Eden Hazard

[fAnta 107]

Hazard was out of position today but displayed virtuoso characteristics. Very impressive could've easily had 3 assist today. England look poor though Belgium didn't penetrate too strongly until Lukaku came on as a striker in some form causing more problems. It's a shame we're going to be missing this team in the Euros it really is. They have some exciting player. Is it true Gerrard got MOTM I didn't see after game. That would be disgrace if it is.

[fAnta 107]

Hazard himself said he's signing for the European champions, he was pictured signing a Chelsea shirt for a fan, SSN showed video footage of a fan welcoming him to Chelsea and Hazard replying thank you. He's also following Chelsea FC, Mata & Luiz twitter. Hint much

So stop with the negativity!

I use as signature

[Kojo 4,676]

I'm so pissed off, i was waiting for Saturday for ages, and then it turns out Hulk and Hazard haven't even signed...

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

The Telegraph also wrote a fair article:

Having talked the talk over the last few weeks – with his Twitter teasing, his declarations and very public courting from a host of Premier League clubs – Hazard walked the walk. He was, on occasions, a class apart from England.

Playing as a ‘false No 9’, the role taken with such accomplished élan by Lionel Messi at Barcelona, Belgium’s No 10 showed why comparisons with the Argentinian are premature but not outlandish. Technically, tactically with speed of thought and flight of foot, he provided numerous problems for his opponents.

In a sense, this was the perfect workout for England and for the Chelsea-dominated defence – even right-back Glen Johnson used to play for the club – fielded by manager Roy Hodgson. It would appear to be the combination the manager is heading towards when he puts his team out against France in that first Euro 2012 group game in just eight days’ time.

England lost one of those players, Gary Cahill, early on after a clash with Joe Hart when he was pushed into the goalkeeper, but they also, at times, lost their sense of equilibrium. For all the defensive rigour and team shape demanded by Hodgson, this England were too rigid, too formulaic and not able to comfortably deal with the fluidity of their opponents whose crime was to lack a cutting edge.

Like England’s forthcoming opponents France, with Franck Ribéry, and Sweden, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Belgians possessed a ‘special player’ in Hazard. How would England cope? The Belgium coach Marc Wilmots initially set the 21 year-old in that relatively unfamiliar position of being the furthest forward. It was the first time he had played there for his country but he took to it with ease, interchanging across the front-line and dropping off to damaging effect.

They call it playing ‘between the lines’ and it is the most dangerous place to play. Unfortunately England are short of players who can fulfil that function and despite Hodgson’s protestations, they do not appear to be encouraged to do so either with this approach.

It remains a very flat 4-4-2 so when Hazard played up through the middle he was dealt with easily by John Terry — with one strong challenge early on — but when he slipped out wide he skipped around first Johnson and then Ashley Cole. Moments later Cole, as a form of retaliation maybe, hacked him down. Welcome to Chelsea, Eden.

Hazard’s danger had been recognised even before the game kicked off. His name was roundly booed when it was read out but he brushed that aside with an air of a young man who knows how good he is. In movement and in possession he exuded that sense of confidence and the words of his now former Lille team-mate, Joe Cole, rang true. “Hazard is different class,” Cole said. “He’s still only 21 and has definitely got another few gears to go up. He’s got the same attitude as Wayne Rooney at that age – he’s fearless. He knows how good he is.”

In style, even in gait and appearance, Cole may indeed be the closest England possess to Hazard, although he is not as quick and does not move the ball as intelligently as when the Belgian opened his opponents up with a wall-pass to Marouane Fellaini or delivered a superb weighted pass into the path of Dries Mertens.

England went ahead but it was hugely flattering. In fairness, Belgium lacked that goal threat and paid for it, just as they had in not qualifying for Euro 2012 and although Hazard took to his new role, he was more effective when he dropped deeper. His team needed another striker but it was a problem position for them as it has been for England.

That lack of a finisher was shown early in the second half, when Hazard teed up Fellaini, after he again ran at the England defence, only for the midfielder to shoot weakly at Hart. Again the weight of pass had created the opportunity.

As prettily as they played, Belgium struggled to get in behind England. That was partly because Hodgson’s tactics meant his defence, in particular, dropped very deep while Scott Parker appeared to be struggling for fitness and the rest of the midfield was overly concerned about stopping their opponents who patently dominated possession and used the ball more cleverly.

