Eden Hazard

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

I think most people complaining about the things being throw at Hazard is missing the context here. No one doubts his quality, however if we want to mention him among the best in the world(which people on here and Chelsea fans in general) think he is then it is only fair to put him up there with the best in term of comparison. He is a good player and if he has a season like last one every year most people wont mind him staying here until the near end of his career. However there are expectations as well which most of us believe he Should become one of the best one day, the question is when?

[Daniel1980 1,425]

Sifting through past pages, it's the same stuff that has plagued this board for majority of its lifespan. Hazard is never going to satisfy some of us if this continues. A verbose one, yes but needs to be added to the discussion.

(1) People expecting far too much too soon from Hazard by looking at him through the lens of Ronaldo and Messi. You....just....can't. Every player is different and every career takes different routes. Ronaldo and Messi have been at big clubs their entire careers. They've been playing Champions league since they were 18, making deep runs into the knock-out phases. Hell, both had even won the thing at 23. Hazard on the other hand has only played 2 seasons of Champions league in his ENTIRE career. He's only been in the knock-out phase one time in his career and that was last season were he also got injured as well. The Champions league is the highest level of football and Hazard has been unlucky (for various reasons, club, injuries etc) not to have played a lot in that competition yet. It's no surprise his development as a player is slower than Ronaldo and Messi. This is an incredibly important point.

There's also the fact that he's spent majority of his career in the French league while Ronaldo and Messi have been in two of the best leagues in the world for all their careers. This again is going to affect development and status as player as the French league doesn't offer the stiffest of opposition, to say the least. Ronaldinho and to a lesser extent, Zidane only showed their full class when they moved to better leagues. Like Jose said, "give him time".

(2) Overrating players from other clubs and underrating our own. This also applies to other players but especially to Hazard. Case in point, Robben has an outstanding World Cup and all of a sudden, he's the player Hazard should aspire to be. Bale scores in the Champions league final (despite doing nothing all game) and Hazard should be more like Bale. I even read someone put Bale in the same category as Ronaldo and Messi when making this comment. James freaking Rodriguez is amazing for Colombia and Hazard should apply himself more. And on and on and on.

(3) Criticizing him for being "inconsistent". The opposite is infact the case and the meaning of the world has become lost in football circles . There is a difference between being an inconsistent player (i.e Nani) and having a bad game/not performing at your normal level for a brief period. You can't be inconsistent and be considered a world class player or even a good one. Hazard, for such a young player has been considered a consistent player all through his career. He was certainly far more consistent at 23 than a certain Arjen Robben was. How quickly we forget. The inconsistent label was unfairly thrown at him in his first season in English football by the media hacks. It was his first season at the club, of course he was going to be shaky in his performances. All his achievements for Lille were simply thrown under the bus. Luckily, his performance level last season shut a lot of mouths in the media and we no longer hear a lot of that. But unfortunately, a small minority of forum members still repeat that nonsense.

(4) Not being a "leader". This apparently is the new one. A 23 year old player in his 3rd season with us is all of a sudden supposed to lead. I wonder why the same isn't demanded from some of his other teammates. And the big games that Hazard did lead in are not spoken of or simply forgotten. Let's forget Man City away and remember Crystal Palace away. Makes sense.

I agree with a lot of this, but you can't really compare the expectations people have of Hazard and his other teammates last year. The greater the talent, the bigger the expectations. It's natural. In a way, it is a compliment to him. If people started thinking it was all right for him to perform just okay in many games, then he would have been mediocre.

As I already said, I would like him to become the top player--he has everything for that--but I'd be okay if he never makes that step and remains just a great team player he is now. There will be some disappointment of course, but he's a better player already than most.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

We want hazard to be a ronaldo or messi, those players are in a different level, even Zidane and Ronaldinho never scored the amount of goals they score.

Hazard is still young, maybe his mentality will change to desire to be a leader for club and country like Neymar does for Brazil at his age, but if he maintains his dribbling into the box and gets 20goals and 20assists, that's perfect considering how important dribbling helps the team but are not mentioned in stats.

[Barbara 15,149]

Só there's a headline saying 'Hazard is relieved to have others to take matters in their hands' and 1 people read it as a joke, 2 a younger player shouldn't be challenged and willing to show the world what he's capable of?

So when he should show ambition he's just happy someone else is stepping up. Then you read ir listen another interview of him saying his goal is to win Balon d'or. Am I the only one to catch a discrepancy between both speeches? And his attitude reflects a lot more this interview than previous ones.

