Eden Hazard

[Blue Armour 4,278]

3 hours ago, Styles said:

I'm joking to be honest, but I do disagree.

I just don't understand how anybody can advocate selling one of our most talented players and best performers over the last 3 seasons. He has had a bad season so far and has underperformed considering what he is capable of, but even the very best players suffer seasons like this. I wouldn't sell him because of that.

Also, when a player knows he's injured and can't continue any further he has absolutely every right to withdraw himself from the game. Hazard has been a recipient of some of the most over-the-top tackles during his time at Chelsea and yet he has played through most of them. He is one of the most durable players of his kind - this is the first year he's had consistent injury problems. And he tried to carry on playing last weekend but simply couldn't.

I think like a lot of supporters you are just fed up and are criticising everybody and anything. I think you will regret this sooner rather than later though.

 

Can't agree more..haven't had this much personality and talent rolled up into a Chelsea player since Drogba. The club has to try its best to hold onto him as long as they can, even if it means excusing poor seasons like this one.

 

(And before someone comes back to me saying that Drogba had a never-say-die attitude unlike Hazard, I said 'personality', not 'character')

[Jase 43,479]

3 hours ago, Styles said:

I was hoping people would see it as a joke, I was not being serious AT ALL. Like, not even a little bit.

@BlueLion is a cool poster.

You do realize @BlueLion is no longer an admin? Pointless trying to kiss his arse.

[Styles 9,790]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

You do realize @BlueLion is no longer an admin? Pointless trying to kiss his arse.

Oh...... 

[Jase 43,479]

2 hours ago, DYC. said:

One poor season after three strong seasons and this is the kind of stuff you get. Season isn't even close to be being over yet.

Today's football world sad. Even Zidane was allowed an off season. Rooney plays like crap and he gets pay raises and the armband. But I guess that's the other extreme.

It's like people never learned with the De Bruyne, Lukaku scenarios...

2 hours ago, El P. said:

This whole "lack of this, lack of that" will be gone as soon as he scores a goal. A then it will be, "omg, he is finally his old self, yaay!".

Just like how the fans booed Costa in the Sunderland match and suddenly it's all 'Diego, Diego, Diego' in the following games.

[Last Sicarius 610]

Hazard on his way to Real?

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Ruben Loftus Cheek has more goals this season than Eden Hazard...

[Weckerz 3,781]

And people wonder why they call us plastic. Haha.

Keeping Iazzard should be our priority this summer. Naive fans who think we'll buy Reus or Bale or even Isco need a reality check.

edit;: assuming he starts performing in the second half of the season, obviously, which he will if he can knock off his little injuries

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

16 hours ago, BlueLion said:

 

 

 

Sorry but that's just ridiculous. Do you really need the expertise of medics and doctors to realize you can't run ? After his fall against Leicester he was struggling to just walk off the pitch. He actually had to pause and take a couple of seconds before he could continue walking again to the touchline. I mean he missed the next game and then almost 2 weeks later he still wasn't 100 % and only played 25 minutes. Seems like pretty conclusive proof that the injury was serious.

Against Palace he strained his groin taking a shot on goal, tried to continue and 5 minutes later he slipped which worsened the injury. Again do you really need a medic or doctor's expertise to realize you've strained your groin and shouldn't continue ?

Also it's pretty clear that he wasn't 100 % when he came in against Watford and started against Man United 2 days later. Hiddink even said so. No coincidence that he injured his groin on the same side as his hip injury.

 

You say his attitude stinks. That he shows zero fight and commitment but if that really was the case then why didn't he just tell Hiddink that he wasn't 100 % and couldn't play against Watford (Won the penalty remember?), Man United and Palace ?

Why go through the trouble ? Why would he try if his attitude stinks ? If he doesn't want to fight ? If he isn't commited to us ? Why try ?

 

I get the feeling that due to Hazard's lack of injuries people seem to think that he's always 100 %. That he never plays with minor injuries, which is simply impossible with the amount of times he gets the absolute shit kicked out of him. 

I think a lot of people underestimate Hazard's abillity to presevere, to play with injuries. He's played 188 games for us in 3 and a half seasons. (stat stolen from Styles ) 

There's no way he played all those games, in such a short time, without having to go through pain and other difficulties from injuries. I mean how many times does he get kicked from behind on the ankles and his achilles. How many times have oppponents stomped on his feet.

How many times have they kicked him on the legs because they were either to slow or trying to cynically stop him.

