Eden Hazard
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Moose
New member
Wasn't brilliant but still was the best player on the pitch, followed by Witsel.
also check: http://sc1sports.com/england-belgium-analysis/
Looks goods to me.
B
barcelonista
Guest
That's a very informative chart I must admit but y so much text for the simple information: "2 goals (1 Hazalty) in 28 international games". 
Moose
New member
Had 4 attempts, 2 on goal 
But stating he sucked monkeyball... wow. Then you'd be one of those that chose Gerrard as MoTM. Didn't see anyone perform better.
The split passes etc is very much the issue why Belgium is underperforming. All those forwards are players who come into the ball instead of looking for depth. If you don't have runners going deep you can't play those passes. The charts and article in the link prove you're wrong tho.
ps: Looks like I'm about to reach fanboy level.
But stating he sucked monkeyball... wow. Then you'd be one of those that chose Gerrard as MoTM. Didn't see anyone perform better.
The split passes etc is very much the issue why Belgium is underperforming. All those forwards are players who come into the ball instead of looking for depth. If you don't have runners going deep you can't play those passes. The charts and article in the link prove you're wrong tho.
ps: Looks like I'm about to reach fanboy level.
Gonna reserve judgement for the moment, as i've barely watched him. But i keep getting conflicting viewpoint on this kid. AnfieldEd calls him 'worldclass', HBA makes these messi comparisons, he's also been touted as one of best youth talent by the media in europe, whilst a belgian national(also happens to be a friend) who watches him on a more regular basis doesn't rate him as much, and i'm assuming Galning(a footballer in his own right with belgian conn.) who follows him more than most here doesn't either.
I watched a few videos, and he looks good. Looks to me his finishing still needs developing, otherwise good crossing, an eye for a pass, but there isn't anything i'vnt already seen, certainly no 'wow factor or extraordinary ball control like HBA is implying(the defending also looked inadequate in my sample-viewing). But like i said, i don't 've a definitive opinion for reason mentioned earlier.
I'd like from those who've watched reasonable of Hazard, Götze, Thiago, and Neymar to rate them in an order.
I watched a few videos, and he looks good. Looks to me his finishing still needs developing, otherwise good crossing, an eye for a pass, but there isn't anything i'vnt already seen, certainly no 'wow factor or extraordinary ball control like HBA is implying(the defending also looked inadequate in my sample-viewing). But like i said, i don't 've a definitive opinion for reason mentioned earlier.
I'd like from those who've watched reasonable of Hazard, Götze, Thiago, and Neymar to rate them in an order.
Hatem Ben Arfa
New member
where does Francesca Fabregas fit into the order of things?
Superfly
Banned
Galning
Moderator
Had 4 attempts, 2 on goal
But stating he sucked monkeyball... wow. Then you'd be one of those that chose Gerrard as MoTM. Didn't see anyone perform better.
The split passes etc is very much the issue why Belgium is underperforming. All those forwards are players who come into the ball instead of looking for depth. If you don't have runners going deep you can't play those passes. The charts and article in the link prove you're wrong tho.
ps: Looks like I'm about to reach fanboy level.
[YOUTUBE]MS-LPX5aeto[/YOUTUBE]
His shots: 2:23 from 40 metres, I would've saved that one with my left buttcheek.
3:53 great warm up for Hart.
4:27 again an impossible position, he falls on his ass and the ball goes only 10 metres wide.
5:17 finally a shot that looks dangerous but it's still 10 metres wide.
Did anyone perform better? Well yes, Ashley Cole.. Ashley Cole of all people was probably the best player on the pitch. That game was so boring my dad fell asleep 32 minutes in.
Seriously if you just watched that vid you can't tell me that he had a good game. It's not because everyone on the pitch was bad and you played "meh" that you had a good game. I've never seen him play a good game for Belgium in my entire life and he played nearly 30. Hazard is so extremely overhyped by Belgian media, it's ridiculous. And what is "a good game" you ask? Well for someone who gets so much buzz I at least expect to see him force things when things aren't working or that he is the guy who's creating chances, heck even scoring. He does none of those things.
Sure you can come here with a picture from some site stating that he played very well, but whatever.. if a Barça player performed like that everybody would be hunting his ass. This dude doesn't deserve half the praise he's getting. As Zanela said when you watch him play your reaction isn't "OWOWOW what was that?" But of course... he's still young and he will improve.
(He scored two goals so far.. one versus mighty Kazachstan and one penaldo versus Montenegro)
Moose
New member
In that same vid I see him giving key passes and generating multiple chances for Lukaku and Fellaini.
Well A. Cole was indeed probably the best England player on the pitch, but he wasn't the best on the pitch. Didn't do much more then his opposite number Vertonghen. In that vid you can see Hazard twice buzzing past him. The rest of that post however, is just utterly wrong and I'm astonished to read just such a thing on a Barcelona forum. You just have the complete wrong idea what kind of player Hazard is and false expectations. You're expecting to see a Messi-type of player whizzing past every defender and dunking one over the keeper, that's just the wrong level and profile to compare him to. And something even Messi doesn't find that easy in international games. He's more the Mata or Silva mould of player, directing the offensive play from a little bit deeper and being the creative hub. But also equally able to acellerate with the ball and eliminating a couple of players.
And I can't believe you're saying he's completely overhyped by the Belgian media. Compared to the french media it's entirely the opposite. In France they've been hyping him up for years, several journo's and former players stating he's the biggest prospect in the league for over a decade.
