the pressure he has had to deal with from a very young age as the current 'golden boy' of the greatest historical footballing nation; a pressure far greater than that which Hazard is subjected to as the current 'golden boy' of Belgium, a country of lesser pedigree and with somewhat lesser expectations/demands of it's team and players.

Neymar might well be the 'better'/more effective player of the two at the moment, but Hazard (due to his superior levels of raw technique) has the greater potential; if he can continue to improve his mentality and willingness to take responsibility, then I think he can surpass Neymar.

[Rom2013 446]

Watch games instead of obsessing about stats. Hazard is easily better than Bale. He's as good as Neymar, Robben and Ronaldo too.

Ronaldo barely influences games anymore. This isn't 2012.

This is 2014/2015... for example I don't know what "chances created means" but in those stats we see Hazard creats 2.7 chances per game... multiplied by 29 games he created 78 chances in this season... Cristiano scored 31 goals and assisted 11 a total of 42...just in assists and goals has more than half the chances created by Hazard. Don't say that Hazard is on the level of Cristiano because it makes no sense. Even in the worse moment of Cristiano he is 2 or 3 times better than Hazard ever will be.

I see Crsitiano, Bale, Neymar and Messi a lot... About the 2 Ballon d'Or players it's incomparable... and the other two are more complete players than Hazard and will have a better chance to be the best in the world.

Hazard is really good... but there are other players in the world that are as good or better than him and the over reaction about everything he does it's really unjustified... there are many players doing the same for other teams and some times better.

[nicol 2]

Bale better because he scored more than Hazard when he was at Tottenham ?

[DYC. 7,542]

He's still some way off Messi and Ronaldo (and probably Robben as well), but he really isn't 'very far from' Neymar's level. Neymar's attacking stats (goals/assists) ARE better than Hazard's tend to be, but this is because Neymar is a 'finisher', whilst Hazard is an 'initiator'; they are two different types of player and carry out fairly different roles within their teams.

Hazard's technical attributes (ball control, dribbling, long and short passing etc.) are all superior to Neymar's, and he augments these key abilities with his exceptional balance and decent upper-body strength. Hazard is comfortable playing in tight, confined spaces, and is significantly more capable of riding challenges than Neymar is. This means that Hazard is considerably more effective than Neymar at breaking through the opposition's lines in both midfield and wide defensive positions.

Neymar, despite playing in what is nominally the same position as Hazard upon the pitch (LM/LW), plays the role in an entirely different fashion; he is always looking to finish attacking moves, either by getting a shot away, or by providing a square pass/pull-back in the box to a teammate who is in a better position. His dribbling is at it's most effective when he has isolated a member of the opposition back-line in a 1-on-1 situation and has space to run into behind him. He gets into good shooting/finishing positions significantly more frequently than Hazard does, he is a better finisher than Hazard is, he's better at taking direct free-kicks, and he is also faster. In addition to this, he has a superior mental strength to Hazard, and is entirely capable of scoring a goal or two whilst putting in a terrible all-round performance (Hazard rarely seems capable of doing this). This last point is due in part to the pressure he has had to deal with from a very young age as the current 'golden boy' of the greatest historical footballing nation, a pressure far greater than that which Hazard is subjected to as the current 'golden boy' of Belgium, a country of lesser pedigree and with somewhat lesser expectations/demands of it's team and players.

Neymar might well be the 'better'/more effective player of the two at the moment, but Hazard (due to his superior levels of raw technique) has the greater potential; if he can continue to improve his mentality and willingness to take responsibility, then I think he can surpass Neymar.

What is this? Are you actually analysing the overall game of a player to rate their quality? That's outrageous.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

And the bullshit returns to this thread again. No surprise it was started by a Belgian. You guys don't deserve some of the players you have in your national team, with all due respect.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

And just to add my two cents. The only players Hazard is "some way off" are Messi and Ronaldo, that's it. And that's mostly in terms of goals scored anyway, not quality of performances.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Bale better because he scored more than Hazard when he was at Tottenham ?

It's well worth noting that Bale took 156 shots in the league that season and 225 shots in total and for a total of 26 goals. These are unbelievable amount of shots that most strikers won't even dream of taken.

Hazard has taken 58 shots this season and 68 in total. He took 91 shots in total last season. It's simple common sense that if a player takes more shots, he'll generaly speaking, score more goals. For instance, in Hazard's last season in Lille, he took 121 shots and scored 22 goals in total. Maybe he needs to average more than 2.1 shots per game, but it's also worth noting that he's more of a playmaker first and foremost.

Hazard can't be expected to be the ball carrier and then be averaging 200 + shots a season like Bale, Messi and Ronaldo do. If Hazard starts averaging that many shots, he won't be as effective in the other things he does. That's why I suggested he's moved to the centre, closer to goal, where he can have more shots and less tracking back.