England’s approach to the forthcoming European championships is clear. They will sit back, they will protect their goal, soak up pressure and even allow their opponents to take more possession — and then try and counter quickly and directly.

Belgium altered things by pushing Fellaini furthest forward and allowed Hazard to be the team’s creative hub. However, Hazard’s and Belgium’s neat build-up play continued to go unrewarded.England became increasingly stoic and the only criticism of Hazard might be a concern over whether he has the physical strength to break down such rugged defending. That will be the hope that England take with them to Poland when they prepare to face other special players such as Ribéry and Ibrahimovic.It won’t be pretty but it might be effective. Hazard, meanwhile, has the capacity to be both.

Even Dail Fail were pretty fair:

His style is more Joe Cole than Luka Modric but Eden Hazard did everything he could to prove his worth at Wembley.

The stats added up for the attacking midfielder in his first performance after saying he is joining Chelsea from Lille, too, but an end result was missing:

Hazard took 90 touches in his 90-minute appearance, 27 more than the busiest England player.

Attempted and completed more passes than any other player - 62 of 71 on target.

Fired the most shots - with two on target and two wayward.

Created six chances as he roamed around the England half.

The Mirror on the other hand:

Hazard warning: Wonderkid fails to shine at Wembley

The title says it all, they are a bunch of clueless idiots.

[Dec 33]

It is jubilee weekend and both Hazard and Hulk are on International duty. Hazard played today so unless it was going to be done after the match then of course he wouldn't sign today (by this time it would be about 9 and too late to call a press conference), Hulk is also with Brazil and expected to play for Brazil against Mexico tomorrow in Dallas, USA.

[Dec 33]

What did you expect? Both are on international duty and for all we know haven't got permission from their countries to speak with the club. Hulk is currently in Dallas, USA and expected to play against Mexico today at 8:00pm BST, while Hazard was playing at 5:15pm BST yesterday so wouldn't have gotten to Chelsea until about 8pm and that is too late to call a press conference even without doing a medical.

Edit: Sorry didn't think my other post came though so I wrote this one, my apologies.

[incometax 116]

Not to mention that Lampard has commented on the signing.

http://soccernet.esp...chelsea?cc=5901

There is plenty of evidence that this is all but done. Dont get all the freak outs on here still

I think everyone is still in a state of denial tbh, hence the parinoia. We were having worst season ever fighting for top 4, with the future looking bad and more mangerial merry go round non-sense and facing europa league next season. NExt thing you know fa cup, Champions league Winners, on the verge of signing the best wingers and possibly a future ballon dor winnner hulk and hazard(who looked to be so manchester bound). OH and were also linked to pep. So its been a crazy month at cfc and I can't really articulate the massive shock its been. So yes people, me included will be pesimistic this deal goes through cause its all to good to be true.

[jjd06e 37]

Sorry if already posted, Lille posted a tribute video to Hazard on their site

http://www.losc.fr/losc-tv/videos/hommage-eden-hazard

[Shane 2,275]

PMSL at The MIrror's article. Its as bad as Arsenal, United and City fans trying to convince themselves they've dodged a bullet.

Hazard came to Chelsea for success lads, and thats what he's going to get.

[holdonzzz 1]

PMSL at The MIrror's article. Its as bad as Arsenal, United and City fans trying to convince themselves they've dodged a bullet.

Hazard came to Chelsea for success lads, and thats what he's going to get.

they're just jealous , because chelsea got a classy player ...

hazard will be success at chelsea ...

[Kostas 1,468]

Is it just me or does he look similar to Assassin Creed's Altair?

[rasyiqCFC99 0]

Guys when Hazard valid as chelsea player we need Informaion About hazard..

Thanks... please give current Information about Hazard

[The Skipper 20,593]

Hi guys, first post here. Just wanted to share my excitement about us potentially wrapping up Eden Hazard and Hulk.

Signing Hazard (99% really) and Hulk will change the dynamic in the team enormously. It's probably been discussed to death on here but just wanted to throw my opinion about it in here anyway. Here's what I think we'll get when we sign these two gentlemen:

• Tactical flexibility:
  

​A very big plus. When we sign these two, regardless of who becomes the manager, the depth in our team will increase ten-folds. We can easily switch from a 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1 to a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-2-2-2 or 4-4-2 without even having to substitute players. This will give the whole team a sense of unpredictability, which will obviously aid hugely in us breaking down teams who are stubborn to break through.

