Official : Eden Hazard to Real Madrid

Arquitecto wrote:Can anyone explain how Hazard is overrated?

Or are we throwing out that term lazily bc we cannot find a better superlative.

Hazard in terms of raw talent was mind-numbingly talented, to the point its endless ceiling was his own downfall because that's literally all he relied on. There was nothing he didn't have in his arsenal.

He lit up Europe when in Lille and had a brilliant career in Chelsea. I'll never forget how often he terrorised LFC and single-handedly. Why would we call him overrated given his discipline was awful, was injury prone and prone to lapses?

The word isn't overrated the word is an idiot. He was fantastic for Belgium, a generation that failed as a whole for the country but living short of his expectations does not take away from a successful career. Easily the most talented of this golden Belgian generation. Get real.

Arquitecto wrote:Man the audacity of this man to unironically slip in and force Saka there ye sit this one out.

Hazard single handedly ran Chelsea at times. I cannot say much that Farfan hasnt already as he named the team at the time and it was mostly a mess that quite literally didn't suit the style of himself and was rather regressive. Hazard below KBD is the standard definition of recency bias, at its finest. There is a difference between arguing for raw talent and performances as by that logic Ronaldinho is the all time best Brazilian given his raw talent but is nowhere near, because like Eden who waa addicted to Döner Kebabs he took his career less seriously in his actual prime.

Psychology behind the irrational Hazard assassination here is a reflection most could not stand how talented he was and in a rather unlikable team like Chelsea. He himself just wasn't very likeable on field the way he toyed with defences and stole matches from the grasp. There is a lesser said phenomenon of many waiting for players to go over the hill or begin to fail and this is an example of it and I cannot tell one how indifferent I am to him given he has nothing to do with any team I support.

Shame his RM time was a disaster as Zizou above all was endless speaking of Hazard Hazard Hazard for years yet he arrived a half serious dork in the worlds largest club and had the audacity to be the way he did.

Retiring at 32.... Not exactly old by any means.

farfan wrote:I think you guys are so off it's almost as if we're talking about different players and teams You're seriously arguing that Hazard was some type of system player that benefited from a lineup being built around him? that's nonsense. His skill set made him the perfect plug-and-play player which is why he easily adapted to constant personnel changes and coaches with different philosophies (Just contrast the difference between playing for Mourinho and Sarri). He played and excelled in so many setups. He played in systems that left him on an island on his own, he played with good defensive fullbacks who didn't combine well with him, he played with good offensive fullbacks who couldn't defend, he played next to big target men, slow forwards, fast forwards, false 9s, midfielders who provided defensive coverage and those who didn't etc...

What was this team that was supposedly built around him anyway? His first two seasons were spent playing with washed players from a previous generation, stiffs like David Luiz putting in shifts in midfield, and a mélange of old, washed, and average strikers (Eto'o, Demba Ba, Torres). That team wasn't built around anyone, let alone a newly signed 21-year old. Chelsea never had a well defined playing style or recruiting strategy and Hazard was the sole constant throughout that period.

Save for that one season when he fell out with Mourinho, his stats are world class for an actual winger. The only way you'd find his stats underwhelming is if you kept comparing them to those of inverted strikers/wide forwards like CR7 instead of players of his profile like Ribéry.

I'm sorry but using his time at Madrid to question his abilities is just a bad faith argument. There was no "pre" or " after" injury version of Hazard at Madrid, there was just injuries . He literally got injured the month he was signed and missed a combined 180 days in his first season. His career never got off the ground in Spain so speculating about what he could and could not have done there is pointless.

If we had to do it again, what would "properly rating" Hazard look like according to you? He was only voted player of the season once in England. Should he have won it 0 times? He was only included in two UEFA teams of the year. Should he have been included 0 times? Should he have never been in the conversation of the best players in the league despite being the best player in one of the best teams? Help me understand what is it that this guy got that was out of whack with his performances and accomplishments on the field.