Eden Hazard

[TrippingStep 336]

So, it looks like I'm the only one who thought he had a very good game. His work-rate was exceptional and he tracked every single run El Mohammady made which are quite a lot. He linked up with the team incredibly well in the first half, and even though we didn't really attack much in the second he still won us a hand full of FKs. For me he was a close second for MOTM after Oscar.

I didn't see the first 30 minutes.

But I understand those who are worried by his lack of pace.

It will surely come back but for now it seems more like how he was under Di Matteo than Benitez in his physical condition and overall play ( you can at least give that to Benitez, he did a great job with Eden last year).

It just seems to me that Hazard during the first phase of preparation is more prone to add fat and takes more time to cut it, maybe just his metabolism that is like that.

[Stingray 9,441]

Hazards last year good form at the beginning of the season was actually the exception - not his current form. People who have watched him at Lille (Hkibou and others) rightly mentioned lst season, he is normally a slow starter and is on fire after new year. Last year he started off like a bomb, then faded and didn't reach his top form until after his suspension.

For example:

Season 2008/2009 - he doesn't become a starter untill the end of january. Then bursting through and winning young player of the year.

Season 2009/2010 - he scores his FIRST league goal on 20 december against Le Mans. He did score 3 goals before december in the Europa League though. Again he picked up form, resulting in a player of the year award nomination. He was also nominated, for the second consecutive season, for the Young Player of the Year award. Later, Hazard was awarded the UNFP Young Player of the Year trophy for the second consecutive season.

Season 2010/2011 - he is a starter but becomes benched due to inconsistent form by Garcia in September. He picks it up by the end of October after having the same peformance issues at the Belgian NT. In january - up goes the form resulting in a contract renewal.

Season 2011/2012 - he starts of ok but without scoring too much. Slowly he picks it up and reaches his top form by the end of february breaking team stats on assists and stuff. Hazard was nominated for the UNFP Player of the Year award as a result and wins it. He was also included in the Team of the Year for the third straight season and scored his first hattrick in his final match.

He seems to need a lot of games to get his form up to par. I think for him the challenge will be to get to his top form earlier in the season. I am sure they are prepping him to get there real soon, without running the risk of a form fall back like last year.

I prefer it that way actually. Just my two cents!

[Hkibou 622]

Indeed, Hazard is a diesel, which is probably due to the fact that he's not as involved as he should be during holidays and summer pre-season physical training. March - April - May have always been its best period of the year, that's rather nice given that's when big games are played.

But also it's in his personality. He's like that during games, more often than the other, he begins the game averagely and finishes it man of the match. And the more balls he will touch, the more acute he'll be on the pitch... That's why I like him better as main playmaker, to touch as many balls as possible. I think he would have less issues getting in form in time for the first matches if he played in that position.

[communicate 2,703]

Indeed, Hazard is a diesel, which is probably due to the fact that he's not as involved as he should be during holidays and summer pre-season physical training. March - April - May have always been its best period of the year, that's rather nice given that's when big games are played.

But also it's in his personality. He's like that during games, more often than the other, he begins the game averagely and finishes it man of the match. And the more balls he will touch, the more acute he'll be on the pitch... That's why I like him better as main playmaker, to touch as many balls as possible. I think he would have less issues getting in form in time for the first matches if he played in that position.

The thing is if he want to be considered a true wc player he cannot do that. He need to be consistently good for whole season.

I still think his best position is on the left wing. He is not really a playmaker. He is more of a dribbler

[Hkibou 622]

The thing is if he want to be considered a true wc player he cannot do that. He need to be consistently good for whole season.

I still think his best position is on the left wing. He is not really a playmaker. He is more of a dribbler

Name one player consistent throughout all season except Bayern players (which is different, the collective performance necessarilly improves individual ones) and Messi and CR7.

And even if you can, i bet you he's older than 22.

The thing is also that Hazard has already been 2 seasons consistent enough to win Ligue 1 best player award and being the most used player of Ligue 1 (103 consecutive appearance in a row, record yet to be broken). He just needs a month or two to reach his full form.

In fact he's already shown more proofs of consistency in his young career than Van Persie, Aguero, ever have, due to injuries or period of bad form. Would you deny them the status of world class players ?

[Chelsea? 892]

So fucking sick of ppl that watched him before Chelsea acting like they are eden harzard experts.

