Eden Hazard

[Joker10 946]

Zlatan ? good player for the show but when everybody need him in champions league he disappear(Juve 0 vs 2 liverpool - Inter 0 vs 2 Liverpool - Inter 0 vs 2 man united - Barcelona 1 vs 3 inter)

Well i somewhat agree he has not had an impressive CL career, but last few years that has changed.

Messi show him at barca he was too strong for him.

I am sure you are aware of the fallout Ibra had with Pep and aware of Messi influence as La Masia product and all that. Not going into that lengthy discussion.

Zlatan is good for the league when he has a top player behind him.

elaborate please

Zlatan always been on a team where he had to carry, except his early days at Juve.

Messi has a had a better supporting cast then anyone else at Barcelona. Couldn't ask for a better Midfield trio of Xavi, Ineista, and Busequets. Perception is that Messi has declined this season, but Barca is nowhere as dominant on the ball anymore mostly due to Xavi decline+age.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Continuing to compare Hazard's ability to score goals02against other players is ridiculous. Bale is a better scorer because that's one of his top strengths. Hazard is playmaking wing so I have no idea why people get so mesmerzied by his goal scoring numbers.02 Hazard created the most chances of any player in the PL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and Serie A.

02

People need to understand that02Hazard is never going to be a goal scorer like the top goal scoring strikers/wingers. His ceiling might by 25 goals in a PL season and02that might even be a too high a02number.02Hazard is02a 15-20 goal and0215-20 assist type of player. He's a lot more Zidane than Messi so his stats will never measure up in terms of goals, but when you see he creates the most chances of any top European player and he has the most dribbles and then you watch the nuances of his game and the brilliance of his play you can better understand why he's one of the best players in the world.

Again he's not above criticism but criticizing him for not being more like Messi or CR7 is patently absurd.

02

He does need to perform better and he can,but god forbid02if he actually had02similar talent around him02like Messi has had at Barcelona and Ronaldo has had at Madrid or Robben/Ribery have had Bayern.

02

The guy is a brilliant footballer and so much of his style and decision making goes unappreciated because people get too wrapped in goals and assists as a measure of value rather creation. Hazard really should have had 10 more assists this season for Chelsea.

That bold part is exactly what I said a few pages ago. Hazard creates more than he scores, he is not a true winger I appreciate his talent more because players like zidane/ronaldinho were my favorite players.

I said his qualities will be maximized if he plays in the center because he is more of a fast iniesta than a bale/robben/sanchez and trust me all those players will not reach iniesta/hazard at their peaks.

Why do I say he is more like iniesta than bale/robben? Its simple. Hazard doesn't make runs for others to pass ball into space, he doesn't go direct into the 18box looking to score like bale/robben, if you watch games with iniesta on the wings, u'll see a carbon copy of slower hazard.

Hazard needs more touches of the ball to show his true self. Him playing on the wings and not touching ball much for long periods is not showing his full potential IMO.

[Jase 43,479]

It's quite normal to compare players. Ronaldo and Messi are the best players so people will always compare the upcoming, young talented players to them.

,

I don't really see a problem. The discussions have been calm and people have put in some good arguments and counter arguments and no one is insulting eachother. It's all good.

Also it's offseason what else are we supposed to do !!!

I know I know but don't people get tired of discussing the same old thing every single time?

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Meanwhile Jose praises 'Magic' Hazard.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2014/06/26/4915491/magic-hazard-will-get-even-better-for-chelsea-says-mourinho?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

[Styles 9,790]

I know forum is all about discussion/debates but how is it, without fail, that this thread always somehow turned into the same repetitive/redundant 'Hazard vs Neymar vs Bale vs Ronaldo vs Messi' discussion?

The comparison is made because the grass is always greener on the other side. If Hazard wasn't our player we'd have a 40000 page transfer thread begging for his signing.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Anyone know why he stopped taking set pieces?

[mtowle182 79]

Anyone know why he stopped taking set pieces?

This. Used to hit some nice ones in France. When he was on the field and david would be taking fk's it made me livid.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Goals aside, Ronaldo can be most frustrsting and least team player out there...as soon something isnt going to the plan, he is terrible.

Last year vs Bvb, this year vs Atletico, he just dribbles and doesnt realy gets past anyone and then in frustration shoots from everywhere...

