Few players in Premier League history can top Eden Hazard at his best. Photo: PA/Mike Egerton
Eden Hazard was the Premier League's best player for most, if not all, of the seven years he spent there, and it is his apparent indifference to that status that makes his legacy less stable, and also a little more attractive.
Hazard announced his retirement at the tender age of 32, leaving the game wanting more. Not at Real Madrid, where his £98 million move was arguably, in terms of euros paid for the impact, one of the worst the club has ever agreed to. However, Hazard, at his Chelsea peak, was a player who could dribble the ball and dribble past opponents in ways that made very capable defenders look helpless. He was a player that people — literally — would pay to watch.
The injuries that robbed him of his best years may well have been the result of tackles from opponents who were no match for him. the speed of his feet.
At his best, Hazard was an exciting talent. Small but strong and so skillful that once he broke through the first line, defensive chaos often ensued. At Chelsea he scored some of the greatest goals of the era, including a classic against Arsenal at the Matthew Harding Stadium at Stamford Bridge in February 2017. to get into a runaway golf cart.
Hazard was a great improviser and strong on both feet, although it was his right that he preferred. He was fast and strong. After all, his game was mostly about tricks or deceptions that attracted the defender's attention.
When he won the first of two league titles with Chelsea in 2014–15, his third season in English football, he was, by some distance, a standout Premier League player. This was Jose Mourinho's second season in his second spell at Chelsea and Hazard, who won the PFA and FWA individual awards that year, was his standout player. It was at the center of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or dominance but Hazard, eighth on the list in 2015 and just 24, looked well positioned to lead the next generation. This will turn out to be his best result.
He bombed the next season. The 2015-16 season was his worst in English football, scoring just six goals for Chelsea, just four of which came in the Premier League. The first one arrived only in April. Mourinho has been sacked for a long time. Just as suddenly as Hazard's form had disappeared, it returned the following season under Antonio Conte as Chelsea regained the title. Hazard has resumed his scoring and is injury-free.
In an era dominated by numbers — the result of relentless goal-scoring in La Liga — Hazard never looked like he could keep up with the times. It really never seemed like it mattered that much. His general indifference to the game and pre-match stories about Mario Kart sessions in the locker room, right down to the final minutes before the bell rang in the tunnel, were all in character.
It was true. part of the charm and an integral element of Hazard's improvised style. There were no sombre goal celebrations aimed at promoting a cult of personality or responding to criticism.
Hazard was always ready to play for Chelsea. He has never played fewer than 30 league games in a season and three times played more than 35. It was Mourinho who predicted the injury problems that would consume Hazard at Real Madrid. At Chelsea from 2014 until his sacking two-and-a-half years later, Mourinho lamented after the match that his star player had not been given enough protection.
“People in this country are in love with football. so people must be in love with Eden Hazard,” Mourinho said on January 1, 2015. “Match after match he is punished by his opponents, and the referees do not protect him. Maybe one day we won't have Eden Hazard. They punch and punch and kick and kick.”
Mourinho's comment about Hazard's threat came after a defeat, not just any defeat. Tottenham's 5-3 win at White Hart Lane sent title-chasing Chelsea into shock. The defeat convinced Mourinho to pursue the title challenge with a much more cautious style, and he would be sacked within 12 months when his title defense collapsed. Hazard had another four and a half years at Chelsea before problems at Real Madrid got the better of him.
Hazard made his dream move to Real Madrid, but it soon turned into a nightmare. Photo: Getty Images/Helios de la Rubia
He was the last major trophy of the Real Madrid era to be awarded by the Premier League. Hazard won the Europa League for the second time in his last game for Chelsea, having played for seven managers in seven years, including temporary appointments. He left a hero. Although he joined them seven years ago when they were European champions, Chelsea had never come closer than one Champions League semi-final in the intervening years. The desire of the current president, Florentino Perez, to conclude a deal led to the club greatly overpaying for Hazard.
At Real Madrid, Hazard's fall was painful. At the beginning of the first season, a microfracture in his right foot cost him three months. The following March he broke his right ankle and subsequent operations effectively ended his career. He was at Real Madrid during their last Champions League triumph in 2022, and the photo of him ruefully holding the trophy in the air (an afterthought for photographers) carried more than a whiff of sadness.
He was, after all, one of the best players in the world, much younger than the likes of Luka Modric and Karim Benzema. By the time Real won the final in May, Hazard had played just 17 minutes in two Champions League knockout matches, coming on as a substitute after the group stage.
He belongs to the greatest generation of Belgian footballers, from Of whom seven, including Hazard, have more than 100 caps, and another, Kevin De Bruyne, has 99. The interesting debate is whether he or De Bruyne, born six months apart, is the greatest player ever. or the country saw. For some, De Bruyne has the advantage of consistency and trophies won, and he is truly a superb player that few can rival. Despite this, Hazard is one of them. There's something about the way he managed to make the complex seem simple.
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