Cristiano Ronaldo : The Juventus Chapter | Fin

[James Peril]

Goals aside it was his worst game in a Juve shirt by a mile. A lot of it was due to the team though, I have absoutely no idea what Allegri's plan is offensively. His rotations are a complete mess too, seems like they try to win by being just a little bit better and more clinical than the opposition.

Jesus christ, what drivel. 2 goals, one a belter in the top corner out of nothing (which quite literally is what you get and pay for with Ronaldo and other top class players) - and some internet geezer talks him down. Know what.. I’d rather have two goals from a crap performance than a «great» performance with no goals. Ronaldo scores goals, even when crap, that wins you football matches. Juventus are 9-1-0 in the league and 3-0-0 in the Champions League.. have they ever had a better start?

It’s the same week they played United away as well, it’s all about the win. And it was away from home.

 

[Peyroteo]

Jesus christ, what drivel. 2 goals, one a belter in the top corner out of nothing (which quite literally is what you get and pay for with Ronaldo and other top class players) - and some internet geezer talks him down. Know what.. I’d rather have two goals from a crap performance than a «great» performance with no goals. Ronaldo scores goals, even when crap, that wins you football matches. Juventus are 9-1-0 in the league and 3-0-0 in the Champions League.. have they ever had a better start?

It’s the same week they played United away as well, it’s all about the win. And it was away from home.

I agree, that's why I said 'goals aside'. When you score 2 goals to turn the match around from 1-0 down away from home then it's always a great game but Juventus looked poor offensively. They were creating nothing before he scored. Only way he was getting the ball was when Empoli had 10 men behind the ball and that won't get the best out of Ronaldo.

I was criticizing Allegri, not Ronaldo. The balance of the team without Mandzukic isn't quite there yet and playing both Cancelo and Cuadrado at Old Trafford and then none of them vs Empoli was stupid as today they had noone giving width on the right. Even after the 2-1 they ended up getting dominated until the end of the match, it was very poor.

 

[Ronaldo's Mum Eh?]

At 33, he's still better than any one of our players.

Insane goal.

 

[Slik]

At 33, he's still better than any one of our players.

Insane goal.

Isn’t he better than almost every player in the world? I don’t think it’s any surprise he is better than all our players. He is better than any player in the premier league.

 

[Ronaldo's Mum Eh?]

Isn’t he better than almost every player in the world? I don’t think it’s any surprise he is better than all our players. He is better than any player in the premier league.

That's true. It's still him and Messi as the top 2 in the world. It will remain that way until they retire. Thing is I can see Ronaldo pushing on and still scoring 30 goals a season for the next 4 years at least.

 

[Zehner]

Isn’t he better than almost every player in the world? I don’t think it’s any surprise he is better than all our players. He is better than any player in the premier league.

He's the best in his position. But I think Hazard has more impact for his teams. At the very moment, he's the better player in my opinion although peak Cristiano is still comfortably above him. Ronaldo's goal scoring is as good as always and I think at Juve he also proves that he still has the ability to beat one or even multiple players through dribbling. But while he does the latter more frequently now it also becomes strikingly obvious that he has declined tremendously in this regard. Compared to his younger self it seems like he's moving in slow mo. Hazard on the other hand can't be taken out of a game. He casually goes past multiple players if given the ball and creates momentum out of nothing. Absolutely breathtaking footballer. He and Neymar are the only players I can see overcoming Messi in the next 2-3 years.

 

[Peyroteo]

He's the best in his position. But I think Hazard has more impact for his teams. At the very moment, he's the better player in my opinion although peak Cristiano is still comfortably above him. Ronaldo's goal scoring is as good as always and I think at Juve he also proves that he still has the ability to beat one or even multiple players through dribbling. But while he does the latter more frequently now it also becomes strikingly obvious that he has declined tremendously in this regard. Compared to his younger self it seems like he's moving in slow mo. Hazard on the other hand can't be taken out of a game. He casually goes past multiple players if given the ball and creates momentum out of nothing. Absolutely breathtaking footballer. He and Neymar are the only players I can see overcoming Messi in the next 2-3 years.

Hazard can be taken out of games, it happens regulary. How many times do dribblers need to be dominated by good defensive teams for the point to get across? He can get past 2 or 3 players, but not in all circumstances.

