And I wouldn't agree but you've simply agreed with my point. The biggest in the world are the tier one teams. Chelsea would be below that tier.Oh dear.
Chelsea are clearly one of the biggest club's in the world now. I'd say they're a tier below us, Barca, Real, Bayern, Juve.
This idea of clinging on to past glories and history in order to justify a club being 'big' is beyond me, really. Current fanbase, revenue and trophies is what matters. If Chelsea lose those things then clearly they will drop off from the world's biggest clubs, just like AC Milan and Inter Milan have in recent years.
Eden Hazard
- Thread starter Adisa
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
He wouldn't. He would cost less. It never prevented Barca from acquiring Coutinho for instance.
Thank for fully grasping what I meant. He is a great player and ultimately if he wants to win a Ballon d'Or he will have to leave Chelsea. No other way.
Because the season is barely starting and Chelsea aren't in the CL. EL means feck all, just look at Griezmann winning the EL, scoring in the final (even winning the World Cup). He has zero chances at Chelsea
Agreed with this ^ the Europa league is what it is, its not the best standard of competition and winning it is a piece of silverware I suppose and it also guarantees CL football.
I think a team in the top 10 is amongst the world's biggest.
Best player in our league by a mile.
The only one worth an entrance fee in our league these days.
The only one worth an entrance fee in our league these days.
If Hazard had moved this past window he certainly would've cost Neymar money. He's easily better than Coutinho and would therefore cost more.
@TheReligion Pretty much all researches on the matter point to chelsea having the 4th largest fanbase in the world
He's a brilliant footballer. Everyone other than Chelsea fans sound so depressed with him despite his level being terrific for years now. Apparently you must get a goal a game to be a great footballer. I'd take him over Salah anyday despite rating the Egyptian as the better goalscorer.
Being better doesn't automatically mean costing more and costing a lot of money means feck all. Fact is nobody went for Hazard, if a supposedly Ballon d'Or candidate can be signed, no matter the price, it will never prevent some clubs from doing so.
I meant it in relation to winning to Ballon d'Or. I like the Europa League tbh, it is a great competition IMO. I just don't think it helps his chances at all (should Chelsea win it).
A lot of assumtion is based on him keeping his current great form throughout the whole season which he never has in his career.
Maybe he will, maybe he won't, time will tell. First serious test is against Liverpool on the 29th (hoping he tears them apart)
Bang on, usual with Hazard, plays great against weak sides and back to most talented footballer of all time/best in the world/future ballon d'or winning blah blah blah.
Lads, he scored at home against lowly struggling Cardiff!
Look forward to another rebump if this thread in 2/3 months time!
One of the most overrated footballers in the history of the game, gets people wax lyrical over dribbling in areas that don't hurt the opposition or trying to beat a man over and over. Don't get me started on useless use of assists, people hyping the likes of Fabregas and Ozil up on assists that can be simple 2 yard passes or from set plays...
His scoring is 1 in 3 for Chelsea, when you exclude penalties it's 1 in 4. Nowhere near strong enough for an apparent elite world class footballer! His return in the CL is absolutely woeful with 8 goals in 44 games. Half of those have been pens and some against poor sides such as Maribor and Qarabag. Europa League return is 3 in 23. The excuse for a weak return of 11 goals in 67 European games for him is laughable.
His performances at the world cup were over-hyped as well. Not sure what was more overrated his tournament or England, probably latter considering there was a orgasm feast over beating weak sides and sneaking past an above average Colombia side without their best player.
Until Hazard does it consistently in the UCL and Internationally he will always be a tier below the best players in the world.
Real bought Mariano this summer. Barca bought Vermaleen and Andre Gomes recently whether or not Real or Barca are interested is not the best barometer of a player's quality
Best player ever in PL after Ronaldo.
Again, you're making it sound as though these clubs aren't interested because he's not that good. In reality, they aren't after him because he's prohibitively expensive.
No that is not what I am saying. That is your interpretation because you are a bit in the defensive when it comes to him.
He is a very good player but a tier below the world's best and those who seriously compete on a yearly basis for the highest individual awards. The fact that none of the biggest clubs have seriously went after him also says that he is not up there yet.
It is about nuances.
Couldn't have said it better. He is a very good players but not up there yet because he still hasn't done at the highest level of international nor club football.
He's won everything there is to win at club football apart from the Champions League and captained his country to a record-breaking 3th place finish whilst being arguably the best or second best player in the tournament.
And if you're talking about consistency, he's been elected to the TOTY four times out of six during his stay in the Premier League.
Once again Real signed Mariano is he suddenly one of the best players in the World.
And still nowhere near being a Ballon d'Or winner. As long as he stays at Chelsea, he has incredibly low chances. CL is the most important club trophy for individual recognition and he has been underwhelming there. He had a good world cup indeed but still not the best player of the tournament. He is lacking truly eye catching performances at the highest level.
They signed him to be a bench player. Not a superstar. Really not the same role so mentionning him is weird
I did notice hazard divides opinion.
Maybe this helps.He is a ballon d'or contender but not a winner for obvious reasons of achievment.
Maybe this helps.He is a ballon d'or contender but not a winner for obvious reasons of achievment.