He'll score 5 to maybe 10 more goals a season, but will that make him a better player, us a better team and is it really worth it? At the end of the day, you can't eat your cake and have it to. If some of you can't see that Hazard has become a top 5 player in world football this season, then that's too bad.

[Styles 9,790]

I truly believe that if you think Bale is better than Hazard your opinion is absolutely worthless.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Hazard is far better than Bale, its not even close.

If hazard doesn't spend a lot of energy defending and stays upfront,(like he did against westham and tottenham 5-3) he'll be even more deadly and closer to goal to score/assist.

The only weakness to his game is throughpasses and making more runs when he's not with the ball and he's already getting better at the later

[Stingray 9,441]

It's well worth noting that Bale took 156 shots in the league that season and 225 shots in total and for a total of 26 goals. These are unbelievable amount of shots that most strikers won't even dream of taken.

Hazard has taken 58 shots this season and 68 in total. He took 91 shots in total last season. It's simple common sense that if a player takes more shots, he'll generaly speaking, score more goals. For instance, in Hazard's last season in Lille, he took 121 shots and scored 22 goals in total. Maybe he needs to average more than 2.1 shots per game, but it's also worth noting that he's more of a playmaker first and foremost.

Hazard can't be expected to be the ball carrier and then be averaging 200 + shots a season like Bale, Messi and Ronaldo do. If Hazard starts averaging that many shots, he won't be as effective in the other things he does. That's why I suggested he's moved to the centre, closer to goal, where he can have more shots and less tracking back.

He'll score 5 to maybe 10 more goals a season, but will that make him a better player, us a better team and is it really worth it? At the end of the day, you can't eat your cake and have it to. If some of you can't see that Hazard has become a top 5 player in world football this season, then that's too bad.

Its also interesting that while his 'on target shots percentage' is so high, his touches inside the box is off the charts AND he has a history in Lille for scoring/being a bit more selfish and thus scoring, now he tones that down. Ever since he got here.

I think he reaaaally WANTS to be the facilitator at a big club. Remember his leadership prototype: Zidane. I think that speaks for his views and also his path for his own idea on his development.

Mou seems to agree on this all, and he was right to say Eden had to be more dominant in games, and consistent. If you are not Ronaldo and Messi, develop the nice in which you thrive. I can see Mou moving him to a 'kinda' 10 more and more.

[hamad138 190]

"De Bruyne is a great player. Mourinho decided to let him go and not play him. It was not my decision, even though I know very well that he could play at Chelsea because he has tremendous qualities," Hazard told L'Equipe.

Einstein has spoken!

[kellzfresh 7,229]

"Chelsea would have been stronger if we kept De Bruyne, he is a great player," Hazard told L'Equipe. "But Mourinho decided to let him go and not play him.

"It was not my decision, even though I am certain that he could have thrived at Chelsea because he has tremendous qualities. Though I think at Chelsea you have more pressure than Wolfsburg.

"I would have loved to still play with him at Chelsea, but him getting first-team football is good for him - you can see what it's done for Thibaut Courtois. It's a shame he's gone but he'll surely have a successful career."

Whoops...

[nyikolajevics 2,697]

"Chelsea would have been stronger if we kept De Bruyne, he is a great player," Hazard told L'Equipe. "But Mourinho decided to let him go and not play him.

"It was not my decision, even though I am certain that he could have thrived at Chelsea because he has tremendous qualities. Though I think at Chelsea you have more pressure than Wolfsburg.

"I would have loved to still play with him at Chelsea, but him getting first-team football is good for him - you can see what it's done for Thibaut Courtois. It's a shame he's gone but he'll surely have a successful career."

Whoops...

God our Belgians can't shut up.. Courtois, Lukaku and Kevin have all said such stupid things to the press.

[Laugh1ngMan 393]

And the bullshit returns to this thread again. No surprise it was started by a Belgian. You guys don't deserve some of the players you have in your national team, with all due respect.

I seriously hope you are not talking about me since i didn't start this nonsense about comparing players and debating which player is better. And it's ironic and kind of typifying that you first call this tread bullshit and then go on to propegate the same nonsense with two posts of your own.

so once and for all:

ALL I SAID IS THE STATS SEEM TO SUGGEST HE SHOULD TAKE MORE RISK AS ALOT OF PEOPLE ALREADY NOTICED BY THEMSELVES AS WELL.

And this whole playmaking argument only goes so far. In the end, the object of the game is to win by scoring goals, so when you are in a situation one on one with a defender close to goals and a dribble+shot will have a higher % of succes of turning into a goal than an assist (remember that pass to Willian against West Ham) there is no reason to not go for it.

If anyone else has some real FACTS and DATA that prove me wrong i have no problem with that and would actually welcome it but don't just start rambling about your sentiments towards Hazard and use them as arguments