There's no way he could have played all those games without being strong-willed to play.

 

"He is the most undeserving recipient of the Player of the Year award I can remember"

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

It really wasn't. You're rewriting history there. Last season he wasn't great in the first 2 months( August & September) but from October he was performing really well and created lots of chances. Only difference between before january and after january is that he became more decisive. After January and onwards he got the goals and assists that won us games. 

Pretty sure Matic was among the players that had a dip in form around the january period. Him, Cahill, Ivanovic dropping form was a big reason of why we went more pragmatic. ( along with Fabregas, Oscar and Costa dropping form aswell)

Terry and Azpi were consistent but as a defender it's easier being consistent as there are quite a number of games where our defense had very little to do. Before january we were dominating the opponents and they weren't really able to threaten us that much.

After january we went very defensive which made it easier for our defenders as they had more support. To be clear not saying they didn't have great season but were their performances of such a level that they deserved the accolade over Hazard ?

No I don't think so.

Hazard carried our attack that second part of the season. It was all on him to create our chances. He had a free role but in exchange was given very little support. In difficult circumstances, with the title on the line, he stepped up. If he didn't we wouldn't have won the league.

 

Why would Bale, James, Griezmann want to come here ? Why would they leave their club that has CL football for one that doesn't ? I've seen people say "well it would only be for 1 season" but we can't guarantee that so why would they take the risk.

Also they have other teams after them aswell that can offer CL football next season. So again why would they come here ? Reus is injury prone. Just take a look at his injury record.  I don't think he would take too well to the PL.

The tackles, the amount games we play in short time, no winter break.

"We play better without him"

And you're basing this on what exactly ? The Sunderland game ? Watford game ?  Palace game ? 

We've been a bit better under Hiddink. All the players seem to be performing better under him.

Before you make such claims shouldn't you actually wait untill Hazard plays a couple of games under Hiddink ?

So far he's played 25 minutes against Watford and 90 minutes against Man United. He won the penalty against Watford that should have won us the 3 points and created the best chance for us in the Man United game, playing out of position, while not being 100% fit.

 

Ivanovic gets slagged off more because he's  clearly passed his best. While he's improved his performances from the beginning of the season he still gets beaten far too easily in 1 on 1 situations and his attacking contributions are close to zero even though he gets the most space out of all our players.

Hazard became 25 just a couple of days ago. He still has a lot of football left to play and it's a lot more likely that he'll regain his form.

 

Don't get why you're bringing up Drogba's return. I don't think anyone here actually believes Drogba is coming back to motivate Hazard to stay. He's simply here to appease the fans.

 

Honestly don't want to go too deep into the whole Azpi left back thing as this post is already extremely long. I'll just say this.

I don't like Azpi on the left. Azpi on the left is an extremely negative, pragmatic choice. Hazard would thrive (and would have thrived) much more if he got (had gotten) an actual left footed attacking fullback overlapping him.

 

"You aren't allowed the freedom in the Premier League that Barcelona can offer Messi, Neymar, and Suarez."

City frequently play with 2 attacking fullbacks, a 2 man midfield consisting of Fernandinho and Yaya Touré and a front four Sterling Silva De Bruyne Aguero.

It's possible if you have the balls.

It doesn't have to be so extreme as Barcelona but it is possible for our widemen not to have to defend so deep. If you push up your defense then your attackers, along with your midfield, have far less ground to cover. Otherwise our front players have to constantly run 40- 50-60 yards to get back into position then when we recover the ball they have to run 40-50-60 yards before they get into the final third of the opposition.

 

Willian is Willian, Hazard is Hazard. Willian doesn't have the abillity that Hazard has on the ball. Hazard doesn't have the stamina and workrate that Willian has. Play them to their strenghts and don't shoehorn them into a role that doesn't suit them.

 

"as a number 10 (where he struggles to impose himself on the opposition)" 

Struggles to impose huh. Norwich, Stoke and Stoke in the COC. He's played his best games this season on the 10.

 

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

Just now, Henrique said:

Suarez is way better than Hazard, not slightly, but just in another level. Even though I think Ibrahimovich is overrated, I would say I rather have him than Hazard in my team, and if I mention players that are not exactly attacking, I would include the likes of Iniesta in that list. Hazard is a great player, just not as good as some people believe. Only a huge Hazard fan would say that, beyind doubt, he is better than Bale.