If there’s one player in football you can’t ever take out of a game, it’s Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s incredibly complete in every moment of the game, he can thrive in any way of playing against any other way of playing, that’s the most special thing about him: his ability to adapt to his teammates and opposition. He’ll play on the left, on the right, through the middle, on the counter and in possession, the team can attack through crosses or through the middle... and if everything fails there are always set pieces. There are a lot of different dimensions to his game, that’s what made Zidane’s Madrid attack so special without a lot of attacking talent.

Hazard thrives in dribbling which is much easier to stop as a team, he’s a much more one dimensional player. Of course you’ll find him the better player if that’s the only part of the game you care about but that’s not really how football works.

Thinking Hazard is as good of a football player as Ronaldo is completely misunderstanding what football is. You refuse to understand what Ronaldo has become as a player and completely disregard different ways of playing football than the one you romanticize about.

2-3 years from now neither Neymar or Hazard will have anywhere near the impact on the big stage to be considered the best players in the world. Mbappe will be the one with that status.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

He's the best in his position. But I think Hazard has more impact for his teams.

That's just pure bollocks in fairness, and I love Hazard as a player.

 

[SirAF]

The Hazard discussion aside, The Man is almost 34 and he is still looking like one of the best players in the world. Take a fecking bow.

 

[Peyroteo]

If yesterday Ronaldo instead of scoring the 2-1 from that position had dribbled past the 3 players in front of him and scored... then he’d be good at both dribbling and scoring, instead of just being good at scoring. Which would make him a better player in the eyes of a lot of people.

If instead of dribbling or shooting, he passes to Cuadrado, goes to the box and scores from the cross, then he’d be a poacher. 3 different scenarios, same result but he gets judged differently depending on how it went.

@Zehner on a different note, what’s your opinion on how differently Ronaldo is playing at Juventus compared to how he played at Madrid and what does this say about his time in Madrid?

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

The Hazard discussion aside, The Man is almost 34 and he is still looking like one of the best players in the world. Take a fecking bow.

I think he's actually looking more exciting to watch again too, certainly more exciting than he was during his final 2 years in Madrid. The flair seems to have returned.

Great move for him, and brilliant that he still wants new challenges.

 

[shamans]

He's the best in his position. But I think Hazard has more impact for his teams. At the very moment, he's the better player in my opinion although peak Cristiano is still comfortably above him. Ronaldo's goal scoring is as good as always and I think at Juve he also proves that he still has the ability to beat one or even multiple players through dribbling. But while he does the latter more frequently now it also becomes strikingly obvious that he has declined tremendously in this regard. Compared to his younger self it seems like he's moving in slow mo. Hazard on the other hand can't be taken out of a game. He casually goes past multiple players if given the ball and creates momentum out of nothing. Absolutely breathtaking footballer. He and Neymar are the only players I can see overcoming Messi in the next 2-3 years.

Current Hazard better than CR7? You can't be serious..

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Current Hazard better than CR7? You can't be serious..

Hazard has more impact for his teams he says.

Must be ignoring that Juventus are top of the league, top of their CL group and Ronaldo has been directly involved in 10 of Juve's last 14 league goals (seven goals, three assists). Oh... and not to mention how it's going for Madrid without him.

 

[SirAF]

I think he's actually looking more exciting to watch again too, certainly more exciting than he was during his final 2 years in Madrid. The flair seems to have returned.

Great move for him, and brilliant that he still wants new challenges.

Definitely.

When he hang up his boots he can say that he’s done the business in England, Spain and Italy.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Definitely.

When he hang up his boots he can say that he’s done the business in England, Spain and Italy.

If he can win the CL there, surely that's the greatest career any player has ever had?

 

[Imran Mamdani]

Current Hazard better than CR7? You can't be serious..

By a mile and a half. CR7 is consistently on top of the game. You cannot say that with Hazard at the mo.

 

[shamans]

Hazard has more impact for his teams he says.

Must be ignoring that Juventus are top of the league, top of their CL group and Ronaldo has been directly involved in 10 of Juve's last 14 league goals (seven goals, three assists). Oh... and not to mention how it's going for Madrid without him.

Yeah, there's no base to Hazard being better right now.

By a mile and a half. CR7 is consistently on top of the game. You cannot say that with Hazard at the mo.

I think you are agreeing with me. But he said Hazard is better than Ronaldo right now. I mean I think people underrate Hazard sometimes with how good he is but you aren't watching Ronaldo play if you think Hazard is better right now.