We failed hard at the likes of Norwich, Aston Villa and Swansea last season simply because we had a lack of unpredictability in my opinion. With the players we had it was hard to switch it up. Teams know how to play against us, they know that parking the bus and trying to hit Chelsea on the counter is the best, and easiest way to potentially hurt them. Whatever manager comes in will have a great squad to utilise simply because we've added these two to our ranks. We have the likes of Sturridge, Marin, Kevin De Bruyne and Kakuta still coming through, which will also again add to versatility and unpredictability as such.

You could easily have:

Torres

Hazard - Mata - Hulk

Ramires - Mikel

or

Torres

Hazard - Hulk

Mata - Mikel - Ramires

or

Torres - Hulk

Mata - Hazard

Mikel - Ramires

or

Torres - Hulk

Hazard - Mikel - Ramires - Mata

etc. etc. etc.

The reason I included Ramires in the -2- in midfield is because I think we have to play him. He was my player of the season for sure. He's grown leaps and bounds this season, and he will be an integral part of our team next season if utilised properly. People will probably bring up the Napoli game where he and Meireles had a shocker in that -2- midfield role but we must remember that he is playing next to Mikel here. Ramires isn't really a possession based individual but that doesn't mean he wouldn't work in that double pivot. Ramires can essentially be the ball winning midfielder in that -2- with Mikel being the anchor man who protects the defence. Ramires' pace and determination could allow us to win the ball back easily and then lay it off to any attacking player around. The reason I think we don't need two possession based midfielders in the -2- in a 4-2-3-1 is because if we added the likes of Hazard and Hulk into the team there would be no need! Hazard is exceptional at keeping the ball and keeping play simple, and so is Mata. The players can obviously easily interchange positions too, again adding to that unpredictability.

I feel Mikel would thrive with the responsibility of keeping the team in tact when he has five attackers ahead of him. As long as one or two drop deep to link up play he'll be fine. Mikel is outstanding under pressure in my opinion.

Most Porto fans also say that Hulk works hard for the team, so he wouldn't have a big problem fitting in either when trying to keep possession. Even though I keep using the words possession please don't think that I'm into that Tiki-Taka stuff, I'm only alluding to when we actually need to keep possession which will inevitably happen in games against weaker teams. I will discuss it later in my post.

If we did need to hold onto possession though you could replace Ramires with Lampard in the team as I feel him and Mikel are also superb together in that midfield two.

Regarding Ramires again, he doesn't necessarily stick to being the ball-winning midfielder. He can obviously join in attack as well when the threat of opposing teams aren't too frightening. His trademark runs with the ball wouldn't go to waste! He can easily come in from deep ala Lampard and be another goal threat. That's 5 players teams would have to worry about!

Exciting times ahead in my opinion. So much versatility.

• More space for individual players and the ability to break down stubborn teams::
  

​How many times do we see the likes of Torres, Lampard or Mata being crowded out/man marked by several players! Teams know that if you isolate one or two of our players that our attack will be ineffective. Adding the likes of Hazard and Hulk to our ranks will change that completely. Teams wouldn't know who to mark, it would be an impossible job trying to devise a plan against five players (Torres, Mata, Hazard, Hulk and Ramires) who could provide something special at any given period. Nightmare. There is bound to be bags of space for a couple of our players.

Give Ramires space, he will hurt you. Give Mata space, he will hurt you. Give Hazard or Hulk space... You get the idea. I repeat it will be a nightmare for teams to handle in my opinion, especially if all of them turn up and have exceptional games.

• An attacking brand of football:
  

​We don't necessarily have to play the Tiki Taka football that Roman allegedly craves. To me, a fast paced, give and go, direct, counter-attacking football is equally as exciting. With the likes of Hazard, Hulk, Mata, Ramires and Torres attacking on all fronts we could easily alternate these philosophies though. Mata and Hazard are possession based footballers; Hulk and Ramires would destroy on the counter. Destroy. You can just imagine it. It would be fascinating stuff. Torres is a hybrid between the two in my opinion. He can do the give and go stuff, he is lethal on the counter, but in my opinion he's also capable of playing a more possession or team based game. His 18 assists last season alludes to that.

