Eden Hazard

[Muzchap 8,966]

It's possible, too. I honestly think Hazard needs to be more confident and selfish. Sometimes being a bit greedy isn't bad when you have the talent.

Lol try explaining that to the 'Sturridge' haters

[iseah100 5,612]

I'd prefer Hazard to be a Bale/Reus/Ronaldo/Robben then an Iniesta or Ribery.

[Styles 9,790]

Absolutely. You can't be a creative player if you're not intelligent and a visionary on the pitch. But intelligence and decision-making are two very different things. He's almost an "Arsenal-ised" attacking midfielder - he tries to play one too many passes when really he could be taking a shot on himself. You don't become one of the world's best forwards by setting up goals. Ask Lionel or Cristiano.

Hazard's intelligence is what allows him to make the right decision. Of course there are instances when he'd have been better off taking a shot himself - still nowhere near as much as most would have you believe - but he gets it right most of the time. I would much rather Hazard play his natural game and live with the results instead of asking him to start taking shots against his own better judgement because other players are doing it.

Hazard has barely got an open look on goal in the World Cup so far, so why should he start smashing shots that have very little chance of resulting in a goal? Because Ronaldo does?

[Gilvorak 3,734]

You simply can't be passing up responsibility with that amount of talent. He's the face of the team so more is rightly expected of him.

By the way, I'm talking about the action just right after Mirallas hit the post with his scuffed Free-kick. He dribbled past 3 defenders like they didn't exist and instead of taking a shot he tried to force some weak pass to Origi which was quickly intercepted. In that position with defenders tiring and panicking I expected he was going to blast that into the net.

The action following that move where he roulette turned inside the box, skipped past his marker and fired a shot which was heading into the net if not for a crucial block is more of what I want to see from him. There was only one thing on his mind in that moment, I nearly shed a tear there.

The pass to Mirallas after the goal and assist to Origi were obviously the correct decisions. No one would criticize him for that.

[Styles 9,790]

You simply can't be passing up responsibility with that amount of talent. He's the face of the team so more is rightly expected of him.

You call it 'passing up responsibility', I call it 'Hazard making what he considers to be the right choice in the heat of the moment'. They're very different things.

By the way, I'm talking about the action just right after Mirallas hit the post with his scuffed Free-kick. He dribbled past 3 defenders like they didn't exist and instead of taking a shot he tried to force some weak pass to Origi which was quickly intercepted. In that position with defenders tiring and panicking I expected he was going to blast that into the net.

OK, I didn't see that chance but I'll take your word for it.

The action following that move where he roulette turned inside the box, skipped past his marker and fired a shot which was heading into the net if not for a crucial block is more of what I want to see from him. There was only one thing on his mind in that moment, I nearly shed a tear there.

The pass to Mirallas after the goal and assist to Origi were obviously the correct decisions. No one would criticize him for that.

So we're all in agreement that he makes the right decision most of the time? The guy isn't a robot, he's going to fuck up every now and again...like every other player in the world.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

For the Belgians on here, what's the reaction to Hazard back home? Apparently he's taking a lot of criticism from fans, former players & pundits.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

Hazard and 'lack of confidence' in the same sentence ... does not compute.

I meant not his lack of confidence in general, but his lack of confidence when it comes to making the decision to shoot. Passing to another player--right it or wrong--is always the easiest option. I hope I'm wrong and Hazard really just doesn't want to seem "greedy" or whatever. In that case, he should become a bit more greedy. He's a star player and it's natural that more is expected from him.

[Hamilton 2,120]

For the Belgians on here, what's the reaction to Hazard back home? Apparently he's taking a lot of criticism from fans, former players & pundits.

Some saying that it looks like he's waiting untill all te rest is tired

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

For the Belgians on here, what's the reaction to Hazard back home? Apparently he's taking a lot of criticism from fans, former players & pundits.

Well it's a bit similar to people on this forum. They expect a lot from Hazard and want him to play like he played the last 10 minutes of Belgium-Russia all 90 minutes long.

[sutro 1,026]

For the Belgians on here, what's the reaction to Hazard back home? Apparently he's taking a lot of criticism from fans, former players & pundits.

He's taking criticism since the day he started playing for belgium, so nothing new here.

Im trying to convince my friends how great he really is but Eden never backs me up when he plays for the NT,most people i know are saying that he's lazy and doesnt care much.

He really need to step up and show he's talent like he does when he's playing for Chelsea

[kellzfresh 7,229]

I'd prefer Hazard to be a Bale/Reus/Ronaldo/Robben then an Iniesta or Ribery.

I don't think so. So far, hazard just plays like an iniesta. He is young and can change to the messi/ronaldo we want but if he's like iniesta I wouldn't complain. I would just like his full abilities to be utilized properly and I'm beginniing to think it'll be in the centre like iniesta where he can have more touches of the ball instead of going missing for long periods like against Russia.

[Hamilton 2,120]

Imo Origi did great moving all over the place in attack, giving some room to Hazard. Not like Lukaku waiting in the box untill they deliver the ball..

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

I've said this before in this thread. He holds unto the ball too long when double marked, and it slows down the attack.

That's why I said earlier that he should try to do quick one twos when double marked. Like anytime he see's two players around him, he should pass out and run towards the box for the return pass.