 

[B&Wandmore]

I agree, that's why I said 'goals aside'. When you score 2 goals to turn the match around from 1-0 down away from home then it's always a great game but Juventus looked poor offensively. They were creating nothing before he scored. Only way he was getting the ball was when Empoli had 10 men behind the ball and that won't get the best out of Ronaldo.

I was criticizing Allegri, not Ronaldo. The balance of the team without Mandzukic isn't quite there yet and playing both Cancelo and Cuadrado at Old Trafford and then none of them vs Empoli was stupid as today they had noone giving width on the right. Even after the 2-1 they ended up getting dominated until the end of the match, it was very poor.

well that is not entirely true. It was true for the first half but in the second even before the penalty we created 3 clear chances with one bar hit. Anyway overall it has been the worst game played this year. Cancelo has played all the games so far and we are short of 2 key midfielders that made turnover impossible and you could see that from Bentancur poor performance after the last 2 excellent ones. In any case comparisons aside Ronaldo is confirming all the best we knew about him, very fit and he plays for the team way more than he used to in Madrid at least recently

 

[B&Wandmore]

He's the best in his position. But I think Hazard has more impact for his teams. At the very moment, he's the better player in my opinion although peak Cristiano is still comfortably above him. Ronaldo's goal scoring is as good as always and I think at Juve he also proves that he still has the ability to beat one or even multiple players through dribbling. But while he does the latter more frequently now it also becomes strikingly obvious that he has declined tremendously in this regard. Compared to his younger self it seems like he's moving in slow mo. Hazard on the other hand can't be taken out of a game. He casually goes past multiple players if given the ball and creates momentum out of nothing. Absolutely breathtaking footballer. He and Neymar are the only players I can see overcoming Messi in the next 2-3 years.

Putting Neymar in the same paragraph as Ronaldo or Messi is offensive Neymar for all his skills has never been a team player and I would never take him for my team

 

[Fergietime@99]

Hazard has more impact for his teams he says.

Must be ignoring that Juventus are top of the league, top of their CL group and Ronaldo has been directly involved in 10 of Juve's last 14 league goals (seven goals, three assists). Oh... and not to mention how it's going for Madrid without him.

well it was almost the same for Madrid with him last season

 

[Peyroteo]

well that is not entirely true. It was true for the first half but in the second even before the penalty we created 3 clear chances with one bar hit. Anyway overall it has been the worst game played this year. Cancelo has played all the games so far and we are short of 2 key midfielders that made turnover impossible and you could see that from Bentancur poor performance after the last 2 excellent ones. In any case comparisons aside Ronaldo is confirming all the best we knew about him, very fit and he plays for the team way more than he used to in Madrid at least recently

You started the second half very well but between the 1-1 and the 1-2 there were no chances. Cuadrado, Bernardeschi and Costa have to give the team more creativity or you'll end up starving Ronaldo. Dybala is getting better but he still could do more too.

Ronaldo will be 34 soon and he shouldn't have to play the role he's been playing everytime. I think Douglas Costa will be the key, if he plays like he did for the second half of last season then you won't have the problems you've had in recent games against Frosinone, Genoa and Empoli.

 

[VorZakone]

This guy...33 years old and still comfortably among the world's elite.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

well it was almost the same for Madrid with him last season

Real were in 9th going into November last year?

 

[B & W]

I didn't know that pheasants could wank. Learn something new everyday.

I think that very few people knew that. This guy had to be certainly an ornithologist. Perhaps he works for BBC, to produce documentaries.

 

[B & W]

Spalletti needed a right back not a right winger unable to mark a man

Thirteen matches for Juventus, until now, and I don't remember a mistake of Cancelo defending against opponents, except in the first one (he caused a penalty). Cancelo played all matches except two, I think. Certainly one of the best defenders in Serie A, and probably one of the better ones in Europe.

 

[B & W]

Also as per reports, it wasn't as if Inter didn't want to sign him. They asked for one more loan or extension to the clause so that they can pay after FFP monitoring period, for which Valencia declined. Inter tried and failed to sign him.

Inter in the last years tried many times to sign players without having to pay for them, or offering much less than a normal price to their side (last year Rafinha and Cancelo, this year Modric). They speaks always of problems because of the financial fairplay, or because of new rules in China about investments abroad. At the end of the season they refused to buy Cancelo and Rafinha because of these problems, but now Inter published his balance sheet referring to the last season, and all people could see that they paied 31 millions for a very young defender of Atalanta, that played only 8 matches in Serie A until now.