On his day he is unplayable and scores shitload of goals, but one of worst team players in history. Even fucking Nani got past few opponents against Germany, while Ronaldo wasted ball again and again...not to speak of his freekicks; takes 50 atempts to score one..

[Tomo 21,751]

The comparison is made because the grass is always greener on the other side. If Hazard wasn't our player we'd have a 40000 page transfer thread begging for his signing.

until we were actually strongly linked then Kagawa will be better.

[Beigl 1,387]

Don't forget the fact that whereas Hazard played most of his Chelsea career alongside an useless Torres.I bet he would have almost twice as many goals and assists if he would play with a competent striker on his side,altough his numbers are still very,very good,considering his age.

Next season he will excell with Fabregas and Costa in the team.

[Beigl 1,387]

Don't forget the fact that Hazard played most of his Chelsea career alongside an useless Torres.I bet he would have almost twice as many goals and assists if he would play with a competent striker on his side,altough his numbers are still very,very good,considering his age.

Next season he will excell with Fabregas and Costa in the team.

[Beigl 1,387]

Don't forget the fact that Hazard played most of his Chelsea career alongside an useless Torres.I bet he would have almost twice as many goals and assists if he would play with a competent striker on his side,altough his numbers are still very,very good,considering his age.

Edit: Sorry for triple-post. --> Tapatalk.

Next season he will excell with Fabregas and Costa in the team.

[nono 791]

To me, he is more talented than Ronaldo, Bale and Neymar. Ronaldo is a better footballer, but Hazard is more talented. He is a kind of player whose presence on the pitch by itself alters the game, even if he isn't involved. You can't say that about those other players. They have the end product that Hazard doesn't have, but he is only 23.

[Barbara 15,149]

I had to double check if I was still on Hazard's thread as it went pages and pages without his name mentioned.

I don't like to compare players, I say it all the time and like Jason I don't get why we keep comparing, but I agree and disagree about a lot of things that were said individually about some players here.

I'll start with our player, of course. I really don't know if Hazard is better as a LW or a CAM at Chelsea. With his dribbling ability and how the play is much more physical in England than in Spain - where Messi plays more centered, maybe Hazard suits better in the wing - which normally is less populated - than in the middle. If we see 2-3 and even 4 players surrounding him in the wing, how many are we going to see through the middle? Belgium is a completely different story and maybe he's better as a #10 there. Actually I'd need a streak of matches of him playing as a #10 for us to have a proper answer. A lot of people here talk about his potential as fact - which is a big lie. And that's my second point about him. When we compare Hazard with any of those players, sometimes I feel we're comparing the potential rather than the reality - although we're using the other players' reality instead of potential to make the comparison. Fact is - and that's not an opinion - his last goal scored for us that didn't come from a penalty was in February 6th (or some other day in the first week of February). I hate the chances created stats - because it's a big lie - but if people want to use that, be my guest, but you can't use that to compare him to other players, when other players have more goals and assists. It's like intentions - in Brazil we say hell is filled of good intentions. Chances created is all but good intentions, but at the end of the day what counts is assisting and scoring and some matches have different weights. Hazard lacked there, but that's absolutely okay. The same way I defend Oscar for being inconsistent, I defend Hazard for not fulfilling his full potential because they're too young. They're entitled to disappoint our expectations because let me tell you something, many times our expectations aren't fair and sometimes even attainable because we all look to their potential, but we forget they're still under development. So yeah, unfair and sometimes unattainable. But I feel like Hazard gets a lot of slack (not comparing to anyone) because he's a dribbler. People are saying he's criticized because he doesn't score and scorers are more forgiven and have more spotlight than players who assist, but dribblers have the same compared to hard workers or to players with less flair. Hazard is cut a lot of slack simply because his game is more beautiful, but still is far from as effective as it could be. So we have people forgetting he's 23 and people overlooking the many matches he does nothing effectively because he has 130942039434 dribbles per match.

