Think you have to take into account playing for a defensive team for most of his time at Chelsea, especially for Conte. Their system basically has him as a one man attack, which he can do occasionally of course but it must be a bit demotivating having quite that much to do every game. Put him in an attacking system/dominant side and I think you'd see him absolutely tear up the opposition and much more consistently.
Eden Hazard
- Thread starter Adisa
- Start date
You should catch a rerun of the game when it comes on, it was a great watch!
Oh what could have been for 5mill in agent fee 
Probably wouldn't have stuck around during the barren years though.
Probably wouldn't have stuck around during the barren years though.
Bar the last 15 mins or so when he won 3 or 4 admittedly important fouls I don't see how that constitutes a 'great' performance.
I watched the game and wasn't that impressed. Sure, he is good at dribbling but he had all the space in the world against a not very good FB and shocking Fernandinho. And still didn't create much, didn't assist, didn't score.
Same here.
If you actually watched the game and didn't come away thinking that Hazard put in a great performance, there's nothing I can say to convince you otherwise. He was instrumental, along with Lukaku and KdB, in the counter attacking threat that tipped the game in their favour in the first half. And when the latter two faded in the second half, Hazard provided the outlet that let Belgium cope with the pressure Brazil put on, and come away with the win. Fantastic performance for me!
He's way too greedy, and could've put Lukaku through on a few occasions with a simple ball - but once Rom went off he did a marvellous job of winning fouls and holding the ball up. He does that fantastically.
He is a genius of a player, we are crying out for a player of his skill.
Providing the outlet doesn't constitute a fantastic performance. Again: didn't create much, didn't assist, didn't score. Despite having acres of space to operate in.
Of course it does. It's literally the difference between winning and losing. And I addressed the rest of your silly claims in the post above, with regards to what he contributed. I'm still not convinced you didn't just "watch" the match on livescore.com, given what you took away from it.
They were both impressive.
For me, if you were spending Neymar money, he’d be my go to choice.
And vice versa. Great performance for a player of his quality would mean dominating the opponent, that is what Lukaku did in the first half before being completely devoid of any service (also from Hazard himself) in the second half. Hazard saved his game by being great in the last 15 minutes. I expected more, maybe I overrate him.
I don't know if I'm speaking the obvious but de bryune is better than him. I always regarded Hazard as the golden boy - however de bryune's performances are way more influential & consistent that hazards.
Still a fantastic player though.
Still a fantastic player though.
Didn't assist, didn't score, didn't create a single big chance the whole night. Silly is the opinion that this performance was fantastic or immense. Immsensely silly.
Agreed. Also he was too greedy on a few occasions.
He carried the ball for long periods, taking pressure off their defense, winning free kicks. People are far too caught up in stats, a performance without a goal or assist can still be great, that is one of the wonderful nuances of the game that a reliance on stats can kill.
Phenomenal today. Unbelievable performance.
Madrid bound.
Madrid bound.
Nah, you're just caught up in stats apparently.
Nowhere near comparable. Hazard was really good tonight, perhaps even great. Mbappé dismantled argentina single-handedly
De Bruyne and Lukaku were better than Hazard tonight all in all
When the other two supposed to be fading, it's not due to them themselves. It may be the case of somebody insist on overdribbling and ignoring passing opportunity. He did his job and can be considered great. However, him playing the way like second half for the sake of running away with the ball without purpose to kill the game is risky tactic and can back fire miserably. He himself pretty turned off other great performers of the team. It's double edge tactic
It does sound like Chelsea mkII @duffer
I thought he brought great composure to their play throughout the game. And once they conceded he put in an absolutely priceless performance.
Why does he refuse to pass it to Lukaku ?
Well said! It saddens me that anyone can come away from watching this match and not appreciate Hazard's performance. But hey ho!
Agree with his influence late on, everybody saw that, even those of us who find it hard to call that a 'phenomenal performance'. If he was that composed throughout the game he surely would have been more useful in the final third, esp seeing they had acres of space in the first half.
True. Messi and Ronaldo have skewed that and it might be a shock when the consistency in performances disappears as they retire.
He's an improved version of Isco. Same qualities and same faults but Hazard is still better.
Don't embarrass yourself . That you can't appreciate a performance from a player where he holds on to the ball, drags defenders all over the place with his dribbling because his team lack a ball retaining midfielder and causes chaos on the counter doesn't make his performance 'meh'. Stats simply don't tell you how good he was today. You think it's a joke to keep beating your man every few minutes? Hazard stood up to be counted tonight. They'll be talking about this performance for years to come. He could however have played Lukaku in twice. Only a minor fault that.
Two years ago amolbhatia100 and I disagreed on Hazard's merits vis a vis Neymar. I wonder if his position has shifted a bit after tonight.
Doesn't seem to trust many of his fellow attackers - he was still doing it after Rom went off. And in Lukaku, his great runs are an excuse to 'use the space' or whatever.
Quite possibly, but he did the same after winning the league with Mourinho too.
And as I write that, I realise that Jose fits that same defensive description.
For everyone who says 'if you don't think it was phenomenal performance...' surely we'll have people saying 'for everyone who thinks he was phenomenal...' Hyperbole from both parts in such cases, although while I see negative ones saying good things about his game I don't see his advocates saying he was wasteful/blinded at times beforehand.
I'll give you that he wasn't spectacular throughout the whole game, but he stepped it up superbly when they desperately needed him to and against the most feared team in the tournament. I think it was a top performance from him and quite a few Belgian players.
Played a great tonight,France will have a job to try keep him quiet.
That performance reminded me a little bit(not as good) of what Zizou did to Brazil in that match 2006 where he was unplayable.
That performance reminded me a little bit(not as good) of what Zizou did to Brazil in that match 2006 where he was unplayable.
He’s Robben without the end product.
That was an excellent performance but not immense. There are several levels between good and immense/fantastic. If that was immense, what was Mbappe's vs Argentina or Ronaldo's vs Spain? Excellent - yes, immense/fantastic - no. Lukaku's was excellent too, btw.
This bit everyone will second, incl. me, Treble and the likes. Underwhelming performance embroided with bad decision-making at first only to become a beast late on when his team needed him would be my call. Needs to start playing Rom because De Bruyne might not score a rocket like this in the next game(s).
He is faster and more direct at times. Isco is trimmed too much on ball possession.
I think he is happier as a Ribery and someone else being the more direct scorer. There is a little of Zidane in him in how he maintains possession, looks to control the tempo of the game. Fans want him to be Messi/Ronaldo and he is just not that type.
Great balance, acceleration and control ability but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Lukaku and De Bruyne were better imo.