True, for Belgium he hasn't been that effective as for Lille. Think a lot of that is down to the style Belgium played compared to 'Le Barca du Nord' and players knowing eachother better. But I've seen plenty of good games. I can clearly remember him turning a 2 - 3 defeat against Austria around in the 10 minutes he came on to a 4 - 3. (Ended 4 - 4 in dying minutes)
And in the 30 games you mentioned, he had surprisingly few minutes. According to the pretty reliable transfermarkt.de statistics he only played 1665 minutes, which is 18.5 games. Nevertheless, of the current Belgian selection he has accumulated the most assists: 9 and scoring 2 like you said. Being decisive every 151minutes.
I just compared that with Iniesta, my favourite player, out of interest and to get some kind of benchmark. Iniesta playing in a better side, so far accumulated 4214 minutes, gave 16 assists and scored 10. (Wiki states 11 with him scoring against Latvia, so I'll take that number) Iniesta for Spain is decisive every 156 minutes.
I find that pretty impressive from Hazard who you say hasn't been showing up for Belgium.
The next time you watch hime for Belgium, you should concentrate on how much passes he gives, how many he gives in a forward direction, how many key passes he gives, his pass success rate, ... Those are the things I notice and these are incredible. You're expecting him to take the ball, turn and take on his defender every single time. He's a far more complete player than that and completely different than a player like Neymar or Ronaldo which is what a lot of people think he is.
And allthough you don't seem to give much credit to certain statistics, you might want to take a look at http://www.whoscored.com/Statistics and see Hazard down that list and how he compares with a lot of other players. I will state that he is certainly overhyped in England following the whole transfercircus, but not overrated. He is one of the prime European talents of his generation.
Well A. Cole was indeed probably the best England player on the pitch, but he wasn't the best on the pitch. Didn't do much more then his opposite number Vertonghen. In that vid you can see Hazard twice buzzing past him. The rest of that post however, is just utterly wrong and I'm astonished to read just such a thing on a Barcelona forum. You just have the complete wrong idea what kind of player Hazard is and false expectations. You're expecting to see a Messi-type of player whizzing past every defender and dunking one over the keeper, that's just the wrong level and profile to compare him to. And something even Messi doesn't find that easy in international games. He's more the Mata or Silva mould of player, directing the offensive play from a little bit deeper and being the creative hub. But also equally able to acellerate with the ball and eliminating a couple of players.
And I can't believe you're saying he's completely overhyped by the Belgian media. Compared to the french media it's entirely the opposite. In France they've been hyping him up for years, several journo's and former players stating he's the biggest prospect in the league for over a decade.
True, for Belgium he hasn't been that effective as for Lille. Think a lot of that is down to the style Belgium played compared to 'Le Barca du Nord' and players knowing eachother better. But I've seen plenty of good games. I can clearly remember him turning a 2 - 3 defeat against Austria around in the 10 minutes he came on to a 4 - 3. (Ended 4 - 4 in dying minutes)
And in the 30 games you mentioned, he had surprisingly few minutes. According to the pretty reliable transfermarkt.de statistics he only played 1665 minutes, which is 18.5 games. Nevertheless, of the current Belgian selection he has accumulated the most assists: 9 and scoring 2 like you said. Being decisive every 151minutes.
I just compared that with Iniesta, my favourite player, out of interest and to get some kind of benchmark. Iniesta playing in a better side, so far accumulated 4214 minutes, gave 16 assists and scored 10. (Wiki states 11 with him scoring against Latvia, so I'll take that number) Iniesta for Spain is decisive every 156 minutes.
I find that pretty impressive from Hazard who you say hasn't been showing up for Belgium.
The next time you watch hime for Belgium, you should concentrate on how much passes he gives, how many he gives in a forward direction, how many key passes he gives, his pass success rate, ... Those are the things I notice and these are incredible. You're expecting him to take the ball, turn and take on his defender every single time. He's a far more complete player than that and completely different than a player like Neymar or Ronaldo which is what a lot of people think he is.
And allthough you don't seem to give much credit to certain statistics, you might want to take a look at http://www.whoscored.com/Statistics and see Hazard down that list and how he compares with a lot of other players. I will state that he is certainly overhyped in England following the whole transfercircus, but not overrated. He is one of the prime European talents of his generation.
Last edited:
Maria
New member
Stas from Iniesta's best seasons with Barcelona:
2008/2009: 5 goals, 10 assists
2010/2011: 9 goals, 9 assists
He's your favourite player, but yet you don't know that if it were to trust only the stats Iniesta wouldn't be even in the top 10 midfielders from the world. And if he's a similar player with Silva or Mata, I don't understand why you compared him with Iniesta.
Jenks
Senior Member
He did some nice things for sure against England, showed some nice technique, but as has been said - he never really imposed himself on the game at all. Then again saying that, if you watched Ibra for most of his career with Sweden then you wouldn't think he was much either. I've no doubt he'll be better in the league, but whether he'll tear it up like he did in France or if he's genuinely world class potential I'm really not sure. I certainly think it's premature to say he is anyway. I haven't watched him a great deal, but of those that have, I don't think many can point to a game where he's really shone against a top, top side.
Puyol the wall
sent-up-the-bomb
Ibra is a different player to Hazard,I have not seen Ibra impose himself in a game but he has moments in games where he does good things and that is the way he goes about the game.
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