Eden Hazard

[Gilvorak 3,734]

His positioning and reluctance to shoot is incredibly frustrating. Somewhat glossed over another brilliant performance.

Creating for your teammates is fine but every player needs a selfish streak or a killer instinct. Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez, Ibrahimovic are all renowned for their playmaking ability but they won't turn down a clear opportunity at goal.

He's our top scorer and by far our best player this season (excluding our defenders) so no one will have a go at him for having a go.

Can't believe Torres wasted that pass. If you're going to be a selfish cunt you have to finish that chance.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7mMscALdAw

[Barbara 15,149]

I missed when they did this to him

but it was an amazing match by him again.

I'll join the choir and say he needs to be more selfish. Maybe not only selfish, but a bit more objective too. He's amazing, but there's definitely way more room for improvement.

And when Mourinho says he doesn't coach Hazard, it means he gives him freedom to do whatever he does. Things such as positioning I think have been coached. It's just it requires time. One of the hardest things in football is movement imo. Awareness is difficult to develop and I think it's just part of his development curve. He WILL improve. Now I just think he could be more incisive, take some risks with some shoots. A guy that dribbles like him should put himself in position to shoot. If you can dribble but can't shoot, no matter how many assists you give, you're wasting 50% of your talent. The problem current is where he dribbles. He needs to try to find space for himself. Cut inside, but not only aiming a pass, but also to pass by opponents and shoot. That's the biggest complain I'd have about him right now and seeing how we don't take our chances very well, we desperately need him to step up and just go for it.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

He just posted a pic on his instagram ^^^^^^^^^^ and on it he suffered a bruise on ankle from Chedjou. Maybe that explains why his runs and positioning were a little tentativ in the last 15 mins, around the time the foul happened. This is also the second time some idiot is bruising his heel recently. Last time it was tiote. I think our coaching staff should advise Eden to wear those ankle protector thingies that Ronaldo wears to avoid that from happening again.

We shouldn't be quick to jump to conclusions because we aren't there on the pitch with the players. That tackle definitely slowed him down a bit. Hazard has proven in his two years here more than willing to join up in counter attacks even in dying minutes. Schalke for example...Cardiff, Norwich etc. He's scored a bunch of goals from counters and from good positioning.

As far as I can see, he has very little weaknesses in his game, and once we get a top-class forward, his stats are going to be simply ridiculous. Right now, he's statistically the most creative player in Europe's top 5 league's with 92 chances created, but only 8 of those counting as assists.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

@Barbara

It's in minute 5:30 of that video.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

I missed when they did this to him

but it was an amazing match by him again.

I'll join the choir and say he needs to be more selfish. Maybe not only selfish, but a bit more objective too. He's amazing, but there's definitely way more room for improvement.

And when Mourinho says he doesn't coach Hazard, it means he gives him freedom to do whatever he does. Things such as positioning I think have been coached. It's just it requires time. One of the hardest things in football is movement imo. Awareness is difficult to develop and I think it's just part of his development curve. He WILL improve. Now I just think he could be more incisive, take some risks with some shoots. A guy that dribbles like him should put himself in position to shoot. If you can dribble but can't shoot, no matter how many assists you give, you're wasting 50% of your talent. The problem current is where he dribbles. He needs to try to find space for himself. Cut inside, but not only aiming a pass, but also to pass by opponents and shoot. That's the biggest complain I'd have about him right now and seeing how we don't take our chances very well, we desperately need him to step up and just go for it.

It's hard for him to find that much space to shoot with the way teams play against us in the league especially. When he had a chance to shoot in this game, he did and Muslera saved it. I can't think of one time in this game when he had to a chance to shoot, but turned it down. He tries to be to cute sometimes, but Hazard is a pass-first type of player, always has been.

Right now, none of our other forward players are playing at such a level that they scare the opposition. Hazard gets all their attention and rightly so. Of course this will change next season when we get a top class forward who can take some focus off Hazard.

The fact that no player close to his age is playing on a similar level is enough for me ATM.

[Mustafa 885]

Mourinho said he doesn't really coach Hazard, he let's him do what he wants; I wish he did some coaching as he really needs to improve his positioning off the ball.

He's often just jogging on behind when we're on a counter when he should be much closer to the box, it annoys me. Brilliant game by him nevertheless.

oh and shoot for fuck sake

Silly criticisms really. Hazard has improved immensely with his positioning. You can't really blame him for jogging on a counter in the last 15 mins of a game! He was pretty tired, closing down Galatasaray a lot. Even still, he still managed to get into the box and provide a gorgeous assist to the hapless, clueless Torres.

