Eden Hazard

[Jase 43,479]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4507459/I-fell-into-a-magic-football-potion-as-a-child-Eden-Hazard.html

EDEN HAZARD has revealed the secret behind his twinkling feet — he fell into a magic potion as a child.

No wonder then that the Chelsea schemer, 21, has the Premier League under his spell.

Few players, if any, have made a more dramatic start to their careers in England.

Already, the Blues wizard leads the stats in assists and passes in the attacking third of the pitch.

In helping Roberto Di Matteo’s Chelsea to the top of table, he is also the top flight’s most fouled player.

Life could hardly be better for the Belgium playmaker, who cost £32million from Lille earlier this summer.

Football comes so easily he even creates goals for some team-mates because they are “nice guys”.

You see it all stems from that potion — the same that made French comic book heroes Asterix and Obelix so strong —and his family.

Hazard smiled: “It’s like Asterix and Obelix. All of us fell in the magic potion when we were younger — our dad and uncles also played football.

“It’s good, it means we talk a lot about football in the household.”

Hazard’s 19-year-old brother Thorgan has also been snapped up by Chelsea — perhaps he is the only one at Stamford Bridge not stunned by his older sibling’s scintillating introduction.

Hazard said: “I’ve adapted very well to life in London. You’re always a bit overawed when you arrive at a club with so many big names.

“But then you tell yourself ‘They are people like me with two arms and two legs’. Of course, I have respect for the players who are already here but it is down to me to tread my own path.

“I told myself it would be a new country, a new culture, a new language.

“But I had already changed countries when I went from Belgium to France, so I had made a similar step before.

“This is my third country and I came here to play football.

“Like in every club, there’s an initiation song. I sang a French rap song for them and made then laugh a lot, which is the main thing.

“Frank Lampard was laughing when I gave my first interview in English, so that must mean everyone was laughing. But it wasn’t too bad for my first time speaking English.

“I managed to get two or three words out and you always get away with it when you smile.

“I’m lucky there are two or three Francophones in the squad — Petr Cech speaks French and obviously so does Florent Malouda.”

Hazard made a sensational start to his Premier League journey at Wigan, setting up one goal and winning a penalty that led to a second in a 2-0 win.

But he bettered it on his home debut against Reading, winning another penalty and setting up the final goal in a 4-2 victory.

He said: “I think my debut against Wigan could have been worse! It was my first game in the Premier League with all the intensity that goes with it.

“Of course, I did some good things in the first 15 minutes but not all was perfect. I still have to adapt to the English game.

“The game goes a bit quicker here, the reaction times are maybe a bit shorter, the challenges are stronger and the fans live for football, which is what I needed to feel.

“My first match at home was even better than the Wigan game.

“I’d never been to Stamford Bridge before. so to discover this super atmosphere and get a win was a great day for me.

“On the fourth goal, the Reading keeper had come up so it’s true I could have tried to score. But I saw Branislav Ivanovic and Fernando Torres were free.

“So I told myself, ‘It will be my turn in the next game’.

“Ivanovic is a really nice guy so I said ‘You can have that one!’”

Unbelievable... but true.

Hazard added on French TV: “I have always had the ability to beat players. I’ve always been told to go for it when I have the ball.

“When a defender is up against you in the penalty area, he knows he can’t touch you because the handbrake is on.

“Of course, it’s pleasing to be named man of the match but it’s not my objective to be the best player every week.

“If we’re third at the end of the year and I have all the man of the match awards, it will have served no purpose.”

And Hazard credits Blues boss Di Matteo for helping him settle.

He said: “Di Matteo’s philosophy is more about playing football than being physical.

“We do a lot of ball work and pre-season was not as hard as I thought it would be. I was expecting it to be a lot tougher.

“But we’re well prepared because we’ve won our first games.

“What I hope for is to keep on enjoying playing and to be decisive like I have been in the first few games.”

For all his charm and charisma — and not forgetting those twinkling feet — Hazard is battle-hardened.

He said: “I arrived at Lille when I was 14 and stayed for six years. Of course, I felt a little pinch in my heart when I left because they were like a second family.

“But I wanted to discover something else and I think I’ve made the right choice. A page has turned.”

Indeed it has, a new chapter on his fairytale rise to the top — courtesy of that magic potion, of course.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I would love to see Thorgan given 15 minutes at the end of a League Cup match alongside Eden, it would be a real magic moment for the two of them to play together.

[MAF 162]

Actually some sites are reporting today that Thorgan might get a loan to Standard Liege (belgian side). So i guess them playing together will have to wait..

[Spike 12,049]

I loved Asterix and Obelix as a child.

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

“Ivanovic is a really nice guy so I said ‘You can have that one!’”

Aww.

[miss cfc 5]

Thanks ollie!hoping to be a regular x x x x

[zolayes 14,489]

Thanks ollie!hoping to be a regular x x x x

habari ...where in Kenya are you?

