And this is why when you'd put an average midfielder like Herrera on his back to keep him in his pocket there was a good chance he would go quiet.
The same can't be said for de Bryune & silva.
Eden Hazard | "It's time to enjoy life drinking beers"
- Thread starter Samid
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The same can't be said for de Bryune & silva.
The Berbatov was more the ability to turn it off and on. I am not denying his ability or his stats, awards etc, more sometimes you can see him loitering about, he doesn't press, he doesn't really carryout his defensive duties. This isn't because he doesn't score striker levels of goals, more simply my thoughts from watching him, I have no problems with you thinking he is world class. I will give you he has had world class moments and can see your argument for a world class season, again its only my throughts on him.
This is just not true
Ok, we clearly just have a different opinion on him.
We do, but if you remember him under Jose he most certainly could be found deep in his own half doing defensive work and would usually start Chelseas attacks from deep because of that. Yes he wasn't Willian but he didn't dodge defensive duty.
Same under Conte but he did less under Conte and there was a big thing made of it that Conte let the shackles off him a bit
That happened once. Now how many times did he run united ragged. Heck he even got herrera sent off in one game.
Watch Henderson trying to keep up with him in the league cup last season when Chelsea went away to Anfield. You'll be hard pressed to find a more humiliating battle.
are you going to suggest that no one has kept KDB or Silva quiet once?Also it was easier to do that to Hazard when he was the only/main creative force in the side, and funny Herrera only managed it once, Hazard ran United ragged most games we played
I've barely heard his name since he went to Madrid, how's he doing?
Do you remember when Pirlo got successfully man-marked out of game by Park? I wonder if that diminished your opinion of him. The fact that the opposition would have such respect is a testament to how good the player must be. And I don't remember De Bruyne or Silva ever being man-marked like that. Do you? The notion that Hazard has never been world class is, to me, insane! It's like we've been watching different leagues all these years.
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Well if that kept happening that would make hazard a rubbish player - that's not what I'm saying - hazard is a world class player.
But for me Hazard is one of those players that ran on his own personal talent and ability rather than things like a personal desire or work rate to try and get even better than he can already be with his own talent he has with his feet.
I just always felt he has more in his locker than he had shown. I look at the guy who came from France & the guy went up maybe 20% at max career progression & that's me being generous. I felt he could have been even more than deadly and become a generational level talent -
At the age on 29, a year from turning 30 at real Madrid - the player isn't really someone I'm going to look back on and have fond memories of in a decades time.
I haven't seen anything of him in the CL, nothing in the international level, I prefer De bryune's both internationally and premier league performances over Hazards.
I just think that it's not long until he comes to a downward spiral on his career and its not been that much of a great career - a PL best player? So what? Done literally nothing else when it matters.
My opinion may be wrong but I had higher expectations of him when everyone was fighting for his signiture at Lille & I wouldn't be surprised if everyone had high expectations when moving to Real Madrid.
To say you prefer De Bruynes international and premier league performances to Hazards, is a bit much, Hazard has outperformed him in both realms, and De Bruyne has hardly done anything himself at CL either.
Ive seen De Bruyne quiet more times than I’ve seen Hazard tbh, try every Liverpool game for one, De Bruyne rarely performs against Liverpool whole Hazard has consistently done well against them.
Also it was easier to do that to Hazard when he was the only/main creative force in the side, and funny Herrera only managed it once, Hazard ran United ragged most games we played
Did I say I prefer de bruynes CL performances?
At first he didn't play well.
He hardly tried 1vs1 and had little influence on the game but later he was being one of the best.
He played 3 or 4 very good matches but was injured,in Champions against PSG.
Now he is about to come back.
You mean aside from his magnificent performance in the World Cup that earned him a Silver Ball?
It’s hard to argue that he didn’t make the best out of his talent though. His personality is way more laid back than you’d want from a top performer. Considering the heights he had reached now, can you imagine how good he could’ve been if he’s had a drive if Zanetti or Cristiano?
Possibly but I liked de Bryune playing false 9 there until Lukaku came back.
I haven't watched a huge amount of their games but would it be fair to call Hazard a flop at this point?
World class is of course open to interpretation so everyone has his own definition. However, according to yours it seems that only Messi, CR7 and maybe Neymar were world class in the last five years since every other player in this world is clearly inferior to Hazard.
I would.
World class to me is a lot of things, natural ability, consistence, workrate and attitude for me I have seen to many games where he just doesn't seem arsed. Am I saying he isn't a massive talent? No, am I saying he isn't a great player? No. I'm saying he could have been a much better player than he reached, and that for me is an issue. I have absolutely no qualms with you thinking he is. There have been team mates say he didn't train hard, even himself has said he hated the gym and training, that's my issue.