When the team needed him the most in the title run in he went MIA scoring literally only from penalties and assisting once or twice.

What I do feel n this forum is a huge bias and a lot of overrating the actual influence he's had. He's amazing, very talented and had amazing streaks of football brilliance. But for some he's already better than Ronaldo or just behind him and Messi when he isn't. I'm not saying he should be now or even ever, but every time someone talk about his weakness, limitations or shows uncertainty about him fulfilling his potential they're labeled as a disgrace.

People should show patience, but others should also be able to show concern about his development and analyze his attitude, concrete contribution, etc. One thing doesn't automatically denies the other.

The awards he so much wants won't come just because he wants them hard or TC members think he should win them. They come as a result of a lot of hard work and hunger to win (matches) and definitely balls that I hope we'll see from him. And if he doesn't win those awards but shows those things, it won't matter as he'll definitely be one of the best. As someone said, it depends entirely on him...

[The Skipper 20,593]

Sifting through past pages, it's the same stuff that has plagued this board for majority of its lifespan. Hazard is never going to satisfy some of us if this continues. A verbose one, yes but needs to be added to the discussion.

(1) People expecting far too much too soon from Hazard by looking at him through the lens of Ronaldo and Messi. You....just....can't. Every player is different and every career takes different routes. Ronaldo and Messi have been at big clubs their entire careers. They've been playing Champions league since they were 18, making deep runs into the knock-out phases. Hell, both had even won the thing at 23. Hazard on the other hand has only played 2 seasons of Champions league in his ENTIRE career. He's only been in the knock-out phase one time in his career and that was last season were he also got injured as well. The Champions league is the highest level of football and Hazard has been unlucky (for various reasons, club, injuries etc) not to have played a lot in that competition yet. It's no surprise his development as a player is slower than Ronaldo and Messi. This is an incredibly important point.

There's also the fact that he's spent majority of his career in the French league while Ronaldo and Messi have been in two of the best leagues in the world for all their careers. This again is going to affect development and status as player as the French league doesn't offer the stiffest of opposition, to say the least. Ronaldinho and to a lesser extent, Zidane only showed their full class when they moved to better leagues. Like Jose said, "give him time".

(2) Overrating players from other clubs and underrating our own. This also applies to other players but especially to Hazard. Case in point, Robben has an outstanding World Cup and all of a sudden, he's the player Hazard should aspire to be. Bale scores in the Champions league final (despite doing nothing all game) and Hazard should be more like Bale. I even read someone put Bale in the same category as Ronaldo and Messi when making this comment. James freaking Rodriguez is amazing for Colombia and Hazard should apply himself more. And on and on and on.

(3) Criticizing him for being "inconsistent". The opposite is infact the case and the meaning of the world has become lost in football circles . There is a difference between being an inconsistent player (i.e Nani) and having a bad game/not performing at your normal level for a brief period. You can't be inconsistent and be considered a world class player or even a good one. Hazard, for such a young player has been considered a consistent player all through his career. He was certainly far more consistent at 23 than a certain Arjen Robben was. How quickly we forget. The inconsistent label was unfairly thrown at him in his first season in English football by the media hacks. It was his first season at the club, of course he was going to be shaky in his performances. All his achievements for Lille were simply thrown under the bus. Luckily, his performance level last season shut a lot of mouths in the media and we no longer hear a lot of that. But unfortunately, a small minority of forum members still repeat that nonsense.

(4) Not being a "leader". This apparently is the new one. A 23 year old player in his 3rd season with us is all of a sudden supposed to lead. I wonder why the same isn't demanded from some of his other teammates. And the big games that Hazard did lead in are not spoken of or simply forgotten. Let's forget Man City away and remember Crystal Palace away. Makes sense.

Good post mate, some very valid points but IMO there's nothing wrong with people expecting an extremely high standard from the most talented player in the squad.

Yeah, he's 23 but regardless, there are a few aspects of his game that aren't perfect and people are simply just commenting on them. Constructive criticism. No one is saying that Hazard is awful or anything - to me it's pretty clear that many just expect a lot from him, and naturally when you're the most talented player in the team that is to be expected.

Is it so wrong that we want Hazard to be one of the best and synonymous with the likes of Ronaldo and Messi? I don't think so. He certainly has the talent to be up there IMO.

[Myself 793]

We want hazard to be a ronaldo or messi, those players are in a different level, even Zidane and Ronaldinho never scored the amount of goals they score.