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

Hazard again seems to be looking forward to our next match:

Eden hazard ‏@hazardeden10

Hello everybody how are you?? Friday chelsea-atlhetico madrid. #cfc #monaco

On another note:

Eden Hazard on his Chelsea initiation:

”I sang a French rap song for them & made them laugh a lot, which is the main thing.”

[Thor 2,133]

CRonaldo has a valid point. If there's one part Eden can improve his game on a bit, it's his finishing. He'd be unplayable.

No, he does not have a valid point.

You don't take your teams penalties if you aren't a good finisher.

The comment was bizarre. The fact that someone agreed with it is even more bizarre.

[LukakutoStamford 779]

Not to mention, Hazard has made his last 13 league penalties.

My criticisms with Eden usually center around his bad games. When he has a bad game he tends to play poorly and that can seep into his effort and attitude and he looks like he doesn't care and isn't trying.

He also tends to go down a bit easy, which is understandable given his size but he really needs to skip his minor embellishments

[warnie_666 1,081]

The last player to win the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young player of the year in the same season was Christiano Ronaldo.

This guy is well on his way to achieve that feat.

Definitely Player of the month for August. No Bloody doubt

[Magic Lamps 11,452]

Not to mention, Hazard has made his last 13 league penalties.

My criticisms with Eden usually center around his bad games. When he has a bad game he tends to play poorly and that can seep into his effort and attitude and he looks like he doesn't care and isn't trying.

He also tends to go down a bit easy, which is understandable given his size but he really needs to skip his minor embellishments

Think at CFC he will refrain from doing so automatically, cause he is not the single star player here, tehre are many who can take his place if he plays the diva

[warnie_666 1,081]

Read a comment on FB that Lampard will be the top EPL scorer cus Eden Hazard will win penalties in all the games.

[Hkibou 622]

Not to mention, Hazard has made his last 13 league penalties.

My criticisms with Eden usually center around his bad games. When he has a bad game he tends to play poorly and that can seep into his effort and attitude and he looks like he doesn't care and isn't trying.

He also tends to go down a bit easy, which is understandable given his size but he really needs to skip his minor embellishments

All true.

But it seemed on the pitch he began to work on the second point a few months ago, probably bracing himself to the roughness of the PL.

Anyway, i hope your referees tend to protect players like him, because he's gonna get some bad hits this season. Not that he wasn't already, but still ... Something to be optimistic though : since his debut in pro he had only one injury i can remember, and it was 3/4 days for sthg in the foot. He played the game that followed...

[The Skipper 20,593]

No, he does not have a valid point.

You don't take your teams penalties if you aren't a good finisher.

The comment was bizarre. The fact that someone agreed with it is even more bizarre.

No. No one said Hazard isn't a good finisher, he's decent at it. But he can work on it. Just because you take pens doesn't mean your finishing is absolutely fantastic. If his shooting improved to let's say Ronaldo or Messi level, he'd be even better, almost God-like. That's what I'm trying to get at anyway.

[LukakutoStamford 779]

Think at CFC he will refrain from doing so automatically, cause he is not the single star player here, tehre are many who can take his place if he plays the diva

He isn't a diva type. It just that in the past at Lille there weer a few occasions where he let his play affects his mindset etc. It's more of question of learning that even when you aren't playing your best you can still give maximum effort.

Unfortunately, there aren't many who can take his place and that's not limited to Chelsea. About 5-6 months ago I suggested that on form he was a top 5 player in the world and I was chastized for that opinion.

The way you can tell that he's having a bad game is if he doesn't leave his mark/imprint on the game. He just has that "it" factor that the great players have. There's always anticipation when they get the ball that anything could happen. Not too many players in the world like that.

[JDY 1,290]

Definitely Player of the month for August. No Bloody doubt

Unless Michu scores a hattrick on Saturday!

What a fantastic start the lad has had, but let's not get too carried away.

Edit: Just realised the EPL games are on the 1st of Sept, so Eden should get Player of the Month.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

Not to mention, Hazard has made his last 13 league penalties.

My criticisms with Eden usually center around his bad games. When he has a bad game he tends to play poorly and that can seep into his effort and attitude and he looks like he doesn't care and isn't trying.

He also tends to go down a bit easy, which is understandable given his size but he really needs to skip his minor embellishments

I get what you mean with the "it looks like he doesn't care and isn't trying" but he always looks like that. I think it's just his demeanor on the field. He looks indifferent but i don't think he really is. When he plays great people don't notice it but when he plays bad then automatically people will start to look at a player closer.

I actually love that about him. Everything he does seems so easy to him. Everything he does looks so effortless. Even when he runs at full speed with the ball it looks like he's just cruising. His turns(against wigan and against Reading) for example. Looks very simple but the level of awareness and ball control it takes to make those turns is insane.

Totally don't agree on the "going down easy". Given his size ? The guys like a mini tank. I think your underestimating his strenght. He's not a player you can just push over.