 

Yeah there are CFs like Suarez, Ibra, Aguero etc who are better but I was meaning in terms of wingers. Robben, Ribery and Douglas Costa perhaps too totally forgot them but Robben and Ribery haven't had a season or two of consistent appearances without disruption due to injury. 

 

Still not sure if Bale is better than Hazard, both are good players but I think if Bale's physical qualities like his speed and strength were to decline rapidly (lets say a big injury similarly to Falcao/Torres) he'd be quite useless in comparison to Hazard who has a superior technical ability but I'll also say that Hazard and Bales seasons are very much opposites this season to say Bale's second season at Real, Bale excelling for Real with goals and assists and Hazard struggling for form and suffering injuries.

[Despiadado.Maleante 1,046]

His bloody goal against arsenal should have stood. Kane kept his and it was way more of an own goal last year. 

[Tomo 21,733]

20 hours ago, Styles said:

I never realised the sheer extent of supporters that simply do not care for the well-being of the players. If Wikipedia is right, Hazard has played a 188 games in 3 and a half seasons for Chelsea. That's crazy considering his style of play and rough treatment he gets.

He finally starts to break down with injury but supporters want him to risk his long-term health by playing through injury. Hazard was stupid enough to try that last weekend and lasted approx 5 minutes - and that STILL doesn't stop some from criticising him for his lack of balls etc. Just crazy.

Also not to mention, he is in the top 5/7 this season in terms of chances created, despite being in by far the worst form of his career.

If he really wants to leave there's not much we can do (maybe a Fergie/Ronaldo, Gerrard/Suarez agreement where he stays for one final season) but to decide to sell him would be crazy in my opinion.

Also worth noting that Iniesta (the player most comparable to Hazard in style play) didn't score until mid January in Peps second season at Barca, and he didn't face a tenth of the obstacles Hazard has this season (team playing shocking and club in complete crisis the main one).

[kellzfresh 7,229]

He'll play better if he gets into the team now. I'm beginning to see combination plays between our attacking players that I never saw for a long time in the last two games. Hazard will get more give and go situations now which is a big part of his game we don't take advantage of. 

Also Azpilicueta and Ivanovic both assisted in the last match, so it seems like our fullbacks are moving forward more often thanbefore. This hopefully means hazard will have more support from Azpilicueta in attack too. 

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

[Anthon_nini 21]

19 hours ago, Belgiannutt said:

Sorry but that's just ridiculous. Do you really need the expertise of medics and doctors to realize you can't run ? After his fall against Leicester he was struggling to just walk off the pitch. He actually had to pause and take a couple of seconds before he could continue walking again to the touchline. I mean he missed the next game and then almost 2 weeks later he still wasn't 100 % and only played 25 minutes. Seems like pretty conclusive proof that the injury was serious.

Against Palace he strained his groin taking a shot on goal, tried to continue and 5 minutes later he slipped which worsened the injury. Again do you really need a medic or doctor's expertise to realize you've strained your groin and shouldn't continue ?

Also it's pretty clear that he wasn't 100 % when he came in against Watford and started against Man United 2 days later. Hiddink even said so. No coincidence that he injured his groin on the same side as his hip injury.

 

You say his attitude stinks. That he shows zero fight and commitment but if that really was the case then why didn't he just tell Hiddink that he wasn't 100 % and couldn't play against Watford (Won the penalty remember?), Man United and Palace ?

Why go through the trouble ? Why would he try if his attitude stinks ? If he doesn't want to fight ? If he isn't commited to us ? Why try ?

 

I get the feeling that due to Hazard's lack of injuries people seem to think that he's always 100 %. That he never plays with minor injuries, which is simply impossible with the amount of times he gets the absolute shit kicked out of him. 

I think a lot of people underestimate Hazard's abillity to presevere, to play with injuries. He's played 188 games for us in 3 and a half seasons. (stat stolen from Styles ) 

There's no way he played all those games, in such a short time, without having to go through pain and other difficulties from injuries. I mean how many times does he get kicked from behind on the ankles and his achilles. How many times have oppponents stomped on his feet.

How many times have they kicked him on the legs because they were either to slow or trying to cynically stop him.

There's no way he could have played all those games without being strong-willed to play.

 

"He is the most undeserving recipient of the Player of the Year award I can remember"

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

It really wasn't. You're rewriting history there. Last season he wasn't great in the first 2 months( August & September) but from October he was performing really well and created lots of chances. Only difference between before january and after january is that he became more decisive. After January and onwards he got the goals and assists that won us games. 