Mertens made a lot of runs and crossed into the box and hazard didn't come in from the far post, so once it goes past lukaku, no one else was in the box.

I'm begining to think hazard is more of an iniesta than bale/ronaldo/robben. If you even watch iniesta on the wings sometimes, he plays just like hazard. Both don't run into the 18box much, and both don't shoot.

Because of this, Hazard might actually be better in the center with his back to goal quick turns used to the maximum and more touches of the ball.

But he does, Hazard constantly tries to do quick 1-2's and that's actually one of the few times where he tries to get in behind defences.

Problem is that his teammates usually just ignore him or fuck up the pass back to Hazard.

I do agree with you that Hazard needs to improve his off the ball movement both when attacking the box or when trying to get in behind defences.

Well i'd say Hazard 's playing style is a mix of Iniesta and Robben. Like i said in my post he not a winger or a 10 he's something in between.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

02But he does, Hazard constantly tries to do quick 1-2's and 02that's actually one of the few times where he tries to get in behind defences.

Problem is that his teammates usually just ignore him or fuck up the pass back02to Hazard.

I do agree with you that Hazard needs to improve his off the ball movement both when attacking the box or02when trying to get in behind defences.

Well i'd say Hazard 's playing style is a mix of Iniesta and Robben. Like i said in my post he not a winger or a 10 he's something in between.

He's not really a winger like u said but I just classify him as an iniesta alike player. I'm beginning to accept that he's not that shooter 30goals a season player because he's just not selfish enough. But I won't complain if he betters iniesta's peak for us.

I know what u mean by those instances where he passes and doesn't get the return, I feel bad for him sometimes. But many times, Hazard sees 2 players coming to mark him and he doesn't release the ball quickly to take advantage of the space left by the players. IMO, the right thing to do immediately he sees 2 pple coming to him, is to pass to KDB QUICKLY and RUN PAST THE 2 PLAYERS COMING for the return pass. That way he will ease a lot of these double marking that forces him to the corner flag.

Let's put it this way, robben is a more dangerous player, but it always seems like hazard is marked more than messi, which is not true its just that hazard holds the ball that 5seconds longer to allow them to close up near him.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

He's not really a winger like u said but I just classify him as an iniesta alike player. I'm beginning to accept that he's not that shooter 30goals a season player because he's just not selfish enough. But I won't complain if he betters iniesta's peak for us.

I know what u mean by those instances where he passes and doesn't get the return, I feel bad for him sometimes. But many times, Hazard sees 2 players coming to mark him and he doesn't release the ball quickly to take advantage of the space left by the players. IMO, the right thing to do immediately he sees 2 pple coming to him, is to pass to KDB QUICKLY and RUN PAST THE 2 PLAYERS COMING for the return pass. That way he will ease a lot of these double marking that forces him to the corner flag.

Let's put it this way, robben is a more dangerous player, but it always seems like hazard is marked more than messi, which is not true its just that hazard holds the ball that 5seconds longer to allow them to close up near him.

I think ,in terms of stats, we should expect a more balanced return from Hazard (20 goals, 20 assists) rather then a pure goalscorer (30 + goals and 10 assists.)

Well that also depends on DeBruyne. He needs to come close to Hazard so he can play the 1-2 and DeBruyne doesn't Always do that.

I really feel Hazard will be more consistent when he actually gets support from his left back.

At times he gets way too isolated and that causes him to dissapear out of games.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Hazard's intelligence is what allows him to make the right decision. Of course there are instances when he'd have been better off taking a shot himself - still nowhere near as much as most would have you believe - but he gets it right most of the time. I would much rather Hazard play his natural game and live with the results instead of asking him to start taking shots against his own better judgement because other players are doing it.

Hazard has barely got an open look on goal in the World Cup so far, so why should he start smashing shots that have very little chance of resulting in a goal? Because Ronaldo does?

If you think I'm saying that Hazard should just shoot whenever he's got the ball, you're quite clearly missing my point so I think we'll end this discussion here.

[LukakutoStamford 779]

Could Hazard stand to be more selfish at times? Could he impose his will more? Absolutely. The problem thus far has been a lack of overlap by the center backs playing fullback as well as through runs by other attackers. This applies to both Chelsea and the Belgian NT.

If you watch closely Hazard is being marked by 2-3 men every time he marks the ball so its unrealistic to expect him to beat 2-3 men each time into 10 man wall to create his own shot or find a pass if his teammates aren't overlapping or making incisive runs to open up space.

When you look at where Hazard became dangerous it was when he was either one v. one or on an overlap.

This is where Origi has been infinitely more helpful than Lukaku and where Benteke is missed because Origi and Benteke can play in tight spaces with great creativity.

Hazard is being ragged for a poor game v. Russia yet he completed 13! dribbles.

Hazard does deserve criticism but he's not getting any slack despite being constantly double and triple teammed and not getting overlapping incisive rubs from his teammates on a consistent basis.

[Styles 9,790]

If you think I'm saying that Hazard should just shoot whenever he's got the ball, you're quite clearly missing my point so I think we'll end this discussion here.

My bad if I'm coming across as condescending, I can be a bit of a mug at times.

I get that we want him to be more decisive, and I'm not saying he can't improve beyond the level he's at now, but I find some of the criticism coming his way a little over the top considering the context of the two games we've just seen.

*please don't ban me *