Eden Hazard - Chelsea Legend

I've never really liked all of the "if Hazard looked after himself better, he could have been like Messi and Ronaldo". I actually think Hazard was a breath of fresh air in a sport where players are more like machines than entertainers these days.
Dis n dat world class footballer. Definitely had his priorities on the correct order.

 
2 Prem titles isn't exactly a bad return to be fair

At least he wasn't playing in the Chelsea of the past year and a half
f**ked up thing is peak Hazard would have probably dragged us into a top four race despite everything going on.

 
I’ve been reminded that today in 2019 I travelled to Leicester for what it was going to be Hazard’s last game for Chelsea. It was a good day out, it always is at Leicester, and drew 0-0. Look at that line up and we finished 3rd! Whoever thinks that we’ve done good this season finishing 6th should look at that line up and think it twice.

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I’ve been reminded that today in 2019 I travelled to Leicester for what it was going to be Hazard’s last game for Chelsea. It was a good day out, it always is at Leicester, and drew 0-0. Look at that line up and we finished 3rd! Whoever thinks that we’ve done good this season finishing 6th should look at that line up and think it twice.

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Not exactly the team that started most of the 38 games though is it ?

 
I’ve been reminded that today in 2019 I travelled to Leicester for what it was going to be Hazard’s last game for Chelsea. It was a good day out, it always is at Leicester, and drew 0-0. Look at that line up and we finished 3rd! Whoever thinks that we’ve done good this season finishing 6th should look at that line up and think it twice.

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I look at that list and it screams experience. There's a reason why some of the best managers prefer that over talent. 

Just having seasoned players in your team, that have been there done that makes a huge difference and on that list everyone has been in winning teams, some several of them. 

What's their value in a team compared to raw talented players? Easy 15 - 20 points?

 
I’ve been reminded that today in 2019 I travelled to Leicester for what it was going to be Hazard’s last game for Chelsea. It was a good day out, it always is at Leicester, and drew 0-0. Look at that line up and we finished 3rd! Whoever thinks that we’ve done good this season finishing 6th should look at that line up and think it twice.

View attachment 26098
WTH are you talking about we had Hazard and Kante. 

 
WTH are you talking about we had Hazard and Kante. 
Christ the lengths you go to discredit Sarri. Yeah let's just ignore our defence had the 3rd best defensive record in the league that season. A defence with Kepa in goal, David Luiz, Alonso, and Jorginho protecting them....

But no, Kante and Hazard carried the club to 3rd and a Europa League. 

 
Christ the lengths you go to discredit Sarri. Yeah let's just ignore our defence had the 3rd best defensive record in the league that season. A defence with Kepa in goal, David Luiz, Alonso, and Jorginho protecting them....

But no, Kante and Hazard carried the club to 3rd and a Europa League. 
He's not saying that at all. 

Both of us have merely pointed out that trying to pass off the beach XI that started that last fixture against Leicester as representative of the team that got 3rd is a huge stretch to put it mildly.

Let's stick some facts on the table to prove it : here's the PL appearances for the season, which show that 5 of the 11 players most used by Sarri (Kepa, Kante, Rudiger, Hazard and Kovacic) did not start the match at Leicester.

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He's not saying that at all. 

Both of us have merely pointed out that trying to pass off the beach XI that started that last fixture against Leicester as representative of the team that got 3rd is a huge stretch to put it mildly.

Let's stick some facts on the table to prove it : here's the PL appearances for the season, which show that 5 of the 11 players most used by Sarri (Kepa, Kante, Rudiger, Hazard and Kovacic) did not start the match at Leicester.

View attachment 26107 

View attachment 26108
My argument was steered more towards Bob's continuous notion that we only finished 3rd under Sarri because Hazard and Kante. 

 
My argument was steered more towards Bob's continuous notion that we only finished 3rd under Sarri because Hazard and Kante. 
Well, I'd imagine we'd also have finished 6th or 7th at best if Hazard had played the minutes we've had from Nkunku this season. and Kante had been missing as well.

As it was, the 6000+ minutes they played between them was probably quite useful, particularly for a manager renowned for his lack of rotation of his first XI  🙂 

Not to mention the 2874 minutes from Rudiger, the 3240 from Kepa, and the 1745 from Kovacic. 

I know Kepa wasn't great in his first season, but his save stats etc were still significantly better than Petrovic has managed this season. If Sarri had had Caballero in goal all season, plus his first choice defence all missing (like Poch has had), I very much doubt we'd have had the 3rd best defensive record in the PL. 

 
Well, I'd imagine we'd also have finished 6th or 7th at best if Hazard had played the minutes we've had from Nkunku this season. and Kante had been missing as well.

As it was, the 6000+ minutes they played between them was probably quite useful, particularly for a manager renowned for his lack of rotation of his first XI  🙂 

Not to mention the 2874 minutes from Rudiger, the 3240 from Kepa, and the 1745 from Kovacic. 

I know Kepa wasn't great in his first season, but his save stats etc were still significantly better than Petrovic has managed this season. If Sarri had had Caballero in goal all season, plus his first choice defence all missing (like Poch has had), I very much doubt we'd have had the 3rd best defensive record in the PL. 
And had Sarri not once dealt with the defensive issue we saw the beginning of the season, we could've ended up far worse than 6th or 7th.

The team's defensive reconstruction happened after the home 3-2 victory against Arsenal. The amount of holes the midfield left was apparent and it was completely revamped afterwards. Sarri recognized it immediately and it built the basis of a very good defensive unit in a team that had a lot of defensive liabilities. Especially when the team was catered for Hazard to not offer any defensive contributions. 

You are in the Kepa over Petrovic minority I'm afraid and Kovacic was shocking under Sarri. 

 
And I have you in the "Petrovic denial" camp LOL
TBD for me. 

Rather we fix LB, ST, add a quality CB to replace Silva and see where we go from there. Would also like Poch to continue sorting our the midfield issue with tactical changes based on opposition.

If he's still looking suspect, then we can replace. 

 
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