[Chelsea? 892]

Hazards last year good form at the beginning of the season was actually the exception - not his current form. People who have watched him at Lille (Hkibou and others) rightly mentioned lst season, he is normally a slow starter and is on fire after new year. Last year he started off like a bomb, then faded and didn't reach his top form until after his suspension.

For example:

Season 2008/2009 - he doesn't become a starter untill the end of january. Then bursting through and winning young player of the year.

Season 2009/2010 - he scores his FIRST league goal on 20 december against Le Mans. He did score 3 goals before december in the Europa League though. Again he picked up form, resulting in a player of the year award nomination. He was also nominated, for the second consecutive season, for the Young Player of the Year award. Later, Hazard was awarded the UNFP Young Player of the Year trophy for the second consecutive season.

Season 2010/2011 - he is a starter but becomes benched due to inconsistent form by Garcia in September. He picks it up by the end of October after having the same peformance issues at the Belgian NT. In january - up goes the form resulting in a contract renewal.

Season 2011/2012 - he starts of ok but without scoring too much. Slowly he picks it up and reaches his top form by the end of february breaking team stats on assists and stuff. Hazard was nominated for the UNFP Player of the Year award as a result and wins it. He was also included in the Team of the Year for the third straight season and scored his first hattrick in his final match.

He seems to need a lot of games to get his form up to par. I think for him the challenge will be to get to his top form earlier in the season. I am sure they are prepping him to get there real soon, without running the risk of a form fall back like last year.

I prefer it that way actually. Just my two cents!

my comment wasn't directed at you, u presented stats to back up your point.

[Chelsea? 892]

Name one player consistent throughout all season except Bayern players (which is different, the collective performance necessarilly improves individual ones) and Messi and CR7.

And even if you can, i bet you he's older than 22.

The thing is also that Hazard has already been 2 seasons consistent enough to win Ligue 1 best player award and being the most used player of Ligue 1 (103 consecutive appearance in a row, record yet to be broken). He just needs a month or two to reach his full form.

In fact he's already shown more proofs of consistency in his young career than Van Persie, Aguero, ever have, due to injuries or period of bad form. Would you deny them the status of world class players ?

no one paid the equivalent of 150k+ a week for those guys when they were 22 either. idc what those guys did. asking for consistency isn't too much to ask for.

[Tomo 21,733]

True but if he really wants to be compared to CR/Messi or even the likes of Ibra, RVP, Ribery etc he needs more consistency.

WC players play well even when the team doesn't. See Mata last season.....

Ronaldo use to constantly disappear from games when he was at Man.utd (especially big ones).

[LukakutoStamford 779]

How can I change my name?

I'd like to change it to EdenHazardExpert

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

So fucking sick of ppl that watched him before Chelsea acting like they are eden harzard experts.

Wtf

[Thor 2,451]

From what I've seen on here it seems to be a somewhat consensus that he was average last game or something. The fact is, he actually dominated the game as much as anyone yesterday in the period it was won; the first 30 minutes.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Ronaldo use to constantly disappear from games when he was at Man.utd (especially big ones).

Myth. Ronaldo was far more consistent than Hazard. There's a reason Utd won 3 straight League titles after that WC year.

[Hkibou 622]

Myth. Ronaldo was far more consistent than Hazard. There's a reason Utd won 3 straight League titles after that WC year.

Ferguson, Giggs, Scholes, Van der Sar, Rooney ? Ronaldo was good, not as consistent in my memories as you say he was, but either way you can't expect Eden being more consistent for his first year at Chelsea, first year in Premier League, in a team that is clearly transitioning toward a new cycle was much more youth in the squad...

Don't you know anything about football at all ? That in that sport one individual performance cannot be judged ex nihilo ?

FFS some Chelsea fans are really acting like spoiled brats. You have so much talent in your squad that it seems some of you absolutely want to complain about sthg...

Poor dear, young golden boy winner Eden Hazard only score 9 and delivered 13 for his first year in PL, what a shame he's not as efficient as Ronaldo or Messi ! What a shitty player, unable to score 30 per season... Maybe you want some pills to get over your frustration of having such a shitty team to support ?

[Pacquiao 1,834]

I can really see Mourinho using Hazard like Ronaldo and hardly ever take him off and start him almost every game! He clearly wasn't having the best of games 2nd half against Hull, when Schurrle was coming on i was sure it would be for Hazard, but Jose kept him on for the whole match, plus the fact he started almost every game in pre-season! i think Hazard will be playing more minutes than anyone this season!

