It will be a travesty beyond compare if Chelsea's Eden Hazard is not named Player of the Year
Chelsea playmaker is the best player in the best team in the Premier League; there can be no debate over the award
By Henry Winter
Eden Hazard is the man of the season for all reasons: goals, assists, silverware, technique, balance, composure, stamina, resilience, consistency and nutmegs. Chelsea’s No 10 is an entertainer and a team player, a destroyer of defenders who preaches the gospel that the game is about taking opponents on and is about glory.
It will be a travesty beyond compare if anyone other than Hazard, the best player in the best team, is acclaimed the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on April 26 or, scarcely a mile away at the Landmark Hotel on May 21, the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year. Not since John Terry (PFA) and Frank Lampard (FWA) in 2005 have Chelsea players been recognised in the game of thrones.
Both august organisations confess past aberrations, notably anointing David Ginola, the crowd-pleasing Tottenham Hotspur winger, in the season Manchester United won the Treble (and the timing of polling was no excuse as United were already on the march). Such a mistake must not be repeated.
Another Spur, Harry Kane, has many admirers in his remarkable breakthrough season but if there is any justice the vibrant young striker should settle to succeed Hazard as PFA Young Player of the Year while the Belgian steps up to receive the main honour. Cases can be made, if not accepted, for the likes of Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic, Terry, David de Gea, Alexis Sánchez and Philippe Coutinho, as well as Kane, but Jose Mourinho is right to campaign for his No 10. “It shouldn’t even be a debate,’’ the Chelsea manager pronounced.
Correct. If the ball had a voice, it would scream for Hazard’s coronation such has been the elegant way he has caressed it goalwards. If the Belgian’s shin-pads had a vote, they would point to the holes inflicted by fearful foe. If additional points were awarded for nutmegs, Hazard’s high-speed humiliation of the likes of Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin and Dusan Tadic would add to his approval rating.
If there were style points for leaving aspiring tacklers on their rears, sliding away from the scene, Hazard could call on testimony from Alan Hutton, Ashley Williams, Danny Rose, Nathaniel Clyne, Chris Smalling and Carl Jenkinson amongst others while Kyle Walker is probably still too dizzy from Wembley to voice an opinion. All internationals, all bamboozled by a Belgian.
Where others have dipped at Chelsea, like Costa and Cesc Fabregas, Hazard has maintained his form, revealing no signs of fatigue despite his World Cup continuing into July. He has scored against leading sides, against Arsenal, Spurs (twice), Southampton, Liverpool (in the Capital One Cup) and Paris St‑Germain (in the Champions League).
Hazard does not just bring his A‑game to the big games. He is motivated whatever the opposition. In narrow wins since the new year he has scored important goals against Aston Villa, West Ham United, Hull City and Stoke City.
In that last match, the foul count against Hazard this season rose another six to 92 in 30 Premier League games (nobody has suffered more). Despite this buffeting, the 24-year-old completed eight of his 11 take-ons, converted his ninth Premier League penalty in nine attempts (a record) and created six chances, including Loïc Rémy’s winner. Not since Hercule Poirot was in town has a London-based Belgian provided so many solutions so calmly.
The stats provide only some detail in the bigger picture of Hazard’s brilliance. His many qualities of balance and boldness, technique and nervelessness were seen in a 60-second period at the Bridge in the 2-0 win against Arsenal on Oct 5. After 27 minutes, Hazard drove through the middle, a little stutter of his run deceiving Santi Cazorla, a flick of acceleration to elude Calum Chambers, then racing into the box where he was felled by Laurent Koscielny.
He received a congratulatory kiss on the head from Matic, and was then told by Martin Atkinson to wait to take the penalty. The delay did not faze Hazard. As he eventually ran in, he glanced to his left, Wojciech Szczesny fell for the eyes’ treatment, allowing Hazard to stroke the ball into the other corner of the net. Clinical.
His penalties are invariably low, but he mixes them up by dragging them right-footed to the left, his eyes or body shape confusing the keeper, or striking them to the right, as against Arsenal, or simply rolling them down the middle as against Asmir Begovic last weekend. He is not faultless, and he missed against Maribor, but Hazard is proving a worthy successor to Lampard as Chelsea’s main penalty taker.
Hazard has been hailed for his goals, 17 for Chelsea in 44 appearances, and for his nine assists, but his right to be heralded the best player in the land also stems from those that got away. Having scored with a rare header at Upton Park after 22 minutes on March 4, Hazard demonstrated his many gifts with a remarkable break from his own half after 56 minutes.
He first controlled a clearance and span away from Mark Noble, then spiriting the ball past Aaron Creswell. Hazard’s pace threw Kevin Nolan off-balance before he slipped the ball to the feet of Costa, who delivered a perfect return pass. As Cheikhou Kouyaté sprinted across, Hazard was again too quick, making more ground through the middle before sliding the ball accurately to Ramires.
Hazard charged on towards the area, slowing up in anticipation of a cutback from Ramires only to find the Brazilian shooting and hitting a post. For all his frustration at a move yielding nothing, Hazard’s pace and lung-power, as well as his technique and vision were all on parade.
So has been his determination to keep going this season, even when taking a battering. Hazard has taken a tumble in the past, and occasionally put in an extra roll when caught this season, but largely he is a sporting player who tries to stay on his feet whatever the cynical attentions of the opposition.
Like PSG. To chronicle best the systematic fouling of Hazard by PSG players at Parc des Princes on Feb 17, one only need borrow from Mourinho’s lexicon of match-watching: minute seven, Gregory van der Wiel; minute 28, Marco Verratti; minute 34, Zlatan Ibrahimovic; minute 49, Verratti; minute 51, Van der Wiel (booked); minute 60, Blaise Matuidi; minute 64, David Luiz; minute 67, Maxwell; minute 77, Verratti (booked).
He still needs to deliver in Europe more. Questions can still be legitimately attached to Hazard. Does he need to work harder after training, practising free-kicks? These should be a bigger part of his repertoire. Does he need to be more selfish at times, going for goal instead of playing a team-mate in? Does he need to hone his finishing more?
Yes, yes, yes. Yet it needs emphasising that Hazard is even more effective than last season, that he is still of an age when he is eligible for Young Player of the Year, and that he is clearly, excitingly maturing into a world‑class talent and winning trophies. That is why Eden Hazard is the Footballer of the Year.
.
