The end product is not what it should be and this is stopping him from competing with the very best. Mbappe looks more mature in his decision making and creates more with far less touches on the ball.
Eden Hazard
- Thread starter Adisa
- Start date
The best player at this WC. And it's not even close
You guys are expecting him to be Maradona 
He was Belgium's only dangerous player, to the point France sold out to force him away from the goal. He made one mistake early on, but the rest of the game he had to drop into midfield to start attacking plays, get back to the ball to move it up, try to pull the defence apart, then get back to play final ball, and maybe score himself as well? If Messi played like this we'd be slaughtering his teammates while also saying he should have done more. Sure. But he's Messi. Hazard played as well as anyone other than Messi could have done given how much he had to do tonight
He was Belgium's only dangerous player, to the point France sold out to force him away from the goal. He made one mistake early on, but the rest of the game he had to drop into midfield to start attacking plays, get back to the ball to move it up, try to pull the defence apart, then get back to play final ball, and maybe score himself as well? If Messi played like this we'd be slaughtering his teammates while also saying he should have done more. Sure. But he's Messi. Hazard played as well as anyone other than Messi could have done given how much he had to do tonight
Call it what you will he plays for himself, Mbappe comfortably outshone him tonight both as an individual talent and as a team player
Agree, can't believe people criticising him after that performance.
Belgium's best player, so reliable on him to produce the goods if KDB doesnt show up, like today.
Immense today. Some part of me hopes Chelsea keep hold of him, it's been great seeing all these premier league players do well at the WC.
La Liga is always over represented because of the quality of the Spanish national team to the point that people just write off the PL as a sub-standard league. Hope this WC proves otherwise.
La Liga is always over represented because of the quality of the Spanish national team to the point that people just write off the PL as a sub-standard league. Hope this WC proves otherwise.
No chance Mbappe was better tonight.
Give over. He's not even been the best Belgian player
He was in this world cup
What? I lost count on how many times De Bruyne misplaced a pass today.
Good point, specifically the part about KDB. Scary to think what would of happened if we kept De Bruyne
He's arguably the best player in football currently that can take on any player and beat them, regardless of who they are and what stage in the game it is. United have been missing such a player for ages and I thought signing Sanchez would give us the above. He's basically both footed aswell and has unreal stamina.
If he goes to Mardrid I think he will instantly become their best player.
If he goes to Mardrid I think he will instantly become their best player.
He's rarely created anything for his teammates.
Great dribbler and all but I wonder if anyone has ever yelled at him "pass the ball you dumb cnut"
He's got a bit of Neymar about him. Aside from the diving, he could be so much better if he stopped trying to do it all himself. As it is he's a bit of a show pony and quite easily marked out of a game by a disciplined defence.
Great player, it is almost impossible to get the ball off him. Hope Madrid sign him as Chelsea will struggle to find equivalent replacement.
It’s really crazy to me that people used to hammer him, especially on the caf, for not being selfish enough because “every top player wants it himself”, now he’s too selfish.
Isco, Bale and 50m should be enough imo.
Real Madrid will not sign a better player this summer.
This is his main trick, and it’s obscured a lot of people’s vision.
He’s a great player but he’s so insanely gifted that he should be far better.
Yea but he’s not even selfishly trying to score goals for his team. He’s too busy trying to show how hard he is to take the ball off.
You would have had Lampard replaced.
He was easily the best belgian player this world cup. Nobody really comes close. De Bruyne had 1 good game, Lukaku had 2 good group games against the worst teams in the world cup and a good half against Brazil (a game where Hazard outshone him anyway), the rest have been meh but Hazard has been on it in pretty much every game. Certainly every knockout game.