[Stingray 9,441]

Ferguson, Giggs, Scholes, Van der Sar, Rooney ? Ronaldo was good, not as consistent in my memories as you say he was, but either way you can't expect Eden being more consistent for his first year at Chelsea, first year in Premier League, in a team that is clearly transitioning toward a new cycle was much more youth in the squad...

Don't you know anything about football at all ? That in that sport one individual performance cannot be judged ex nihilo ?

FFS some Chelsea fans are really acting like spoiled brats. You have so much talent in your squad that it seems some of you absolutely want to complain about sthg...

Poor dear, young golden boy winner Eden Hazard only score 9 and delivered 13 for his first year in PL, what a shame he's not as efficient as Ronaldo or Messi ! What a shitty player, unable to score 30 per season... Maybe you want some pills to get over your frustration of having such a shitty team to support ?

I have posted this before but the judgement on Ronaldo is biased by his current performances.

First year at Manu (2003/2004) : 40 games total. 6 goals, 7 assists

Second year at Manu (2004/2005): 50 games total. 9 goals, 10 assists

Third year at Manu (2005/2006): 47 games total: 8 goals, 8 assists

This was about Eden age now.

The year after Ronaldo put on the heat with 23 goals and 19 assists in 53 games.

So ..... based on facts, it is safe to say Eden is on the right track. Check it out:

To compare: in his last Lille year (2011/2012) , Eden played 49 games, 22 goals and 17 goals. In a lighter league, but he was also younger than when Ronaldo did this at Manu. Same stats as Ronaldo on fire at Manu ......

In our effort to be polically correct, we downplay our biggest talent. Pearls for the swines, as we say in Belgium.

Edit: source, just wiki because I am too lazy to look it all up again. This thread is like Groundhog Day sometimes.

[TrippingStep 336]

Hazards last year good form at the beginning of the season was actually the exception - not his current form. People who have watched him at Lille (Hkibou and others) rightly mentioned lst season, he is normally a slow starter and is on fire after new year. Last year he started off like a bomb, then faded and didn't reach his top form until after his suspension.

For example:

Season 2008/2009 - he doesn't become a starter untill the end of january. Then bursting through and winning young player of the year.

Season 2009/2010 - he scores his FIRST league goal on 20 december against Le Mans. He did score 3 goals before december in the Europa League though. Again he picked up form, resulting in a player of the year award nomination. He was also nominated, for the second consecutive season, for the Young Player of the Year award. Later, Hazard was awarded the UNFP Young Player of the Year trophy for the second consecutive season.

Season 2010/2011 - he is a starter but becomes benched due to inconsistent form by Garcia in September. He picks it up by the end of October after having the same peformance issues at the Belgian NT. In january - up goes the form resulting in a contract renewal.

Season 2011/2012 - he starts of ok but without scoring too much. Slowly he picks it up and reaches his top form by the end of february breaking team stats on assists and stuff. Hazard was nominated for the UNFP Player of the Year award as a result and wins it. He was also included in the Team of the Year for the third straight season and scored his first hattrick in his final match.

He seems to need a lot of games to get his form up to par. I think for him the challenge will be to get to his top form earlier in the season. I am sure they are prepping him to get there real soon, without running the risk of a form fall back like last year.

I prefer it that way actually. Just my two cents!

2011-2012, he actually started in very good shape.

Lille were doing a less intense pre-season to be more sharp in the beginning of the season.

As for the stats, it was just a change in his role. He played in the second part of the season as 9 1/2 behind Tulio. Lille decided to play less possession.

In the first half of the season, Lille was better in midfield but with Payet not in form after an injury, Cole not very pacy and just Sow as the target man, they lacked firepower.

And for me last year, he didn't started that good. It wasn't until Benitez arrived, that him and some other players had more dynamism in their play with a different physical training.

When Di Matteo was fired, the team was in shambles and had very poor fitness.

For 2008-2009, I don't think it's a good reference as he was 18 years old in january.

What I notice, is that he has a power training, diet or whatever, he starts slowly and takes time to have the smoothness and dynamism he showed in the last 3-4 months of last year.

[Styles 9,790]

I though he was very good against Hull and don't see what people mean by slow start. He helped create the Oscar goal and created more chances for Torres and Lampard.In the second half our inability to just keep possession meant he was a little quieter but he was terrific in the first half.

According to whoscored.com (best stats site around) he made 6 key passes in the game, more than any other player. Very promising first game.

It seems that unless he scores a hattrick every game some people won't be pleased.