Eden Hazard | "It's time to enjoy life drinking beers"

[RobinLFC]

Feels he retired a few years ago anyway

Such a fall from grace and was probably never really as good as the hype

Agree about the first one, strongly disagree about the second. He was sensational at Chelsea in several seasons, there's a reason why there's topics on here about who was better, prime Hazard or prime Salah. Also was the best player at the 2018 WC alongside Modric.

Insanely talented but unfortunately just doesn't have the same drive as other top players. I feel like once he got his dream move to Real he felt like he had accomplished everything there was and couldn't give a feck anymore.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Feels he retired a few years ago anyway

Such a fall from grace and was probably never really as good as the hype

This is like a bat signal to the Chelsea fans.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

There were times, especially in I think his last season there , where Chelsea were as close to a 1 man team as you're ever likely to see.

At least in an attacking sense. Their entire attacking game plan seemed to be give the ball to Hazard. He really was an incredible player in his prime. It's mad he got his dream move to Madrid and then immediately seemed to fall apart.

Didn't he turn up to his first pre season at Madrid really out of shape?

 

[DWelbz19]

Similar rise and fall that Rooney had really.

Played a lot of football non stop from a young age, caught up with him and the injuries took away the thing that gave him the edge.

Still a great technician but if you can't run, you're not effective.

Never was too concerned with the dietary side of the game, either…

 

[yumtum]

Definitely helps your status if you're not allowed to be fouled in the league your playing in.

 

[RobinLFC]

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He was unstoppable that day, on the biggest occasion as well. Probably the best performance I've ever seen in a Belgium shirt.

 

[WeePat]

This is like a bat signal to the Chelsea fans.

I mean, no it literally is. He'll post that, some Chelsea fan will try to debate him and then he'll be like 'typical chelsea fans, so insecure, begging for approval for their player on a United forum'

 

[horsechoker]

Feels like he should just retire full stop

He could leave Madrid but could he even cut it in second or third tier leagues?

Wilshire went to Denmark and retired after a half a season.

Hazard could go to the States or middle-east and I think he'd struggle there.

 

[TheReligion]

This is like a bat signal to the Chelsea fans.

I mean, no it literally is. He'll post that, some Chelsea fan will try to debate him and then he'll be like 'typical chelsea fans, so insecure, begging for approval for their player on a United forum'

I did say probably..

I’ve never seen him as good as others though.

Great player, sure, but not one of the very best.

The fact he declined so quickly and couldn’t cut it in another big league doesn’t reflect well.

 

[WeePat]

I did say probably..

I’ve never seen him as good as others though.

Great player, sure, but not one of the very best.

The fact he declined so quickly and couldn’t cut it in another big league doesn’t reflect well.

I'm kinda kidding, but also kinda not

But yeah, I hear you, can see where you're coming from, but one of the very best in terms of European football? Then no probably not, but in the PL, then yeah he probably is among that group. I think not only was he a great player, he's one of the all time PL greats.

 

[Liver_bird]

Injuries are the death knell for a lot of top footballers. Massive respect to those who adjust their game afterwards and still find a way to perform.

Mbappe is sensational but people talking about how this isn’t even his peak…I think it is. You never know what could happen - any injury could rob him of that pace.

 

[WeePat]

Injuries are the death knell for a lot of top footballers. Massive respect to those who adjust their game afterwards and still find a way to perform.

Mbappe is sensational but people talking about how this isn’t even his peak…I think it is. You never know what could happen - any injury could rob him of that pace.

I've been saying this, but considering how early Mbappe was playing at the highest level, I think he'll be similar to a lot of players who were wonderkids at age 17 and significantly slow down before he reaches 30 years old.

 

[TheReligion]

I'm kinda kidding, but also kinda not

But yeah, I hear you, can see where you're coming from, but one of the very best in terms of European football? Then no probably not, but in the PL, then yeah he probably is among that group. I think not only was he a great player, he's one of the all time PL greats.

I think he’s in that tier just below.

So I wouldn’t put him at peak Henry/Rooney/Ronaldo level in the PL but slightly behind.

I also don’t rate VVD though which also boils peoples piss. Certainly not in the best CB of all time category anyway.

 

[WeePat]

I think he’s in that tier just below.

So I wouldn’t put him at peak Henry/Rooney/Ronaldo level in the PL but slightly behind.

I also don’t rate VVD though which also boils peoples piss. Certainly not in the best CB of all time category anyway.