The direct way is not always the best. I'd even say it is almost always not the best way. De Bruyne gives away way too many balls too easily since he wants to create something too quickly. Hazard was more effective in his plays today and more successful in initiating attacks for his teams. Especially in the role he plays for Belgium, De Bruyne should be less risky in his decision making. At City he has David Silva, Gündogan and partly Fernandinho running the game for him and on top of that a counter pressing machine far superior to that of Belgium. He can't play as risky as for his club. In Belgium there is only Witsel who is a good passer but nowhere near these players. We don't even need to talk about Fellaini or Dembele. It would be up to De Bruyne to run the midfield and be the playmaker of his team but he was pretty bad against France. He misplaced so many passes today and wasn't patient at all. Hazard on the other hand constantly dribbled past his markers, created superiority and momentum and thus space for his team mates. People are far too focused on the final balls, sometimes the plays before that are even more important.
That’s how he creates for his team though. He tries to drag and pull people with him. He’s literally never been the arrogant type and it’s always been the criticism held against him for not reaching his potential. Now he’s trying to put the team on his shoulders. Maybe I’m too close to the situation.
He is about as good as I thought he would be but, then again since he was at Lille I have compared him to Ribery I never thought he could reach the Messi/Cristiano levels.
He had a terrific world cup. Phenomenal player.
Classy player, the way he just seems to drift past people is unreal.
Overall, he's had a very good World Cup and thought he was good tonight. I think he can do better than being in this Chelsea team.
Overall, he's had a very good World Cup and thought he was good tonight. I think he can do better than being in this Chelsea team.
Hazard isn’t a centre midfielder though. His job isn’t to control a game. With the gifts he has, his job should be to win them.
And I think you’re placing too much stock in the fact that Kevin had a poor game tonight. Believe me, I’m not a stats fanatic, quite the opposite. But there are some realities that can’t be avoided. Ronaldo became a better player when he realised he could use his gifts for more than just making opposition defenders look stupid. He began deciding games weekly, then went full circle to the point where he didn’t give a shit if he was makin defenders look silly at all - he just wanted to win games.
I think Hazard could honestly be the Messi of the PL. He’s that good. He needed to join United and play for Sir Alex.
Played well this evening. Well done.
Give up watching football, you haven't got a clue
When you see him play football, you really wonder why he hasn't challenged Messi and Ronaldo for the past 3-5 years. He is godly gifted with the ball and his body
How many times has he been able to hold up the ball or keep it during tight situations with 3 players surrounding him though? I'll bet these same players who would yell at him in your scenario would have lost the ball already and huffing and puffing after another french counter or time waste maneuvre.
Great player, one of the best even - but his numbers year on year are never particularly outstanding are they. His dribbling and finesse on the ball is really something to behold but goals and assists are ultimately a forward's bread and butter - these determine the true effectiveness of a forward and he's never in that elite bracket.
It's not the point. If you watch Hazard you'd think he'd be on par with peak Messi. Great dribbler, amazing movement, very hard to take ball away from his feet etc... but with all the technical skills he has, Hazard rarely makes big impact/ affect the games like 2010 Messi did.
Last season he's only scored 17 goals for Chelsea, Ronaldo at the age 23 scored 31 goals for United. I'm not saying he is a bad player but sometimes you have to wonder if drawing foul is more important than anything for him, that's why he hasn't reached the level everyone expected him to. A player of his caliber should do more
It is completely ridiculous to expect him to be Messi or Cristiano. No one in this era has consistently played to the level Messi and Cristiano have.
Nothing wrong with it, Hazard has the technical skills to be the best, he just doesn't have the mindset of the best.
Someone in this thread compared Hazard to De Bruyne was absolutely spot on. When ball on feet, De Bruyne always find the paths to the goal; Hazard's priority is how to make himself look good.
Someone in this thread compared Hazard to De Bruyne was absolutely spot on. When ball on feet, De Bruyne always find the paths to the goal; Hazard's priority is how to make himself look good.
Unplayable when in top form. Great tournament for him.
He just doesn't look arsed half the time at Chelsea. I'm not even sure it's a consistency thing anymore. I think he's just not too motivated.
He just doesn't look arsed half the time at Chelsea. I'm not even sure it's a consistency thing anymore. I think he's just not too motivated.
He was great tonight, best player on the pitch. The commentators were going on about Mbappe but Hazard was amazing. He had to do it against a packed defence with about three players all over him at any one time.