Phil Neville once had the game of his life against Vieira.
Hazard was one of the most consistent game affecting players in the league.
That he did that under containing managers such as Jose and Conte is more impressive, not less.
He was injured for quite a while, so that would be quite harsh.
Ronaldinho could've been a better player. Riquelme could've been. They were world class anyway.
It doesn't matter if he utilized his potential to the fullest. When 80% Hazard are more than a 100% of player x, 95% of player y or 50% of player z than he's better than them, simple. And that's the case for 99% of the players out there. There are very, very few footballers in the past 5 years that reached or surpassed the level Hazard has reached at Chelsea. Messi, Cristiano, Neymar and maybe Mbappe, Suarez, Modric etc.
Unsure if football’s the sport for you if you think Eden Hazard never ‘achieved world class status’
Salah needs 2 more years at the level to get a mention
Bale at Madrid is much much better than hazard any day of the week even arguably playing his prime years in a position that didn't get the best out of him like, can you imagine hazard scoring UCL goals like Bale. Not a chance. My favourite CL performances of all time have come from Bale.
I liked Kroos over Hazard aswell & has been great with Modric for many CL wins. Busquets, Lewandowski, Benzema can be argued to be important enough players in recent years better than Hazard or atleast on the same level.
Its just an opinion & its not an important one either.
Not a chance he's above Aguero or KDB just to start with.. Salah and arguably Mane as well.
His WC is as overrated as Englands.
Couldn't care less about lame individual awards that don't often judge actual performances and are based on reputation and hype.
For me world class means top 2 or 3 in a position or top 5 overall. Hazard has never been either of those.
I said when he moved I thought he would flop and it seems he is. The Madrid circus demands more than he can give.
I said when he moved I thought he would flop and it seems he is. The Madrid circus demands more than he can give.
Hazard > De Bruyne
This debate is a bit like the Messi v Ronaldo debate, in Belgium at least. Hazard being the effortlessly brilliant, dribbling supertalent and De Bruyne the hard working go-getter with the unstoppable mentality.
Neither debate brings out the best in people however, so I don't want to stir this one, but just judging by full season performances De Bruyne certainly has made up a lot of ground on Hazard (although the latter is probably more naturally gifted).
Bale should be ahead of Hazard and Neymar.
Its his first season. Give him time
Ah ok. He looks a lot heavier, maybe It's just the Madrid shirt is a bigger fit than the Chelsea one, I don't know, he definitely looks a bit overweight though.
Always liked him. The fact he is unprofessional towards Madrid only helps.
Anyone judging this guy off of goals and assists, or 2015/16 when he was mostly injured and we were in complete turmoil, is looking at him the complete wrong way. His ability to single handedly drag a team up the pitch with his genuinely incredible dribbling ability, draw fouls and make the right passes have always set him apart from most of the competition. Hazard is definitely a player whom the eye-test is needed for. He was never going to be a Ronaldo style winger, his mentality and style are completely different. He is a playmaker more than anything and this is another thing people miss. Even despite all this, his stats at Chelsea were a lot better than people give him credit for, 16 goals and 15 assists in the league in his last season. Some of the most goals against the top six during his time in the league, think I remember seeing only Aguero, Kane and Vardy had more than him whilst he was here. Memorable solo goals, cup final winning goals, he was a big game player and that is also invaluable.
Then look at the circumstances in which he was restrained at Chelsea, playing in defensive set ups for Mourinho and Conte with players like Azpi, Matic and then Alonso behind him with players like Willian alongside? Yet he still dragged us to titles and racked up decent numbers? Unreal how much context is forgotten when discussing Hazard. No surprise the stats he was racking up last season, especially when he played as part of an Emerson, Loftus-Cheek left hand side. For those who forgot, Modric initially struggled even worse at Madrid. Never write Hazard off
Then look at the circumstances in which he was restrained at Chelsea, playing in defensive set ups for Mourinho and Conte with players like Azpi, Matic and then Alonso behind him with players like Willian alongside? Yet he still dragged us to titles and racked up decent numbers? Unreal how much context is forgotten when discussing Hazard. No surprise the stats he was racking up last season, especially when he played as part of an Emerson, Loftus-Cheek left hand side. For those who forgot, Modric initially struggled even worse at Madrid. Never write Hazard off
I know Chelsea wanted to keep him but boy do they have a knack of getting rid of players at the right time.
To quote Alex Ferguson: "He's a fecking great player, youse are fecking idiots".