Eden Hazard

[El Gato]

He's using him just fine. The hell are you on about with 'being a threat in the box for crosses'? Him being on the receiving end of a cross is about 20% of what he does so far, which is nothing abnormal for a winger. Hazard not being able to beat his man off the dribble in a 1-on-1 and not getting one-twos right with Benz is nothing to do with Zidane.

Even more so - Hazard has been fit for 4 games, of which he played 3, +1 as a sub. That's 270 minutes of football with his new mates. Jesus.

 

[serghei]

He doesn't seem to be doing much. The routine tactics vs Atletico were a) cross, b) fake a cross then cross, or c) dribble then cross.

As long as Zidane is abusing this tactic, Hazard will not be effective.

It doesn't have anything to do with his fitness. If you have him in a team whose wing play mostly means crossing the ball as soon as there is a chance to do so, you're gonna use only a fraction of what Hazard is able to do.

I see similar issues with Valverde and Coutinho. Actually, Valverde and Zidane style wise are not very different. Hazard is not a high scoring winger, and is also not a winger who will penetrate in the wing in the traditional sense, like a Robben or Neymar. As in take on a player and just dust him. In order to create imbalance he needs interplay with teammates. This means you have to make some adjustments for his game to work.

So far, not seeing Madrid adapting to his game.

 

[El Gato]

He's fixing the defense, clean sheets.. you know.. the kind of stuff title contenders need to be doing well to even have a chance. And he IS actively doing it. From poorest team defense in years at Parc de Princes to 3 clean sheets with a shoddy keeper in tough away fixtures with the same lineup, as well as a completely rotated team. Doesn't really happen just like that without manager input...

Hazard is an effective crosser from byline, from cutting inside or as a finisher losing his markers for low crosses and we have really rather good attackers on the right wing with Carvajal having most assists in La Liga already. He will be fine.

and is also not a winger who will penetrate in the wing in the traditional sense, like a Robben or Neymar. As in take on a player and just dust him.

Lol, have you ever watched Hazard?

Weird how people feel the need for sophisticated systems. Guess it's a Cule thing..

 

[serghei]

Yes, I watched him many times, he is not a direct penetrating winger like Robben or Neymar. He is more similar to Messi right now, obviously weaker in every area.

 

[El Gato]

Yes, I watched him many times, he is not a direct penetrating winger like Robben or Neymar. He is more similar to Messi right now, obviously weaker in every area.

Dusting opponents is quite literally what Hazard is famous for. He directly penetrates the middle, much like Robben or Neymar. Takes two clicks on Youtube to see it.

 

[serghei]

Dusting opponents is quite literally what Hazard is famous for. He directly penetrates the middle, much like Robben or Neymar. Takes two clicks on Youtube to see it.

No. It's different. Hazard dribbling, while notorious and effective, is more of a switch when he is attacked, which the defenders in Premier League always do. They always try to take the ball from you instead of keeping their position and not exposing themselves.

Neymar and Robben used to take on defenders and attack them while the defender was trying to keep the position and not engage. The engagement in the individual duel was forcefully initiated by Neymar and Robben, and this is what a direct penetrating winger does, he initiates duels from neutral or even disadvantageous positions because of their speed, trickery and dribbling. Hazard rarely forces 1 vs 1 when dealing with a well placed defender who doesn't go for the ball and locks the position instead.

 

[El Gato]

He is absolutely fine dribbling his way through a containment setup as well as dodging challenges. It is true he dealt with the latter more than the former, because more often than not Chelsea was a defensive team, but in championship years he had zero issues initiating offensive moves in games they could dominate. Absolutely no problem, hence he was frequently in the top of assist charts. You could see a glimpse of it against Atletico too when he got a through ball from Valverde or Kroos in the 1st half and crossed from byline.

Seriously, he is still out of his proper shape, we played on tough grounds, we were garbage defensively in his 2 performances back. No idea why you'd go on to say "eeh Zidane isn't doing much", "he'll find it hard here". No reason to think so. Wait for parts of the calendar where we can catch offensive form, then evaluate his actual ability against majority of La Liga defenders.

 

[serghei]

Gonna be interesting how Zidane will use him that's for sure. Completely different profile of a player than Ronaldo, like in the opposite direction. Is not an instant fit for Madrid's style, so he will take work to get the most out of.

Oddly, I was more worried about Vinicius until he got injured last year, so if Hazard blocks his development, it's gonna be good for Barca I feel.

 

[El Gato]

Brazillians are super young. TBH doesn't really matter how the kid does this year. For all it's worth, he should benefit a lot from having a season with a younger Hazard under his belt and everyone expecting far less from him than from Bale or Eden, he can learn, grow and get used to plonkers in the stands booing him for doing little wrong. There is no losers here. Worst that can happen to him is Rodrygo proving to be a more mature player with less emotional baggage and displacing him quicker than anticipated - before the end of season. If that happens, sure, it could be some months wasted. But there'll definitely be moments of injuries and with Asensio out, he's the 4th choice winger. It's almost a given he will get to play every other game, because of his bravery alone. And he already did a bit better against Osasuna once that shot went in.

Hazard isn't blocking anybody really. If anything, he acts as the pressure relief after last season where half of the younger guys crumbled and burned when they realised they had to produce stats or get booed. Eden can take it, Vini not necessarily.

 

[EdmondDantes]

Dusting opponents is quite literally what Hazard is famous for. He directly penetrates the middle, much like Robben or Neymar. Takes two clicks on Youtube to see it.

I think Eden made his move too late.


He used to be super fast but if you watched him in 2018, 2019 you could see he's lost a decent amount of speed. Once he slims down, he still has top tier acceleration/agility but that straight line speed he once had is probably gone given his age.


Messi has been gradually losing that little by little as well, and he was even faster than Hazard.

 

[El Gato]

Possibly, but even so, we didn't budge to buy him for his agility. Perez doesn't even overwhelmingly rate him, Zidane does and Zidane usually knows exactly how to use the guys he rates. Even if he stays semi-fat, he is capable of killer deliveries and curlers. Doesn't take much to set yourself up for a shot or cross in La Liga, even Kaka managed to do it on half a knee, and Marcelo does it routinely. Balance is the same no matter how old or slow you are, like riding a bike.

 

[RIZALDINHO]

he is overrated player glad we did not waste another 100m on him

 

[hulinat]

this seems kind of like arda for us

 

[El Gato]

this seems kind of like arda for us

Lol you wish

 

[devo901]

....
He used to be super fast but if you watched him in 2018, 2019 you could see he's lost a decent amount of speed. Once he slims down, he still has top tier acceleration/agility but that straight line speed he once had is probably gone given his age. ...........

Cant argue as I havnt watch Eden back then.
However, that reminds me of the track and field world championship in Doha, where Justin Gatlin ran 100 meter in 9,89 at the age of 37 (secondplace) !!!

So while in the 80ties and 90', sprinter-carreers are over once turning 25 , today, someone seems to have found a "formular" to overcome that. ;-)