 

[::sonny::]

Thirteen matches for Juventus, until now, and I don't remember a mistake of Cancelo defending against opponents, except in the first one (he caused a penalty). Cancelo played all matches except two, I think. Certainly one of the best defenders in Serie A, and probably one of the better ones in Europe.

He is growing up quickly, the current Cancelo is a different player compared to what Cancelo was during the first months at Inter

 

[SCP]

I think it was quite obvious on the last 25 minutes that he can't play 90 minutes over 90 minutes without some sort of rotation. This and having a predictable offensive organization when on the second half the same plays were incessantly repeated. He dropped outside the area to receive the ball, released it to Alex Sandro, run into the box and 25 million crosses into the area. Add this not having Cancelo and their entire offensive actions were exactly the same. Great goal, but 5 years ago he could play 90 over 90 without sweating, now its different.

 

[SirAF]

If he can win the CL there, surely that's the greatest career any player has ever had?

I would definitely THINK so

 

[B&Wandmore]

You started the second half very well but between the 1-1 and the 1-2 there were no chances. Cuadrado, Bernardeschi and Costa have to give the team more creativity or you'll end up starving Ronaldo. Dybala is getting better but he still could do more too.

Ronaldo will be 34 soon and he shouldn't have to play the role he's been playing everytime. I think Douglas Costa will be the key, if he plays like he did for the second half of last season then you won't have the problems you've had in recent games against Frosinone, Genoa and Empoli.

no doubt about that. Bernardeschi was particularly disappointing after starting very well the season yesterday he was the worst on the pitch. Costa also started very well but his red card followed by an injury took away his steam, but I think it is only a matter of time, in the first 2 months we won many games without Ronaldo being the central in any case he is the type of player who wants to play almost always, I think it will not be an issue as long as he keeps this fitness he is definetly not your typical 34 yo player. I am more worried by the injuries of Can and Khedira

 

[Zehner]

Hazard can be taken out of games, it happens regulary. How many times do dribblers need to be dominated by good defensive teams for the point to get across? He can get past 2 or 3 players, but not in all circumstances.

If there’s one player in football you can’t ever take out of a game, it’s Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s incredibly complete in every moment of the game, he can thrive in any way of playing against any other way of playing, that’s the most special thing about him: his ability to adapt to his teammates and opposition. He’ll play on the left, on the right, through the middle, on the counter and in possession, the team can attack through crosses or through the middle... and if everything fails there are always set pieces. There are a lot of different dimensions to his game, that’s what made Zidane’s Madrid attack so special without a lot of attacking talent.

Hazard thrives in dribbling which is much easier to stop as a team, he’s a much more one dimensional player. Of course you’ll find him the better player if that’s the only part of the game you care about but that’s not really how football works.

Thinking Hazard is as good of a football player as Ronaldo is completely misunderstanding what football is. You refuse to understand what Ronaldo has become as a player and completely disregard different ways of playing football than the one you romanticize about.

2-3 years from now neither Neymar or Hazard will have anywhere near the impact on the big stage to be considered the best players in the world. Mbappe will be the one with that status.

See, there are many different skills that make up the class of a player. Dribbling is of course only one of them but it happens to be the one that is the least dependent on your team mates. If you are a great passer you need team mates making the runs, if you are a great header you need crosses, if you are great at one on ones vs the keeper you ned someone to bring you into these situations and so forth. That's why I disagree. I don't think you can take a dribbler as good as Hazard out of games. You can try to isolate or constantly otnumber him but this will always give more freedom to other players even if it works. And if your time is totally out of place you can still start a dribble or two. You can never give these players time. Even if they are in seemingly "dead" situations they can always cause havoc and need extra attention. And that isn't the case with Ronaldo anymore. If he has the ball at the sideway line and your team is in its formation, you don't feel at risk because you have him under control - he doesn't require extra attention or tactical adjustments. And that's the big issue I have with Cristiano. If his team doesn't perform, he is almost non-existant because he is so reliant on service nowadays. A similar case is Özil, just the other way round. He used to be quite a good dribbler and pretty fast but for the most art at Arsenal he completely relied on his passing. So if his mates didn't make the right runs, he was almost invisible. Still a great player of course but that's what players like Hazard distinguishes.

You've got a point with the versatility of his team's playing style but I think you overestimate that. Yes, he is very good in converting crosses but that's about it, the rest you have with almost every other top player, too. And crosses are statistically the worst attacking strategy. Madrid often bet on quantity over quality and that was only possible because they were dominant and got into countless situations in which they could cross the ball freely. That is not a given at every team. It is similar with Juventus in the league.

