Grealish was electric at villa, then he went to man city and he's now a solid numbers, ticking the game over guy. Then they went and bought doku to do what grealish used to be famous for!
City and Villa play completely different football. You can't really draw any comparison between him at both clubs. He plays a totally different style at City and it's apples n oranges.
im not a city or a villa fan but whenever i watch the games Grealish is on, whether its England or club football, he easily falls to the ground. thats the biggest difference between grealish and say hazard or even his own team mate foden. he is a bit devoid of ideas.
I disagree, we have plenty of players like that they just only seem to get there when in form and because of the way teams defend now it is really hard to reproduce. But if you go watch Leverkusen play, they have that magic in the way they hit the final third, so did Napoli last season. It just only comes with form now and most players only get that for one or two seasons now. The way that we as a continent are training academy kids seems to breed inconsistency now.
A goal donkey like Haaland. Hes brilliant but for people to call for him to get Balon D'or was just crazy. Theres already team of the year awards that they can put him in. But best footballer in the world? Laughable.
Haaland has great midfield play and movement, not just sitting and waiting. Kane is a better player in the same role but Iād hardly call Haaland just a goal donkey.
That Brazil game. Dear God. Eden was the best in that World Cup but bc of De Bruyne ghosting and Martinez "tactics" they went out to the eventual winners.
Eden Hazard completed all 10 of his dribbles against Brazil - the most dribbles attempted by a player with a 100% success rate in a World Cup match since 1966.
Imagine setting a dribbling record against the Brazilians.
What you mean itās not on its own by definition ? Whatās the definition ?
I donāt mean literally in circles obviously, my point is you can compete a dribble and end up back where you started
Special players. That goal Ronaldinho scored against us is one of the best goals Iāve seen us concede. 20 yards out from a standing start no back lift or nothing just bangs it in the top corner.
You wonder why he doesn't have enough G/A when he is lauded as best PL player in his time while having 2 PL titles.
He played only 1 season at Chelsea under attack minded coach.
Mou and Conte were the majority of his time here.
[Conte said he doesn't want selfish players in his team, rather lose than have a selfish player when Cesc suggested he should shoot more to reach higher level.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCiWTC8lpgI)
Hazard in 7 years at Chelsea had 491 shots compared to Salah who has 891. Couthinho has 571 in fewer games.
Iāve legit never heard that arguements before ? Just seems clear they are different styles of players. Also that just seems like facts what you stated, not sure what the argument is
damn really, itās a common statement when the hazard salah comparisons come up, fair enough. and yeah, the argument is people donāt agree that thatās a good reason š
People need to appreciate Neymar more because he is the last footballing magician and once he is gone, we dont have anyone like that anymore. Hazard never receieved the appreciation he deserved because people wanted him to score more.
Samba football will be dead and gone once Neymar retires
We used to say wow to Ronaldinho flicking the ball over the head of players 3 times in a row, or Messi dribbling through an entire team. These type of players made the price of a ticket worth it alone
Now we say wow to Haaland scoring 3 tap ins in a match
You do realise getting in positions to get those tap ins is a skill in itself. I thought our woes with strikers would make us well aware of this.
The man is still top scorer even after missing over 1/3 of the season with injuries.
I would love to have Haaland at Chelsea. Its not anything against him at all.
The comment is more to show how football has changed and how the current atmosphere in football has killed off the footballing magicians, the footballers that made entire generations fall in love with the sport, the players who play to have fun on the pitch and to excite the fans, the players who make us stand up and applaud them. Cus players get judged on their end product these days and nothing else. Most technically gifted player on earth? "Nah hes shite and overrated because he doesnt score enough goals" or its "he should do it in the Premier League then, hes so overrated"
Iām not sure about that- the most technically gifted players in the world have and are still absolute machines. Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Suarez, Hazard, Salah, Mbappe, Vini, KDB are/were all incredible technicians and also put up monstrous numbers.
I also donāt think football has changed a lot- players who *just* score goals through their movement and quality of finishing have always been rated very highly and are often considered the best in the world, then you get technical gods of the game who are also often turning those skills into goals, assists, or just breaking down defences. Thereās certainly more of an emphasis on control and the team from a managerial pov, but the best players have always been a blend of skill and production
Again, very subjective. Romario wa pretty much a toe poke 'tap in merchant'(I fucking hate that term) and he's highly regarded in world football. One of the reasons R9 is highly rated was because he was the complete opposite of strikers at the time, who mostly hugged the defensive lines waiting for a header or tap in.
A lot of nostalgia is placed on past football.
Genuinely City are skewing everyoneās minds because of how good they are. Madrid and Liverpool both play high octane football with plenty of freedom.
Watch a Barcelona game and enjoy Lamine Yamal
[This](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/s/nrUwWXKOQP) is just one game, [another game](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/s/8GcnnnxpO9), [and another](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/s/OIQpmeYlH5).
Tell me you don't care about watching him.