Hazard is still young, maybe his mentality will change to desire to be a leader for club and country like Neymar does for Brazil at his age, but if he maintains his dribbling into the box and gets 20goals and 20assists, that's perfect considering how important dribbling helps the team but are not mentioned in stats.

That's because Zidane was a playmaker and Ronaldinho wasn't a goalscorer. You can't compare Zidane and Ronaldo, completely different players.

Either way, Ronaldo isn't a scratch on Zidane

[kellzfresh 7,229]

That's because Zidane was a playmaker and Ronaldinho wasn't a goalscorer. You can't compare Zidane and Ronaldo, completely different players.

I was making a point that Hazard can be among the 5 world best without scoring 40+ goals.

All I want from hazard is dribbling into the box like the third goal against Everton. He should do that far more because people can't afford to leave costa and fabregas unmarked so he won't have 3 players marking him like last season.

[Myself 793]

I was making a point that Hazard can be among the 5 world best without scoring 40+ goals.

All I want from hazard is dribbling into the box like the third goal against Everton. He should do that far more because people can't afford to leave costa and fabregas unmarked so he won't have 3 players marking him like last season.

ah, that I agree on. He can make a fool out of great defenders when he tries, its so disappointing to see him play the game at walking pace. maybe its a lack of stamina?

[TheOneChan95 225]

I think Messi and CR has given us really high expectations for young players nowadays. I mean they were really freaks of nature. But I also think that playing in la liga helps them as well. The more physical PL would restrict the number of goals scored imo.

Now I actually think that he's happy to assist because that's what's in his mind first. While I would prefer if he was much more objective with his dribbling like Robben when he starts flying at defenders, I don't think he will hit 50goals/season. It's simply his style and personality. You can make improvements here and there such as his work rate but at the end of the day you are what you are. It's unrealistic to change too much. Lamps was a great midfielder but he was never a pirlo type, Cesc wasn't as effective at Barca because his style was more direct. Similarly, I don't think Hazard would become a shoot on sight kind of player the way that CR is.

This is just my personal opinion of course.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

ah, that I agree on. He can make a fool out of great defenders when he tries, its so disappointing to see him play the game at walking pace. maybe its a lack of stamina?

I never thought about that. Maybe if we free him from defensive duties, he can reserve his stamina for constantly dribbling at high pace like robben. But that freedom will only come if he assures the manager that he is going to take the mantle in attack for the team, no one will give you that role if you are too shy to take matters into your hands when the chips are down.

[iseah100 5,612]

Lol. Hazard will never be Messi or Ronaldo. Neither will Neymar, or James, Gotze, Bale, etc. Know why? Cause they are arguably the greatest goalscorers ever. They are doing something we will never see again consistently so to compare other players to them is unrealistic and unfair. Hazard will win a Ballon d'Or, he's not lazy. Just cause someone jokes around and is funny doesn't mean he isn't driven and a hard worker. If you think Hazard will score 35 goals and get 25 assists you're gonna be disappointed. Ronaldo and Messi are the only players in La Liga history to score 40+ goals in a season. Don't set your expectations too high.

Read Excaliburs post. He said it better than anyone can.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Lol. Hazard will never be Messi or Ronaldo. Neither will Neymar, or James, Gotze, Bale, etc. Know why? Cause they are arguably the greatest goalscorers ever. They are doing something we will never see again consistently so to compare other players to them is unrealistic and unfair. Hazard will win a Ballon d'Or, he's not lazy. Just cause someone jokes around and is funny doesn't mean he isn't driven and a hard worker. If you think Hazard will score 35 goals and get 25 assists you're gonna be disappointed. Ronaldo and Messi are the only players in La Liga history to score 40+ goals in a season. Don't set your expectations too high.

Read Excaliburs post. He said it better than anyone can.

It's not about goals for me... It's about the consistency in his performance. I want Hazard to perform at a very high level over the course of the whole season. I believe he has it in him, he showed a lot of glimpses last year. I.e. his performance against City away last season. If he plays like that on a regular basis without even assisting or scoring I'd be absolutely delighted. The way he tormented Zabaleta was ridiculous.

IMO there's nothing wrong with wanting our most talented player to improve on certain aspects of his game so he can elevate his game to the elite of the elite. I have high aspirations for Eden, as do others, and it's unfair to brush those that have those high aspirations as some sort of Hazard haters when we're far from that.

[iseah100 5,612]

It's not about goals for me... It's about the consistency in his performance. I want Hazard to perform at a very high level over the course of the whole season. I believe he has it in him, he showed a lot of glimpses last year.