I'm impressed by his Juve spell by the way. I think during the last year, he incredibly managed to improve again. He seems much more agile and involved than at Madrid. I think it has to do with him sacrificing muscle mass for mobility. I know what you want to hear from be regarding his Madrid role. You believe he was that passive because of his role in that team and that he simply did what was best for the team. But I don't agree with that. That he was needed in the center as a goal scoring machine and receiver of crosses is true but that is no excuse for him avoiding almost every dribbling even if he had the chance to create superiority or fecking it up when he tried it (his success rate was awful..)


I still disagree with the Mbappe part. The game against Napoli showed all of his weaknesses IMO. He was absolutely dreadful because of tight spaces. A great player but ne dimensional and ineffective if he can't find space. I don't think he'll ever reach Neymar level - who was immense in that game by the way.

 

[JamesB__]

I do wonder if he’ll struggle in the second half of the season, it is this kind of game that Zidane would’ve rotated him out of (or last weekend before the big CL tie) whereas for Juve he’s playing every game.

Started to look jaded towards the end against Man Utd, this isn’t a criticism as he’s almost 34 but with all of Allegri’s rotations it’s only Ronaldo of the out field players (I think) who’s played every game he wasn’t suspended for.

Last couple of seasons he’s had slow starts but ended the season in freakish form, wouldn’t be too surprised if it went the other way round unless Allegri starts rotating him.

On the other hand it’s Ronaldo, the guy isn’t like most footballers and could maintain this good form all the way through to May.

 

[B&Wandmore]

See, there are many different skills that make up the class of a player. Dribbling is of course only one of them but it happens to be the one that is the least dependent on your team mates. If you are a great passer you need team mates making the runs, if you are a great header you need crosses, if you are great at one on ones vs the keeper you ned someone to bring you into these situations and so forth. That's why I disagree. I don't think you can take a dribbler as good as Hazard out of games.

I think Neymar is the perfect example of how this is not true

 

[Peyroteo]

I do wonder if he’ll struggle in the second half of the season, it is this kind of game that Zidane would’ve rotated him out of (or last weekend before the big CL tie) whereas for Juve he’s playing every game.

Started to look jaded towards the end against Man Utd, this isn’t a criticism as he’s almost 34 but with all of Allegri’s rotations it’s only Ronaldo of the out field players (I think) who’s played every game he wasn’t suspended for.

Last couple of seasons he’s had slow starts but ended the season in freakish form, wouldn’t be too surprised if it went the other way round unless Allegri starts rotating him.

On the other hand it’s Ronaldo, the guy isn’t like most footballers and could maintain this good form all the way through to May.

He got that suspension after being sent off vs Valencia and missed the 2 international breaks so it's been fine for now. He should be starting to be rotated from now on though.

 

[Zehner]

I think Neymar is the perfect example of how this is not true

Don't want to get too offtopic but Neymar is absolutely brillant and creates bucket loads of chances through his dribblings. Happened against Napoli, too. That is impact through individual class. He doesn't get the appraisal he deserves because of his bad reputation. People want him to be shit and can't accept that he isn't.

 

[B&Wandmore]

Don't want to get too offtopic but Neymar is absolutely brillant and creates bucket loads of chances through his dribblings. Happened against Napoli, too. That is impact through individual class. He doesn't get the appraisal he deserves because of his bad reputation. People want him to be shit and can't accept that he isn't.

against Napoli he was an embarrassment, kept often the ball too long did not make the right choices and never helped his team to get the ball back or interrupted Napoli build up play. He along Di Maria was the main reason Napoli dominated that game and deserved to win, absolutely useless

 

[Peyroteo]

See, there are many different skills that make up the class of a player. Dribbling is of course only one of them but it happens to be the one that is the least dependent on your team mates. If you are a great passer you need team mates making the runs, if you are a great header you need crosses, if you are great at one on ones vs the keeper you ned someone to bring you into these situations and so forth. That's why I disagree. I don't think you can take a dribbler as good as Hazard out of games. You can try to isolate or constantly otnumber him but this will always give more freedom to other players even if it works. And if your time is totally out of place you can still start a dribble or two. You can never give these players time. Even if they are in seemingly "dead" situations they can always cause havoc and need extra attention. And that isn't the case with Ronaldo anymore. If he has the ball at the sideway line and your team is in its formation, you don't feel at risk because you have him under control - he doesn't require extra attention or tactical adjustments. And that's the big issue I have with Cristiano. If his team doesn't perform, he is almost non-existant because he is so reliant on service nowadays. A similar case is Özil, just the other way round. He used to be quite a good dribbler and pretty fast but for the most art at Arsenal he completely relied on his passing. So if his mates didn't make the right runs, he was almost invisible. Still a great player of course but that's what players like Hazard distinguishes.