Whoever becomes the manager has to find the right balance between the two in my opinion. I would love for us to develop our own style, almost a hybrid between Tiki-Taka and your stereotypical fast paced counter-attacking English play. It would be what Roman wants in my opinion. Carlo Ancelotti said in his biography IIRC that Roman wanted Chelsea to have their own identity ala Barcelona, and with a hybrid like that it really is possible. Hard to accomplish perhaps as it would need to be drilled into the team over time but worthwhile. Biesla at Atlethic Bilbao actually plays a kind of similar style. Yes, he is a nutcase but the way his team destroyed United in the Europa League this season! They kept the ball, almost annoying United, but still creating chances, and when they lost the ball they would win it back and the likes of Muniain and Llorente would make forward runs almost immediately before a lethal counter attack would be launched.

It is that sort of hybrid I would love to see at CFC. It would take time though but it is possible!

I don't wan't the Tiki-Taka here strictly as I don't believe it would be as effective in the PL, but if we could blend in elements from it and translate it into the English game of fast paced football, it could really be something. I don't want that slow build up play, I'd rather our attack be known for being lethal and ruthless. Don't really want to get into the managerial debate but maybe Pep Guardiola could adapt his strategies (or Barcelona's) to the English game, Roberto Di Matteo isn't too shabby at playing attacking football either, his WBA played phenomenal football at time. That brings me onto...

• Better marketability:
  

There will obviously be a bigger following of CFC if we sign these guys but! I'm talking about marketability, "player"-wise. You do know that with Hazard rejecting United and City and choosing us instead, that we've become even more attractive, especially to the young up and coming footballers. Yes, the fact that we're European Champions obviously was a major factor but if Hazard, Hulk, Torres and Mata all play to their full potential and form a devastating attack, every player would look at Chelsea if we came in for them and think "Wow! I really want to play for that team!" just like teams do with Barcelona. Alexis Sanchez refused other teams earlier this year as soon as he heard Barca were interested as to many their brand of football is scintillating. If our attack becomes lethal and everything falls into place we'd become so much more attractive to so many more players, and other fans might start to respect us too.

--

I'll be ending my insight here though as I think I've blabbered a bit (woops!) but oh well! Hopefully it won't be frowned upon. Just offering my two cents.

Really do hope we sign Hazard and Hulk, that would be us done for the summer practically and also send out a huge statement to the PL and other European clubs. If we really wanted to push it we could perhaps add another centre mid into the squad (a top quality one) and dispose of squad players such as Meireles or Malouda to a certain extent. Even Essien. Although I love him, I think he's finished sadly. I'd gladly eat my words if he proves me wrong next season. (I like Meireles and Essien but if we can get a CM with first team potential quality then I don't think we need them as we'd be carrying too many midfielders.)

Like I said just my two cents!

- The Skipper

[Shane 2,275]

Just posted an article about Hazard and Hulk in the articles forum, would love some feedback

[manpe 10,861]

Hi guys, first post here.

What a fucking way to make your debut, son!

[The Skipper 20,593]

What a fucking way to make your debut, son!

Hahaha! Thank you, just a simple insight every Chelsea fan should be thinking about though, I just tried to put it into words!

[ulsterchelsea 3,221]

Hazard will be confirmed today, I'm almost sure about it. We have agreed the fee already to the best of my knowledge and his personal terms seem sorted. He's in London now and I don't think Belgium have any more games left to play so its extremely unlikely he won't be down to cobham today for a medical. Because no press conference is scheduled for today means nothing. Torres was signed early hours and there was no press conference until a day or 2 later. If its not done today id say he isn't coming and has agreed to join the 08 champions league winner.............I'M JOKING! Relax people who don't seem to be sleeping worrying about this, when he comes he comes. Now turn the computers off and go to sleep

[Ssai 2]

Wat I saw yesterday made me happy.. He possess everytin a premiership player must av.. Pace, vision, dribblin skill, shot, etc.. I cant wait to see the combination of torres, mata, hazard, hulk.. CHELSEA wil be unstoppable next season.. Up chelsea