IMO there's nothing wrong with wanting our most talented player to improve on certain aspects of his game so he can elevate his game to the elite of the elite. I have high aspirations for Eden, as do others, and it's unfair to brush those that have those high aspirations as some sort of Hazard haters when we're far from that.

He'll get that, players are not born consistent, Robben wasn't, Ribery, and countless others. It takes time, he'll get there and when he does I will be as happy as anyone.

There's nothing wrong with wanting Hazard to fulfill his potential, what I have a problem with is people expecting to reach Messi/Ronaldo's level and/or people calling him lazy.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

Só there's a headline saying 'Hazard is relieved to have others to take matters in their hands' and 1 people read it as a joke, 2 a younger player shouldn't be challenged and willing to show the world what he's capable of?

So when he should show ambition he's just happy someone else is stepping up. Then you read ir listen another interview of him saying his goal is to win Balon d'or. Am I the only one to catch a discrepancy between both speeches? And his attitude reflects a lot more this interview than previous ones.

When the team needed him the most in the title run in he went MIA scoring literally only from penalties and assisting once or twice.

What I do feel n this forum is a huge bias and a lot of overrating the actual influence he's had. He's amazing, very talented and had amazing streaks of football brilliance. But for some he's already better than Ronaldo or just behind him and Messi when he isn't. I'm not saying he should be now or even ever, but every time someone talk about his weakness, limitations or shows uncertainty about him fulfilling his potential they're labeled as a disgrace.

People should show patience, but others should also be able to show concern about his development and analyze his attitude, concrete contribution, etc. One thing doesn't automatically denies the other.

The awards he so much wants won't come just because he wants them hard or TC members think he should win them. They come as a result of a lot of hard work and hunger to win (matches) and definitely balls that I hope we'll see from him. And if he doesn't win those awards but shows those things, it won't matter as he'll definitely be one of the best. As someone said, it depends entirely on him...

I think you and other people are just misinterpreting his interview and his comments about wanting to win the ballon d'or and his attempt to reach the heights of Messi, Ronaldo.

Hazard has always considered himself to be more of a creator then a goalscorer. I think he's right about that and i think the majority of the Chelsea fans do too.

It's basically what Skipper said a couple of pages back : he'll never be a goalscoring machine.

I think Hazard realizes that. He knows that if he goes head to head, in terms of goals, with Ronaldo or Messi ( and other more natural goalscorers then Hazard) he is going to lose no matter how hard he tries, no matter how "consistent" he gets).

He simply lacks certain abilities to be able to compete with themin that aspect. However his abillities are far more suited for creating chances and getting a sh*t load of assists and that's exactly what he's aiming for.

I think he's a lot more likely to get 25+ assists then 25+ goals. For the rest all i'm seeing in that interview is Hazard complimenting Costa and Fabregas. Also i don't see anywhere in that interview where he says that he felt huge pressure last season.

"When the team needed him the most in the title run in he went MIA scoring literally only from penalties and assisting once or twice."

Don't you think that's incredibly unfair towards Hazard considering his top form the months before were the only thing that kept us in the title race for that long ?

I think the lack of end product from our other Am's and our strikers ended up costing us the league not Hazard.

"But for some he's already better than Ronaldo or just behind him and Messi when he isn't"

Please could you show me the quote of the person that said Hazard is already better then Ronaldo. I check the forums regularly and never seen anyone post that.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Swap him with Ronaldo? Hell no.

On the side note, Ronaldo is injury prone right now.

[Chelsea? 892]

forget you Madrid! united get Ronaldo and we lose Hazard..... no thanks!

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Like others have said, the word inconsistent is thrown about way too often. If you want him to score or assist each game, then I'm sorry that's a little too much to ask of any player not named Messi or Ronaldo.

What people also seem to forget is that last season for a brief period of time he was on fire and it could have been argued that on form at that time he was probably the 3rd best player in the world. But when people start expecting that kind of form for the entire season is when they start misusing words like inconsistent.

That said, from the way he talks and the way he walks, he likes assisting more than scoring goals. So if he wants to win Ballon d'or he'll need Chelsea's help. Meaning if we win a treble or something then he might win Ballon d'or but if we don't win trophies then his stats probably won't carry him to a ballon d'or.

A lot of great players have been unlucky to be playing in the same era as Messi and Ronaldo. You better win a treble (Sneijder, Ribery) if you even want to be in the conversation for the ballon d'or.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Messi and Ronaldo are from another planet, said Mourinho. We have to be glad we got Hazard who is human.