If there was one person that cursed Bale's fee it was me and I even said many times RM didn't even need him. I was partially proved wrong. He's still not worth 100M, but RM did need him and even if he had scored only a handful goals (although he did way more than that), when RM needed him the most he gave the assist or scored the goal. Tap in or not, he was at the right place, at the right time and he didn't disappear or chocked at the big games. That's a winner trademark and he seems to have it. I do agree he's not the most talented. Among all names I read here - Hazard, Cris, Messi, Neymar, Robben, Ribery - Bale is definitely the most limited talent wise, but don't deny his determination to win and his hard work. If Hazard worked half as hard as Bale does - and sorry if it hurts and upsets some of you, I'm not stating this as a fact, but solely as my opinion - he would have at least 50% better numbers than he does. Still Bale is nowhere near Messi and Ronaldo. Nobody is. No matter the numbers, no matter how important the goals and the assists were in the most important games of them season; I agree with whoever said that ever since Messi and Ronaldo people changed the standards. Sorry to disagree with many again, but scoring 30-40 goals a season and 15-25 assists isn't the norm, isn't the standard, that's an exception created by two of the best players of the history of the football who fortunately for us - were born in the same generation. That's not the bar, that's not raising the bar, that's having a bar of their own, no one else should be compared to that or expected to have nearly as good numbers.

I don't know why so many people discredit Neymar so much on this forum. And again I'm not comparing him to Eden or anyone else. The kid - and he's also only 22 - is a prodigy. You can't seriously blame him for a less than spectacular season at a fading Barcelona when everything in that team was a mess. I do think Messi will get in the way of his growth there - Neymar is the kind of guy that is supposed to be the team's star and he said so many times when joining Barça that he was there to help Messi continue to being the best in the world, but that's not a role he can fulfill at his full potential. He's better than that and he didn't realize how much he took away from his game - consciously or unconsciously - to keep propping Messi. And then there were also the many problems Barça had and Neymar going through transition and why not - thinking about the world cup. So we can accuse Oscar of doing it - consciously or not we'll never know - but Neymar didn't? Neymar has much more responsibility and pressure on his shoulders than Oscar has to lead Brazil to win a WC in their own soil. The boy is 22 and he 'only' has this in his shoulders: make a less than talented Brazilian generation win a title at home in the most desired tournament in the world. It's almost unfair to him.

What I feel is that a lot of people want him to fail and do badly. Some because he's Brazilian - and yeah, maybe not here (or maybe even here) some people hate that Brazil continue to produce little geniuses - some because they want our own little genius to be better than him, some because they hate Barcelona and some maybe even gratuitously, but I'll tell you what, you're in for a big deception. The kid has the same will to win I mentioned about Bale and he may not work as hard (although he works very hard too), but he's absolutely thirsty to win and he has one of the best mentalities among all those names we've mentioned. Of course, I hate his diving ways and it will only get worse while he plays for Barcelona, but many of you are undermining and underrating a player that will make you eat yourown words. Maybe he won't be as big as he could be somewhere else because of Messi, but I have no doubts he'll be immense for them; Messi or no Messi.

And for me it doesn't really matter if he's better than Hazard or Hazard is better than him or Bale is better or worse than either of them. As a Brazilian, of course I want Neymar to reach his full potential, as a Chelsea fan I also feel the same for Eden and I want Bale to succeed for as long as he is at Real Madrid - but even if I wasn't any of those, I would want those young players to reach the heights of their games. Although Messi won many more Balon D'Ors than Cris did, it didn't take away how absolutely wonderful Cris is. The same will happen between those three young players. It doesn't matter who will win more Balon d'Ors - we may be lucky to have yet another chance to watch two very gifted players (I'm excluding Bale from the talent bracket - but talent isn't the only factor, so I won't diminish him completely) in the same generation at Hazard and Neymar and for the good of football - which I'm a big fan of - I hope they live up their potential and we have guys like them filling up - partially - the void that Messi and Cris will leave when the descending years of their careers are here. I feel blessed and privileged to have watched Zidane, then Cris and Messi and hopefully Eden and Neymar. Not everything has to be a competition - it's quite the privilege to watch Nadal and Federer, Messi and Cris, LeBron and Bryant in the same generations, I actually wish there were more of them spread in the teams, rather than less.

[nono 791]

We were so close to getting Neymar as well, for substantially less than what Barcelona paid. I remember Pele came out in the media and said he shouldn't go to England. Hazard + Neymar + Modric ! It's the ones that got away that always leave me thinking of what could have been lol. On the flip side though we also missed out on duds like Robinho.