Eden Hazard

[The only place to be 11,313]

Hazard fucked up, so did Mourinho imo. What is the deal with that statement. Or do you think he put up a tactical masterclass?

I think if we do what we did against Liverpool and win 1-0 against a better team then a few people call it a 'tactical masterclass'.

But tactics don't just exist on the whiteboard at Cobham - they have to be executed by every member of the team. Hazard didn't, so the narrative becomes something else.

In Madrid he set his team up and 11 men did their jobs - he got the result.

In Liverpool he set his team up and 11 men did their jobs - he got the result.

On Wednesday he set his team up and 10 men did their jobs.

Ok, fair enough, that's one example out of 9 defeats this season. Against Newcastle, Sunderland, Villa, and PSG he either criticized his players or blamed the refs.

So you don't like him blaming the refs, don't like him criticising players and forget when he takes the blame.

What you want is a mute manager - why don't you lead by example?

[bushman 2,043]

I'd take it on board and make sure I was better, after all, the boss is the boss for a reason.

Some might, others may feel it is not justified. Two ways of looking at it. Especially in the public.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Yet noone talks about this, really.

If you want to talk about it then you have to start at the beginning - why was Eto'o on the pitch? Because we had to chase the game.

Put simply we had to chase the game against la liga leaders with a midfield of Luiz and Ramires and no top-class striker. If Jose wanted to do that then he'd have done that from the first minute, not the 55th.

We might not have lost the game because of Eden, but we lost our best chance of winning it because of him.

[Special Juan 28,141]

Some might, others may feel it is not justified. Two ways of looking at it. Especially in the public.

Moap about it or do something about it, not a difficult choice is it?

[Stingray 9,441]

On Wednesday he set his team up and 10 men did their jobs.

Again I refer to the penalty plus the lack of attacking contributions from others (or did you find the passing % of the central midfield adequate for a semi final for example). It is much more than just one piece of the machinery not functioning. It was more like general failure sparked by several individual mistakes - not just Hazards. Though he played one of the more visible roles (together with the completely ignored eto'o)

[Stingray 9,441]

If you want to talk about it then you have to start at the beginning - why was Eto'o on the pitch? Because we had to chase the game.

We might not have lost the game because of Eden, but we lost our best chance of winning it because of him.

I will put the question right back and start at the beginning: why was Eden on the pitch? Especially after an injury?

Those are Mourinho decisions. A leader takes responsibility. You win as a team, you lose as a team.

[bushman 2,043]

Moap about it or do something about it, not a difficult choice is it?

It could backfire? Pull Hazard aside, tell him about it, but in the public.

[Pizy 18,897]

Pretty scathing words from José there.

Hopefully Eden takes it the right way and agrees with him. Maybe we'll see a nice, positive reaction at the weekend.

I would like to think this won't be another CR7 situation like last season when José said something about Ronaldo not taking advice on how to improve and help the team more. Their relationship crumbled after that.

Hazard seems to be keen to learn and improve unlike Ronaldo.

[Special Juan 28,141]

It could backfire? Pull Hazard aside, tell him about it, but in the public.

Nothing to backfire too, Jose is the boss, doesn't matter how Eden takes it.

[didierforever 7,349]

Practically, you are spot on, but this is not the first time Jose is deflecting blame away from himself to hide his failures.

jose's to blame? for what? for setting us up perfectly?

[The only place to be 11,313]

I will put the question right back and start at the beginning: why was Eden on the pitch? Especially after an injury?

Those are Mourinho decisions. A leader takes responsibility. You win as a team, you lose as a team.

He was playing because he was assessed as being fit. Honestly I'm not sure what the injury has to do with anything though. Could he not track Juanfran's run because of his injury? The fact that he was so vibrant and full of running at the end of the match suggests he wasn't suffering any after-effects of his injury

Mourinho's decision was to set up his team accordingly. Against a better team we were 1-0 up in the semi-final of the Champions League. Atletico Madrid had to attack us, and we had to defend and possibly look to hit them on the counter, something Jose had done EXPERTLY just a few days earlier with a much weaker team.

In that position you want one thing - 100% commitment to the cause from every player on the pitch.

Again I refer to the penalty plus the lack of attacking contributions from others (or did you find the passing % of the central midfield adequate for a semi final for example). It is much more than just one piece of the machinery not functioning. It was more like general failure sparked by several individual mistakes - not just Hazards. Though he played one of the more visible roles (together with the completely ignored eto'o)

Our midfield is shit, but we were 1-0 up and had arguably the best defensive manager in the world in charge. His instruction to Hazard would've been to track overlapping runners (JT also says it to him).