He's top 3 this season so far but it's 5 games.
Last season he wasn't even top 10 imo.
Who does the tier that he is below consist of? If it is Messi and Ronaldo then fair enough, but if you don't think hes at the very least on the same wavelength of the Neymar's and De Bruynes, Robbens, then you actually really no nothing about football.
Real Madrid did inquire after him this summer according to Kristof Terreur during the Courtois negociations.
Chelsea just blankly refused to entertain the idea of him leaving.
Ps: After the U17 Championships in 2007 Barcelona actively tried to recruit him aswell but he opted to stay at Lille.
This is what I wanna know. If the "top tier of footballers" is a group of only 2 then no, Hazard isn't Messi or CR7. I wouldn't have anyone other than those two ahead of him, though.
He's on the same level as Neymar, Modric, etc.
I think the next tier of attacking players after Messi and CR7 is Neymar, Mbappe, and probably Coutinho as well. Hazard is just below that. I can't put Hazard on the same level as Neymar, who has produced seasons Hazard couldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. Same with Mbappe, while he's young, has already shown to be much more effective not just in Ligue 1 (which they both played in), but also completely dwarfs him in the Champion's league playing with two different teams so far in his first two professional seasons.
Hazard is a bit overrated, simply because he still hasn't found a way to be consistently great, no matter the stage or opposition.
So mbappe is better than hazard now, based on 2 seasons. Also, the assertion that coutinho is better than hazard is absolutely laughable. Let's compare...Coutinho..5 seasons in pool, won nothing, one PFA team of the year. Eden hazard in 6 seasons, one POTY, 1 POTY runners, 1 YPoty, 2 league titles where he pretty much carried the attacking threat of Chelsea, 4 Team of the year inclusions. But yes, Hazard is overrated and continho is better. Maybe because barca bought coutinho and not hazard, as per the weird logic presented before.
His burning hot right now. He is on fire
Other than shooting from outside the box there isn't a single thing Coutinho is better than Hazard at. Hazard is considerably better than him in fact.
As for Mbappe, for me the fact that Hazard has been doing the business for about 8 years since he was dominating at Lille puts him above him.
I can understand putting him behind Neymar, but the other two are highly debatable. Coutinho playing on the same position as Hazard (LW/AM) and in same league for the last 4 years has had worse stats than Hazard for the majority. He also hasn't found a way to be consistently great for club or country.
As for Mbappe, while immensely talented we can't forget that he's part of
a) a France team that has incredible talents and depth in every position and
b) a PSG team that has no competition in France and in which he's 3rd fiddle behind Cavani and Neymar.
Whether he could be the talisman in a worse team and a tougher league (like Hazard has been for Chelsea) is very debatable.
I'd say after Neymar he's as good as anyone else and better than most. Even at the WC it was obvious he was Beligum's best player by a mile in a team with the attacking talents of Lukaku, KDB and Mertens.
And that would be extremely bold bet. If you said that it applies while he was at Chelsea it would hold much more weight, as Chelsea as a club do hurt his credentials a bit. As for apparent no interest, I am not so sure Madrid aren't interested.
There is a reason why he didn't sign that contract yet.
It is a very safe bet to be honest. Hazard is just not good enough for it IMHO
No one would put Coutinho ahead of Hazard before Barca bought him.
Yeah, do realize you don't rate him that highly from what I read here. But, considering you're willing to bet a house on it count that he already was 7th or 8th one year, he is entering his prime years and you can make a solid case that he is in terms of talent and ability right up there. On his day, he is really unplayable and not so system dependent like Salah for example.
Now if Madrid does make a move he will have a solid chance imo and also that club factor will suddenly became an advantage in comparison to Neymar and Mbappe. I just wouldn't bet my house on it, that's all.
lol @ Coutinho being better than Hazard
Tbh, players who play against him yearly in the same league say he is absolutely brilliant. Opposition managers wax lyrical about him. Zidane thinks he is incredible. I'll take the opinion of the pros and ex players over us lot.
He is the best player in the premier league right now, and arguably has been in the top 2-3 since he signed. It's that simple. Any club in the world would take him at the drop of a hat given the chance, and the slating of him and ridiculing his ability is jealousy. That simple.
He is the best player in the premier league right now, and arguably has been in the top 2-3 since he signed. It's that simple. Any club in the world would take him at the drop of a hat given the chance, and the slating of him and ridiculing his ability is jealousy. That simple.
No one in their right mind would have Coutinho ahead of Hazard afterwards either frankly.
It's abundantly clear that real madrid don't rate him anywhere near Neymar or Mbappé.
Coutinho was indeed better than Hazard last season
Hazard needs to do it in CL to be comparable to Neymar
His WC was good, but nothing special, not some all time performance that will be remembered 20 years from now, like say James in 2014
Coutinho was indeed better than Hazard last season
Hazard needs to do it in CL to be comparable to Neymar
His WC was good, but nothing special, not some all time performance that will be remembered 20 years from now, like say James in 2014
I would.
He hangs onto the ball a bit too long for me. A top striker would throttle him when he slows down an attack as he continually plays for the foul.
Its one of the main reasons he falls short in CL imo.