Yes, but that doesn't make it more impressive or more important. I'd also argue it indirectly depends on teammates too and it especially depends on what strategy the opponents use to defend against that player. They have teammates for a reason, they're supposed to work together to win the match.

If there aren't other great players in the team or if they rely on one player to create, it's easy for the opposition to stop even the best dribbler in the world. Just reduce the space, put a player on him and you've taken out that part of his game. Then it becomes about what else that player can do to hurt the opposition. That's why having those different dimentions to a game is very important and it makes it a lot tougher for the opposition to formulate a plan against.

You've got a point with the versatility of his team's playing style but I think you overestimate that. Yes, he is very good in converting crosses but that's about it, the rest you have with almost every other top player, too. And crosses are statistically the worst attacking strategy. Madrid often bet on quantity over quality and that was only possible because they were dominant and got into countless situations in which they could cross the ball freely. That is not a given at every team. It is similar with Juventus in the league.

Crosses aren't the worst attacking strategy, they're very effective with the right players. Especially so when you have Ronaldo in the box. If you consistently attack through the wings then it becomes easier to break through the middle too. Madrid overdid it at times but they were at their best offensively when they found the right balance. It got the best out of players like Asensio, Lucas Vasquez and the fullbacks.

I'm impressed by his Juve spell by the way. I think during the last year, he incredibly managed to improve again. He seems much more agile and involved than at Madrid. I think it has to do with him sacrificing muscle mass for mobility. I know what you want to hear from be regarding his Madrid role. You believe he was that passive because of his role in that team and that he simply did what was best for the team. But I don't agree with that. That he was needed in the center as a goal scoring machine and receiver of crosses is true but that is no excuse for him avoiding almost every dribbling even if he had the chance to create superiority or fecking it up when he tried it (his success rate was awful..)

The thing is that he's playing for Juventus pretty much the same way he's been playing for Portugal for years... so did he get better at dropping deep at 34 years old or did he adapt to what the team needed him to be? He's a lot more mobile now than he was at Madrid, that's a tactical decision, not an individual one. Him cutting down on muscle mass happened a few years ago, it's nothing new.

I still disagree with the Mbappe part. The game against Napoli showed all of his weaknesses IMO. He was absolutely dreadful because of tight spaces. A great player but ne dimensional and ineffective if he can't find space. I don't think he'll ever reach Neymar level - who was immense in that game by the way.

Mbappe was poor but Neymar wasn't immense either. Had a few good runs but he overdribbled, kept the ball too long, made wrong decisions... Mbappe is fairly one dimensional and he struggles sometimes when there's no space to explore behind the defense but he has the right instincts and I believe he's going to improve throughout the years and make his game a lot more complete. He could stagnate, I just don't believe he will.

 

[Kentonio]

Hazard has more impact for his teams he says.

Must be ignoring that Juventus are top of the league, top of their CL group and Ronaldo has been directly involved in 10 of Juve's last 14 league goals (seven goals, three assists). Oh... and not to mention how it's going for Madrid without him.

You know Hazard also has 7 goals and 3 assists this season right? In a side currently unbeaten in both Europe and the league.

 

[Daysleeper]

You know Hazard also has 7 goals and 3 assists this season right? In a side currently unbeaten in both Europe and the league.

They're not even in Champions League, don't think "unbeaten" in Europe really means anything. And for the EPL there are two other teams who are also unbeaten the highest of any league

 

[Peyroteo]

Don't want to get too offtopic but Neymar is absolutely brillant and creates bucket loads of chances through his dribblings. Happened against Napoli, too. That is impact through individual class. He doesn't get the appraisal he deserves because of his bad reputation. People want him to be shit and can't accept that he isn't.

He isn't shit but if anything, for the past year he's getting more praise than he's deserved. He's more frustrating than he is brilliant.

He creates loads of chances through his dribbling when he gets the space to do so, which he won't always get.