Pretty sure Matic was among the players that had a dip in form around the january period. Him, Cahill, Ivanovic dropping form was a big reason of why we went more pragmatic. ( along with Fabregas, Oscar and Costa dropping form aswell)

Terry and Azpi were consistent but as a defender it's easier being consistent as there are quite a number of games where our defense had very little to do. Before january we were dominating the opponents and they weren't really able to threaten us that much.

After january we went very defensive which made it easier for our defenders as they had more support. To be clear not saying they didn't have great season but were their performances of such a level that they deserved the accolade over Hazard ?

No I don't think so.

Hazard carried our attack that second part of the season. It was all on him to create our chances. He had a free role but in exchange was given very little support. In difficult circumstances, with the title on the line, he stepped up. If he didn't we wouldn't have won the league.

 

Why would Bale, James, Griezmann want to come here ? Why would they leave their club that has CL football for one that doesn't ? I've seen people say "well it would only be for 1 season" but we can't guarantee that so why would they take the risk.

Also they have other teams after them aswell that can offer CL football next season. So again why would they come here ? Reus is injury prone. Just take a look at his injury record.  I don't think he would take too well to the PL.

The tackles, the amount games we play in short time, no winter break.

"We play better without him"

And you're basing this on what exactly ? The Sunderland game ? Watford game ?  Palace game ? 

We've been a bit better under Hiddink. All the players seem to be performing better under him.

Before you make such claims shouldn't you actually wait untill Hazard plays a couple of games under Hiddink ?

So far he's played 25 minutes against Watford and 90 minutes against Man United. He won the penalty against Watford that should have won us the 3 points and created the best chance for us in the Man United game, playing out of position, while not being 100% fit.

 

Ivanovic gets slagged off more because he's  clearly passed his best. While he's improved his performances from the beginning of the season he still gets beaten far too easily in 1 on 1 situations and his attacking contributions are close to zero even though he gets the most space out of all our players.

Hazard became 25 just a couple of days ago. He still has a lot of football left to play and it's a lot more likely that he'll regain his form.

 

Don't get why you're bringing up Drogba's return. I don't think anyone here actually believes Drogba is coming back to motivate Hazard to stay. He's simply here to appease the fans.

 

Honestly don't want to go too deep into the whole Azpi left back thing as this post is already extremely long. I'll just say this.

I don't like Azpi on the left. Azpi on the left is an extremely negative, pragmatic choice. Hazard would thrive (and would have thrived) much more if he got (had gotten) an actual left footed attacking fullback overlapping him.

 

"You aren't allowed the freedom in the Premier League that Barcelona can offer Messi, Neymar, and Suarez."

City frequently play with 2 attacking fullbacks, a 2 man midfield consisting of Fernandinho and Yaya Touré and a front four Sterling Silva De Bruyne Aguero.

It's possible if you have the balls.

It doesn't have to be so extreme as Barcelona but it is possible for our widemen not to have to defend so deep. If you push up your defense then your attackers, along with your midfield, have far less ground to cover. Otherwise our front players have to constantly run 40- 50-60 yards to get back into position then when we recover the ball they have to run 40-50-60 yards before they get into the final third of the opposition.

 

Willian is Willian, Hazard is Hazard. Willian doesn't have the abillity that Hazard has on the ball. Hazard doesn't have the stamina and workrate that Willian has. Play them to their strenghts and don't shoehorn them into a role that doesn't suit them.

 

"as a number 10 (where he struggles to impose himself on the opposition)" 

Struggles to impose huh. Norwich, Stoke and Stoke in the COC. He's played his best games this season on the 10.

 

Exactly! Spot on, I couldn't have said it any better 

[Blue Armour 4,278]

3 hours ago, xPetrCechx said:

 

Haha, hope there are a few Arsenal fans squirming over that one. Gets pretty annoying to hear them bleat about Sanchez over Hazard.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

He would've had a shot at Top 3 if he maintained his 14/15 form. The fact he finished 8th despite his disastrous 15/16 speaks volumes about just how phenomenal he was last season.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

34 minutes ago, Gilvorak said:

He would've had a shot at Top 3 if he maintained his 14/15 form. The fact he finished 8th despite his disastrous 15/16 speaks volumes about just how phenomenal he was last season.

Shame he ruined all this season...

[El P. 1,354]

4 hours ago, xPetrCechx said:

Shame he ruined all this season...

Well, I think our 'double' is still in the cabinet, so... Nothing ruined.