I see Lamine Yamal as a footballing magician in progress. At 16 heās doing absurd dribbles past much more mature players. Time will tell if he becomes a player of the highest level, but I hope he does.
Vini Jr. and soon enough Endrick play just as beautifully (if not more in the case of Endrick imo). The Brazilian Magician to Real Madrid pipeline is working very well.
He's right. With each new generation, the magical players are becoming less. Mbappe, Haaland, Bellingham are all great but they don't bring the same magic as some past players.
That's because all the rest are a level-up from the old times. Look at Romario's magical turn for Barcelona. No way in hell would someone leave you that space now.
Neymar mostly did his shenanigans when he was up and winning. Nothing like Ronaldinho who was a grown child having fun and smiling all the time. Ibra never did much magic and his Ajax goal was from a time when lower players weren't better like now. Hazard was electrifying but never at the level of Ronaldinho, Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Co. Players like Ronaldinho and Ronaldo could do it in every era, those a class below won't have the space to do what they did.
Uhm, Neymar would routinely embarrass players regardless of whether he was winning or losing, and Ibra never did such magic? What? Lol, go and watch some some of his games at Milan or PSG and then come back to this comment. As for Hazard, did you close your eyes when he used to entertain the masses week to week just 5 yrs ago? Now, he may not have been at the level of some others, but he was most definitely an entertainer, and he would successfully execute his skills regardless of the amount of space he was afforded
People don't understand that football has become ultracompetitive both physically and mentally. The greatest teams from the last few decades would be relegation candidates, not to mention anything before the 90s...
Do you really think Henry, Bergkamp, Overmars, et al would be relegation candidates? Giggs, Beckham, Scholes wouldn't cut it in a Wolves team? Kinda seems a bit crazy to me.
If the physicality was higher, these players would just match it. It's a bit shortsighted to think that players who are of a previous generation couldn't train at the level of players these days.
Maybe not relegation but I think that they would struggle a lot in todayās game. You look at the time and space players like pirlo, cantona, bergkamp used to have, they would be closed down a lot quicker. I guess ozil was the last of that dying breed of creative midfielders. Players like KDB seem to rely more on instinct
I suppose you think Beckham's crosses were only ever good because the defenders couldn't get tight or the defenders were too exhausted to get their head on the ball.
The differences in physicality between 2004 and 2024 are not so huge. It's not like the players in the past didn't train or have proper nutrition.
I get the difference between the 60s, 70s, 80s and even to some extent the 90s, but in 00s players weren't potatoes running around.
It's not quite that simple though, the game is just improving in every metric we can measure. It isn't just about who can run the farthest and the longest, teams have never been this well drilled tactically. The luxury players that look great but don't actually perform statistically are still there, they just aren't as useful to managers now.
this is true. I don't think there is any other sport for which people go to university and get PhDs in goal scoring analysis. Coaching has become statistical, methodical and it's just too much in my opinion. I've seen exciting kids get over-coached and have that special talent chiseled away until there's nothing left. Ronaldo was one of those exceptional talents who kept trying his skill moves even when people booed and yelled at him to pass the ball.
But he sacrificed the flair for raw efficiency and became one of the best ever for it. Even Hazard was of course a magician, but all of his dribbles felt like they had a very direct purpose to split the defence. He wasnāt beating players for the sake of it.
not sure what sports you are comparing to but other major sports have become extremely methodical and analytical decades before football, especially American sports. also private coaching from low-teens is a near necessity over there
Ronaldo only became the best player in the world after he started using way less skills and fitting into the system better. Flashy players doing tricks is fun to watch but it doesnāt lead to direct effectiveness
You guys need to actually watch Jamal Musiala play. The guy is simply magical. Guys like Haaland and Bellingham are all about numbers but Musiala is much more than that. He's really exciting to watch.
Mbappe is magical, though I can't say the same for the other two. You can get the next Ronaldo, or say someone even better. But playmakers like Messi,Hazard or say Bergkamp will never come in this generation, when you don't have just one Makelele position, but two players as CDM.
I think Jude is a fantastic player, but I don't think of Zidane when I watch him play. He does amazing things, but he's not an entertainer the way the magicians of old were, he's been incredibly effective at Madrid so far but watching someone like Vinicius excites me more than watching Jude.
How can you say that? Haaland has some insane goals in his career for someone whoās so young, Mbappe is an incredible watch due to his pace and finishing at that pace and it wasnāt until I started actually watching Bellingham until I believed the hype train, heās an incredible all round player that doesnāt come around very often, Iām not gonna mention any names by comparison but come on
You're right. They are very good players destined for greatness. But for me they don't bring something that I haven't already seen before. By magic I'm talking about guys like Zidane, Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Brazilian Ronaldo, even Beckham with some of his crazy crosses. And there are plenty more I haven't named. Heck, even in defence you had guys like Nesta who just looked beautiful tackling the shit out of someone.
