He's gonna blow up, isn't he
Eden Hazard | "It's time to enjoy life drinking beers"
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
In fact, my favourite players I've seen who never played for United:
- Zidane
- Kaka
- Ronaldinho
- Messi
- Henry
- Hazard
- Xavi
- Pirlo
- Riquelme
- Sneijder
Isn’t he another one who looked like signing for us but then Chelsea pinched him? Like Robben, Essien, Ballack etc. It seemed at one point we were doing their scouting for them.
He should have shaped up.
Crazy transfer. I wonder if he will sit down in a few years and discuss what happened because he was comfortably one of the best players in Europe and the moment he moved to Madrid he entered retirement mode which seems absurd
We agreed the transfer fee as well as his wages. It was his agent's commission that made SAF pull out of his transfer. I remember reading that Fergie thought his agent was too greedy, but sadly he didn't know that this was going to be the new norm.
Although I recognize that he was an absolutely briliant dribbler, I've always found his style of dribbling very dull to watch; it's similar to Messi, but even less elegant. And no, I'm not saying that because of the lack of tricks - which I don't even appreciate that much; maybe is his stocky body that make his movement looks "heavy"(not slow though; he was very agile), I don't know...
I remember him as being near unplayable against us. Great player at his peak
Didn't his ankle just give up on him after years of being kicked in the PL? Sure players with a different work ethic may have been able to mitigate it but he wasn't ever going to start working hard in the gym/in rehab once it started to go.
An unbelievable dribbler. The best I've seen in the PL
So good that our whole game plan revolved around him when playing Chelsea. It rarely worked as he still bossed us.
Impressive list. Personally, I think Hazard became a bit of a two-season hit. And he never made an impact at Int'l level really... a shame. Was a super player for a couple of seasons though.
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Game against PSG, Meunier (I think) kicked him on the ankle and that really killed his career. Admittedly he didn’t have a good start at Madrid but by that point he was getting back to his old self. Shame. We kinda lucked out having Vini ready to take that spot, even though it took some time for him to really level up.
Wanted Hazard for years, shame it did not work out.
As great as he was at Chelsea, I loved the game when Jose set us up with an unorthodox 6-2-2 formation with Herrera man marking Hazard, absolute park the bus shithousery, and we won 2-0 with Herrera keeping Hazard quiet and grabbing a goal and an assist.
Not surprised by that quote. Had top level ability, but never truly fulfilled it because he lacked the absolute elite mentality of the top players. He can still look back and say I had a good (even great) career, but with his talent he could have been higher than players like Rooney or Bale and instead he’s a tier of two behind them.
Hazard started playing lots of games earlier than most. Players tend to have a similar length of career at their peak and the ones that start early ends it early with some exceptions. As an example with all his injuries since 2019 Hazard still registered more minutes than someone like Salah since their debut. Hazard is simply a player that had lots of mileage early and consistently.
I love this dude. If I was an insanely talented player, I'd probably have the saw attitude.
I think people get way too invested in players generally. I'm sure Eden is pretty happy and content with his career and now he gets to enjoy the millionaire life. Not sure if I'd have the same attitude if I was a footballer but I'd happily take his career!.
You missed Robben in there.
Agreed. One thing that I like about Hazard is that he has never fooled anyone, he loves playing Football and treated it as a game. He also stated from the beginning that he only cares about his family and enjoying himself.
He absolutely did fulfill his talent. You can argue he didn't have the longevity, but Hazard at his prime was unplayable. If you say that about Hazard, you can say it about nearly every other player.
He was like 17 when he started playing in Lille's first team, wasn't he? He isn't the first nor will he be the last player to start so early and then fall off by the time he's 30.
I miss the fecker. What a glorious 7 years it was. It was fecking privilege to watch him every week.
From memory yes 17. At 18 he was playing more than most 18 years and by 19 he was starting nearly every games possible. For some reason, writing that reminded me Brendan Gallagher, he was a high load player until his body decided to quit.
Neymar was similar: at 18, he was playing almost every game for Santos(although Brazilian league isn't as physical as Ligue 1, our clubs have much more games per season than in Europe).
Makes it even more impressive that Fergie guided United to more titles than City and Chelsea combined after Chelsea's take over. Chelsea and City's spending was insane in that period, while they were both spending £400m every few years, there was a summer when our most expensive signing was Bebe.
Hazard was a very good player and a pain to play against, but I didn't find his dribbling particularly exciting to watch even though it was always so effective. Was very elegant, but didn't capture the imagination like Okocha, Giggs, Ginola, Waddle, Henry or Robben at their best from the PL era. Not commenting on his quality, just purely in terms of entertainment.
I was so envious when you got him. I always hoped for him to join Bayern to be the heir to Ribery on the left wing.
Strange comment imo. One of the most elegant and graceful players at his peak. He absolutely glided over the ground. Not taking issue with you finding him dull, that’s subjective, but stylistically he was one of the most graceful dribblers of the modern era.
A strong list but agree Robben should fit in there. I was hoping Antony would be 1/10th of the player he was, but hasn't materialised
The Brazilian league is fairly physical(or at least used to be) and he used to be targeted by oppositions. But yes Neymar is an other example of a player with high mileage at an early age and his total minutes are not that far from Salah in spite of years with big injuries.
A bit strange to see him talk so much about going to Real Madrid only to see him end up there doing nothing at all. I mean, it sound like he was motivated to go there.
Spot on. If I'm remembering correctly, for most of his time in the PL he was the most fouled player in Europe's top 5 leagues. It was the culmination of his elite dribbling and control, the physicality of the PL, and refs not offering him much protection. He may have lasted longer had he gone directly to Spain. But as you say, his work ethic prevented any sort of mitigation.
He was there, then I remembered Wesley... It's actually much harder than I thought... No place for Ronaldo
The ball just stuck to his feet when on form. Almost Messi-esque
My favourites don't equate to skill. Robben... Is a bit of a douche
Yeah, he was feckin fantastic
I don't want to be a prick, but I can't remember any era that Brazilian football was notably "physical"; even in South America our league isn't remarkable for that.
And Neymar was way way more protected by the referees around here; in fact, one of the biggest complaints from the pundits is how easily the Brazilian referees stop the game; many think this created a bad habit in him that caused many injuries in Europe.
He was good at his prime but it’s levels below the truly elite players because he simply failed to impact the biggest games and tournaments. He had the ability to score 30-40 goals a season and truly dominate the top but wasn’t driven enough to play that way.
I'm not sure because Messi and Neymar have gotten kicked and fouled a lot in Spain. Elite dribblers just get roughed up wherever they go unfortunately.
One of the most talented players I've seen. A shame he didn't want it more.