Some people want to argue about the instruction and some people recognise that the order wasn't followed. Everything that comes after that is the result of us conceding that goal.

[bushman 2,043]

Nothing to backfire too, Jose is the boss, doesn't matter how Eden takes it.

How can you say that?

If Hazard does not play to Jose´s expectations, is he going to sell him, then?

[Special Juan 28,141]

How can you say that?

If Hazard does not play to Jose´s expectations, is he going to sell him, then?

I just did say it. If Hazard doesn't do what he is told he will be sold. Or have we changed our name to Eden Hazard FC?

[Stingray 9,441]

Hopefully Eden takes it the right way and agrees with him. Maybe we'll see a nice, positive reaction at the weekend.

Hazard is a nice guy and a bit of a joker but i fear for his response. This kind of thing meant the end of his relationship with the former national coach (cfr. the hamburger incident). Public criticism doesn't really fall well. Also communication 101: never give individual feedback in public. I train that shit to managers all over the world, its no different in sports.

[Stingray 9,441]

I just did say it. If Hazard doesn't do what he is told he will be sold. Or have we changed our name to Eden Hazard FC?

I don't think so, it has been changed to Mourinho FC a while ago on here.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Also, those slating his offensive performance on Wednesday need to get real - whenever Eden had the ball he was surrounded by 3 men. We defend well as a team but when we go forward we offered no support to anyone (especially after their goal when Mourinho brought on Eto'o & Ba, we just seemed to skip our attacking mids and boot it straight up to our average strikers), and it was quite bad how even though they were clearly triple marking Hazard that we still couldn't utilise our free men properly. If only we could support as much as we do at the back going forward... I sincerely hope that when we do get the right players that this will be the approach next season. Attacking + defending with numbers. Instead of purely relying on Hazard's creativity going forward.

Exactly this.

We have to attack together and defend together.

Most of the season, we only defend together and attack with the front four and ivanovic. That's not enough again.

We need to learn from bayern last season, total attack/ total defence. They broke goal scoring record and best defensive record in the same season.

That's the pinnacle of how football should be played.

Mourinho started to make us stable from the back, so next season, he'll have to concentrate on attack completely (even though it took longer than I thought)

[bushman 2,043]

I just did say it. If Hazard doesn't do what he is told he will be sold. Or have we changed our name to Eden Hazard FC?

:getin:

[Stingray 9,441]

Exactly this.

We have to attack together and defend together.

Most of the season, we only defend together and attack with the front four and ivanovic. That's not enough again.

We need to learn from bayern last season, total attack/ total defence. They broke goal scoring record and best defensive record in the same season.

That's the pinnacle of how football should be played.

Mourinho started to make us stable from the back, so next season, he'll concentrate on attack completely (even though it took longer than I thought)

This exactly.

[SoulTaker 46]

I almost read the whole topic but I don't remember reading someone implying this is Hazard FC or anything. Actually I don't even know how a club could become -insert player name- FC.

Could RM be called Ronaldo FC ? I don't think so, he certainly help his team a lot and sometimes even -almost- win a match by his own but they're also there thanks to the teamwork. It's not because a team has a player that could be said to be their star that it means it's only thanks to that player the team is up there. In the case of Eden we all know what he is capable of, he surely helped the team more than once and I surely said he need more support but does this imply becoming the " Hazard FC " ? No way. It's also teamwork to support someone who has special ability/potential in the name of the team.

In the end it's not because someone shine brighter than the others ( It's just an exemple, I actually believe Hazard has been somewhat poor since the game at Etihad) that the others aren't being more than helpfull for the team.

Also, while I do think Mourinho tactics has greatly helped the team more than once I also do believe he could have done better in some others; I do believe he's smart but I do not believe he's the genius some people think he is; I do believe he is a great coach maybe be the best but I do believe it's impossible to put 2 coachs on a balance and say for sure. I do believe noone is flawless and even though some do seems to think Mourinho is I do not believe he is. In the end around Mourinho it seems to be either too much hate or too much love there's hardly any middle ground... Even here.


Edited for gammar Errors.

Edited May 2, 2014 by SoulTaker

[Pizy 18,897]

What this spat, if that's what you want to call it, highlights is the fact that we really do need a new LB who's highly competent going forward so that Hazard is freed up a bit more. He was still pretty good going forward against Atletico and he had 2 or 3 players marking him. It would be nice if he had someone like Shaw or Rodriguez up there with him that defenders actually have to worry about.