Yeah for sure, he's definitely in the tier below Henry.

 

[Ainu]

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It's the right decision, just didn't have it anymore. Now the next manager has no choice but to select other players, which should've happened a couple of years ago.

 

[TheReligion]

Yeah for sure, he's definitely in the tier below Henry.

…and Ronnie and Wazza

 

[Canagel]

He was the player of the tournament in the 2018 WC. One the best campaigns ever and should have won the best player award.

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[GuyfromAustria]

It really doesn't matter if you'd put 2, 5 or 10 players in a tier above him in the PL, he still was fantastic.
He's been winning YPOTY and POTY in Ligue 1 since 2008/09, so even if the last few years were kinda tragic, he was great for a long time.

 

[Rnd898]

Injuries are the death knell for a lot of top footballers. Massive respect to those who adjust their game afterwards and still find a way to perform.

Yep. Hazard was consistently the most fouled player in the PL during his time at Chelsea so it's a miracle he only started suffering injury problems at Madrid and not before.

At Chelsea he only missed 21 games to injuries over 7 seasons averaging only three missed games a year, though it has to be noted he sometimes played through some minor injuries like in the 15/16 season. Now at Real Madrid he's missed +70 games in just three years so it's no surprise it's affected his performance levels.

Maybe if he'd taken better care of his fitness levels even during his Chelsea years he could maybe have extended his peak a little further but once the problems started it's only been downhill from there. His playing style and his somewhat lacklustre attitude towards training always made me suspect he won't age all that well going into his 30s but I don't think anyone was expecting the drop off to be that quick and that massive.

His time at Madrid has been a sad end to the career of a wonderful player. If I had to guess he'll retire either next summer if he feels he doesn't need the money, or in 2024 if he wants to milk Real Madrid for every last penny. Either way I don't think he'll play football after Real Madrid.

 

[mav_9me]

Yep. Hazard was consistently the most fouled player in the PL during his time at Chelsea so it's a miracle he only started suffering injury problems at Madrid and not before.

At Chelsea he only missed 21 games to injuries over 7 seasons averaging only three missed games a year, though it has to be noted he sometimes played through some minor injuries like in the 15/16 season. Now at Real Madrid he's missed +70 games in just three years so it's no surprise it's affected his performance levels.

Maybe if he'd taken better care of his fitness levels even during his Chelsea years he could maybe have extended his peak a little further but once the problems started it's only been downhill from there. His playing style and his somewhat lacklustre attitude towards training always made me suspect he won't age all that well going into his 30s but I don't think anyone was expecting the drop off to be that quick and that massive.

His time at Madrid has been a sad end to the career of a wonderful player. If I had to guess he'll retire either next summer if he feels he doesn't need the money, or in 2024 if he wants to milk Real Madrid for every last penny. Either way I don't think he'll play football after Real Madrid.

I reckon MLS/middle east will be easy money for him.

 

[Amar__]

He was the biggest diver in the premierleague without actually diving like your average diver does, he was the master of putting his standing leg in front of the ball at crucial moment(you can argue that this move actually created the foul every time), and ref bought it every time. That was actually big part of his game in his time in England.

The likes of him, Luiz, Fernandinho, etc. would get away with their similar trademarks every week, it was the peak of shite PL refereeing, you just knew many of those refs actually ever watched any of those players or analysed the teams before officiating games.

Good player though.

 

[balaks]

I think he’s in that tier just below.

So I wouldn’t put him at peak Henry/Rooney/Ronaldo level in the PL but slightly behind.

I also don’t rate VVD though which also boils peoples piss. Certainly not in the best CB of all time category anyway.

I agree with all of this.

 

[El-Manos]

He was amazing at the 2018 World Cup. He’ll be missed.

 

[Bluelion7]

Eden was “great” at one thing really: picking up the ball and carrying it through a defense. He could pick up the ball just past midfield and have slalomed past 3 people to the edge of the box faster than most people I’ve ever seen.

But… he didn’t have a ton of end product there. He was often pretty average in terms of his final ball, and probably lower than where he should have been for scoring and assists.

Having the “talent” to be one of the very best players in the world and actually doing it are of course two very different things.

And at that level it could come down to not having those two sodas a day, putting in the preliminary stretch and warm up work before training to keep hamstring issues at bay, eating habits … whatever else.

Im amazed that they thought moving him to Madrid would give him those things. It more likely just cemented in his mind that what he had been doing was enough. It got him to Madrid, right?