Maybe you are expecting too much. He is already the best young player in the world and one of the best players in the world, period. Maybe you are expecting him to be Jesus or something, but please be realistic.

Eden is a special player and we can all see that. But he does need to change up some aspects of his game. His reluctance to shoot is pretty frustrating. Donno if him shooting more often would necessarily make him Jesus, but it would make him a lot more effective and efficient. He seems to be a lot less selfish this season. Maybe that is because he didn't feel like he didn't need to be the creative force as much because Mata had that more or less buttoned down. It's great that he's finding a grey area between always taking his man on and playing a key pass but the thing that disappoints me sometimes is: he gets into these great positions through his terrific close control and intelligence but then he chooses not to shoot. It was obvious that he was playing with a lot less intensity today but when he went on THAT run when he went from left to right cutting in passed 3-4 players and completely emasculating Semih, you just HAVE to shoot ! This is frustrating !! Not because we expect him to be Jesus but because if he shot and scored... That would have been one of the best goals of the season !

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Eden is a special player and we can all see that. But he does need to change up some aspects of his game. His reluctance to shoot is pretty frustrating. Donno if him shooting more often would necessarily make him Jesus, but it would make him a lot more effective and efficient. He seems to be a lot less selfish this season. Maybe that is because he didn't feel like he didn't need to be the creative force as much because Mata had that more or less buttoned down. It's great that he's finding a grey area between always taking his man on and playing a key pass but the thing that disappoints me sometimes is: he gets into these great positions through his terrific close control and intelligence but then he chooses not to shoot. It was obvious that he was playing with a lot less intensity today but when he went on THAT run when he went from left to right cutting in passed 3-4 players and completely emasculating Semih, you just HAVE to shoot ! This is frustrating !! Not because we expect him to be Jesus but because if he shot and scored... That would have been one of the best goals of the season !

You know what, I agree with everything, but that's just the type of player he is really. It's in his blood to look for a player in a better position and to always try to make right decisions. He could have shot after that run but it was an impossible angle. Let's see what happens next season when we get a striker that will more than benefit from Hazard's style of play.

An important thing is, with his unique close control, it's difficult sometimes to generate a lot of power on a shot, unless you push the ball ahead of you and strike it. Messi, a player with a similar style doesn't really have a problem because his finishing is more developed than Hazard's, but that's only a side-comparison because Messi plays closer to goal. But initially, Messi used to have that problem of not shooting but has grown into a goal machine.

Talking weaknesses, Hazard's shooting technique can be worked on more than just his shooting for the sake of it like the Robben's and Bale's of this world. So can his high-crossing and corners. But we can't afford to nit-pick his very few weaknesses. His skill-set is already ridiculously developed for a player so young.

It's just silly sometimes when some people (not you or Barbara) want to mold Eden into the player they want him to be instead of the player he wants himself to be. We all want him to be the best, but if we nit-pick on everything, we end up criticizing all our players, because all players have weaknesses. "He just needs to do this, he just needs to do that". I doubt if Mourinho or even Hazard himself are as demanding of Hazard as some of our fans. Looking at the previous comments since the inception of this thread, it's funny really. It's funny to read. So let's just chill out and enjoy a special player

[Strike 6,958]

the tricks he pulls off, the subtle changes in direction, they are the stuff of dreams but it comes so normal to him. like he's just winging it

[kellzfresh 7,226]

Perfect dribbler. Best in the world in that category, but shooooooott!!!!!!

[Special Juan 27,093]

He will win us the game v Arsenal on his own....I am that confident.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Not sure if this is from yesterday or not, but ouch!

EDIT: It was from yesterday as Barbara posted on the previous page.

[Steve 10,227]

Please Eden, start shooting a bit more when you make the space for yourself.

[Special Juan 27,093]

Yep had a few chances to take a shot and didn't.....Not having a go as he was excellent last night especially as he got lumps kicked out of him.

[mediator 2,026]

watch his other ankle

[Jusek 2,031]

watch his other ankle

Wow, what a beast! Imagine if that was glass ankle Robben.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

I imagine players like Suarez, Ronaldo, Messi & Neymar also suffer the same type of abuse every game. That's why I hardly blame them for diving at times.

[Eligius 121]

I imagine players like Suarez, Ronaldo, Messi & Neymar also suffer the same type of abuse every game. That's why I hardly blame them for diving at times.

Its different. Hazard baits fouls. However, in the longrun I fear for him.