Eden Hazard is someone that
every football fan in the world is familiar with. The transfer saga surrounding
Hazard was one of the most dramatic ones in football history. At the end of it
all though, Chelsea was the club that Hazard chose to join. So why was it that
almost every top club in Europe was seeking to sign Hazard? Let's take a look.
Eden Hazard is a 21 year old
Belgian international footballer. He primarily plays as winger or an attacking
midfielder. Chelsea signed Hazard this season from French side LOSC Lille for a
reported fee of £32 million on a weekly wage of around £170,000.
Some would say that a fee of
that magnitude is too much for a player untested in the Premier League. But
considering what Hazard brings to the table, this might well turn out to be a
bargain for Chelsea over the years. He was the first non French player to win
the Ligue 1 player of the season award. This was a memorable feat in itself.
However Hazard went on to do something that even the likes of Zidane and
Thierry Henry had not managed to do. He won the award for two consecutive years.
Being 5 feet 8 inches tall,
Hazard's main skill is his pace and dribbling skills. He has a low centre of
gravity which helps him move faster. The speed with which he breezes past
defenders leaves many astonished. He also has the ability to dribble at a speed
and beat players one on one. This is one of the most important things for
Chelsea and something that we were severely lacking last season. Hazard also
has a vision and the creativity to set up goals for others.
Last season Hazard was one of
the very few players on the earth who had more than 15 goals as well as
assists. His statistics of 20 goals and 17 assists in 42 appearances for Lille
last season and certainly very impressive. These statistics clearly show that
Hazard is not selfish and creates plenty of opportunities for others. His
performances last year impressed everyone and due to his speed and passing
skills he was said to be like Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo.
Hazard has an impressive
passing rate of 82.2%. His average key passes per game are 2.2 which is
certainly an important skill. He is skilled at finding spaces and delivering
those crucial passes. Also Hazard has shown that he is not prone to injury and
he was not at all injured last season despite being one of the most fouled
players in Ligue 1. This, particularly, is important as Chelsea will be playing
in many tournaments next season and would be needing him to be fit. Hazard's
one drawback is that he does not dive into tackles and hesitates to challenge
for the ball. But playing as an attacking midfielder would nullify this.
Positionally speaking, Hazard
was a winger earlier. He can play on both wings and is a success too. However,
he was shifted to a central attacking midfield position this season and his
performance improved drastically. Playing in the hole behind the striker,
Hazard was the provider of many crucial assists. Also, being in the centre of
the field gave him more space and freedom to use his creativity. Hazard even
prefers this spot and he mentioned in earlier interviews that he wanted to play
in this position itself at his new club. But even though this position suits
him, Hazard is a drifter and is continuously moving around the field. So,
playing him on the wings wouldn't be a problem. As the position in the hole
behind the striker is currently occupied by Juan Mata at Chelsea, we can expect
Hazard to play on one of the wings. Mata and Hazard would switch positions
during the game. This would give both of them a chance to create opportunities
and score goals. It would also confuse the defenders and make it difficult for
them to mark these two.
However despite all his
abilities, Hazard has one huge flaw- his ego and his attitude towards
authority. We all saw his ego when he put forward huge personal demands for the
club that wanted to sign him. He also insisted that he would be the one to
announce which club he had signed for via his twitter account. This in itself
is an indicator that he is a person who is certainly not among the most humble
players. Hazard's attitude has harmed him in the past too. At the start of the
2010-11 campaign, Hazard was severely criticized by Belgium football team coach
Georges Leekens, who accused him of being lazy in training. Thereafter, he was
also dropped by Lille coach Rudi Garcia and did not start a league game again
for Lille until November 2010. Since then however, he reestablished himself as
an integral part of the team.
His attitude, although
problematic, can be expected to be handled well by Roberto Di Matteo at
Chelsea. RDM showed that he is a great people manager last season. When he took
over, the dressing room was full of hurt egos and was divided. RDM united all
the players, restored the seniors and brought the team together. We can expect
that he will similarly subdue Hazard's ego and integrate him into the team.
Along with Hazard, Chelsea
have also signed Marko Marin. Marin possesses similar skills as Hazard. But
Hazard has proved himself and is certain to be in the first team for most of
the matches unlike Marin who will have to prove that he can play in the top
division. At only 21, Hazard still has a long way to go and can be expected to
reach great levels of success. What he does of his talent is yet to be seen but
what we can surely say right now is that Chelsea have signed a truly promising
player.
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Am very very very happy
ReplyDeleteI just hope he doesn't get seriously injured since the Premier League is a very physical league,unlike Ligue1. Other than that,I expect him to do well and create chances for Torres and the back ups. Chelsea certainly has one of the most talented attacking sides this season.
ReplyDeletehazard will bee more hazardous than his own name to all clubs that will meet chelseafc this season
ReplyDeleteblue is de colour,hazard is d name....dey arnt seen much pollution yet...hèhèhè.
ReplyDeleteLigue 1 not physical? Are you kidding? You must not be familiar with ligue 1. It's the most physical league in Europe. Don't take my word for it, just google interviews of former Chelsea boys Joe Cole and Alex. You'll see what they said about the physicality of ligue 1.
ReplyDelete