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Sad he declined so sharply, but he was playing 60 games a year at 19 so maybe not that surprising. One of the best players to watch of the past decade and in an era with less dribbling, a real rare difference maker in terms of gaining ground, pinning teams back, breaking the lines.

 

[Rnd898]

I reckon MLS/middle east will be easy money for him.

Yeah but the question is, does he need easy money or not? No doubt he can still attract a big contract somewhere if he decides to keep playing but his career earning should already be somewhere in the region of €200M so it's not like he needs to keep playing for the money.

If he still enjoys playing he could well go on to the MLS for a couple more years before calling it quits but he's also said to be a big family man so with all the injury problems he's had to deal with in the last few years maybe he'd welcome the chance to devote more of his life to raising his kids instead of desperately clinging on to a footballing career just to make some extra pocket money.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

Sad stuff. I think he'll just retire at the end of the season.

 

[SirReginald]

He was the biggest diver in the premierleague without actually diving like your average diver does, he was the master of putting his standing leg in front of the ball at crucial moment(you can argue that this move actually created the foul every time), and ref bought it every time. That was actually big part of his game in his time in England.

The likes of him, Luiz, Fernandinho, etc. would get away with their similar trademarks every week, it was the peak of shite PL refereeing, you just knew many of those refs actually ever watched any of those players or analysed the teams before officiating games.

Good player though.

If you’re fouled, you’re fouled. Not really sure how you can call him a diver. He would literally leave the field with bloody ankles. Unlike say, Zaha or Ashley Young. While I wouldn’t pick him over Ronnie or Messi (obviously) and possibly even Neymar, I would pick him every time over Bale.

 

[JSArsenal]

Where was he meant to fit in at Real Madrid? Take Vinicius place? I never got the logic in them signing him.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Lasting memory of him is that FA Cup Final where he defeated us all on his own. No other Chelsea player did a thing.

What a sale by Chelsea in the end. £100m odd?

 

[mu4c_20le]

Where was he meant to fit in at Real Madrid? Take Vinicius place? I never got the logic in them signing him.

Makes sense, Vini was supposed to develop slowly, which he did anyway.

 

[Dancfc]

There were times, especially in I think his last season there , where Chelsea were as close to a 1 man team as you're ever likely to see.

I would say the 2015 title win was more applicable to that (well two man with Courtois). If it weren't for them we'd have blown top 4 in the second half of that season never mind the title.

As excellent as he was in 18/19 we actually did reasonably well without him playing and that followed on to the next season where we retained top 4 despite losing him.

 

[humdinger]

He was one of those opposition players I loved watching and was terrified when we played against him. Was so glad when Chelsea sold him but would have liked to have seen him carry on at a high level for longer.

 

[tentan]

He should still be his prime.

 

[SirReginald]

He should still be his prime.

Same probably Rooney had, both liked to eat and had pretty bad lifestyles for pro athletes. This is really the difference between these guys and the Ronaldo’s of this World.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Same probably Rooney had, both liked to eat and had pretty bad lifestyles for pro athletes. This is really the difference between these guys and the Ronaldo’s of this World.

Rooney's decline was slower, and he was a hard drinker. Hazard looks like he just gave up as soon as he left his comfort zone. It's as if he thought La Liga defenses would be a walk in the park, and when it wasn't, he mentally gave up.

 

[MadMike]

Same probably Rooney had, both liked to eat and had pretty bad lifestyles for pro athletes. This is really the difference between these guys and the Ronaldo’s of this World.

Disagree. Hazard had a lot of injuries and there's always an element of luck about those. It's not just the dedication.

 

[royboy16]

He was brilliant in his day and a joy to watch.

 

[Dancfc]

Rooney's decline was slower, and he was a hard drinker. Hazard looks like he just gave up as soon as he left his comfort zone. It's as if he thought La Liga defenses would be a walk in the park, and when it wasn't, he mentally gave up.

That's not true, he started okay at Real Madrid then against PSG sustained an injury where a metal plate had to be surgically installed in his fibula which resulted in him actually needing to run differently to prevent pain, which then in turn led to other muscular imbalances considering he is now utilizing his body differently, it can kill anyone's chance to return to their peak self.

 

[kaiser1]

…and Ronnie and Wazza

Add Peak Suarez, Salah Shearer to Henry Ronaldo Vidic Rooney. The top EPL stars

Will Hazard make the Lampard, Van Persie, Scholes Aguero Rio, Giggs, D.Silva, KdB RvNistelrooy tier