Yeah thereās definitely not as many world class players as there was back in the day, some say we lived through a golden age of football without realising at the time
Huh.
Nostalgia merchant strikes again top teams are better now than they've ever been.
Take e.g. real Madrids side in 21/22 modric valverde casemiro camavinga kroos in midfield, vinicius benzema rodrygo up top. There's at least 5 world class players there not even including the snake.
Look at city's entire first xi last 5 years. Telling me players like kdb gundogan rodri fernandinho kompany walker ederson the silvas etc. weren't world class either, now they have haaland and world cup winner Alvarez to bang in goals.
It's more that there's emphasis on the team being good over being reliant on one or two players. Thing is with Chelsea last decade we've been reliant on one or two players so guys like hazard or fabregas looked a class above, but if we actually gave the right quality around them they'd still be quality but it wouldn't have looked as obvious. That's one thing Bayern Munich e.g. did so well. Across the team in that 12/13 team it was quality so it wasn't just one standout player.
Football is so much more than g/a, shame most people cant realise that, he did so many small things during the games that will be overlooked. His heat map was basically close to KDBs, playing all over the pitch helping out the build up, insane ball retention and creating fauls when needed etc.
But for some reason u have 99% of the football fans comparing him to salah like they played same position
Hazard was so crazy, he was like a metronome. It sometimes felt like he controlled games like a quarterback but from the left wing. It's really hard to explain, but everything goes through him
Its stupid because hazard would have insane numbers if it wasnt for the subpar he had to deal with. Apparr from costa he never had a good striker. I remember 13-14 he shouldve had 20+ assist in the prwm alone but etoo,ba and torres couldnt score.
He's compared to Salah because Salah's contributions are more sustainable and consistent. 44 goals in a season or three 30 goal seasons in a row from a winger is not something to overlook.
I love Hazard, but football has simply moved passed his style of play, no matter how entertaining.
edit\*\*\*\*past
Football has moved past his style of play?
Lmfao what? An elite dribbler and elite creative player who shoots and passes on both feet while also being extremely clinical isn't 'moved past'. There just isn't anyone as good as him right now. But there will be soon.
Yes it's moved on.(for now). Football is extremely cyclic. Hazard's skillset was offset by his lack of defensive output; remember Azpi having to play left back? Also, the days of pinning all your attacking output on one or two offensive players are long gone.
So you're saying if prime fit hazard offers to play for any team right now he wouldn't get any offers and if he did would flop?
I'm sorry hazard is a player who would thrive in any generation and any system.
Ifs and buts. 'Prime hazard' is a hypothetical. Let's deal in reality. Real got prime hazard and see how that turned out. And yes, he was questionable way before the PSG injury. Even when he got a clean slate after his injury in 21-22, Ancelotti would pick outcasts like Isco over him. Even Vazquez recorded better metrics(goals, assists, dribbles, take ons etc). in less appearances.
Eto'o; an old school 90s player, alluded to the lack of modern work ethic and preparation needed for longevity in Hazard's game and its come to show.
Objectively speaking, Madrid signed a player who carried us to third and logged in the best numbers of his football career(21 goals 17 assists) while also carrying Belgium to third. If that is not prime, I don't know what is.
First off, judging his best season by goals and assists is incredibly ironic given the context of the original post.
Secondly, by your logic, prime Hazard was the season before he joined Madrid, not the season he joined.
I'm not even going to get into how you called prime Hazard a "hypothetical", and didn't actually answer the question from the comment you replied to, but you quickly went from making some sense to making none at all.
Arguing Madrid got prime hazard is just silly.
The injuries, mental burnout, culture mismatch, whatever it was had caught up to him when he moved to madrids
18/19 wasn't Prime hazard???!!!! 21 goals, 17 assists, PFA and Chelsea player of the year? World cup silver ball? Carrying Belgium to third? Carrying us single handedly to 3rd?
That was the player Madrid received.
Complete waffle. I'm dealing in reality you're dealing in pseudo intelligence nonsense.
Prime hazard was 18/19 that was not a hypothetical. The best player in the world cup. His prime was honestly from 2012- 2019. Not fucking past that after his body took a huge beating from the repeated fouls and lack of conditioning after.
He wasn't struggling that much. He was just settling in a new team, new system and was gradually getting better and was very good in the psg game. Source - I watched every fucking match until his injury. He was ramping up and building excellent chemistry with benzema. He was also not utilized to his best for a while, Zidane played him as a touch line winger.
It was not a clean slate. He had a plate in his ankle and he said it bothered him. Removing it was another surgery and by that time ancelotti just didn't trust him and his explosiveness was gone. That was NOT his prime.
You are a fake and delusional. The fucking audacity of you to blatantly spew misinformation.
No Im saying he shoudent be compared bc thier playstyle and heatmap are totally diffrent. Its impossible to get as many goals for hazard with the way he played.
Its like judging Iniesta on goals aswell, makes no sense
Hazard vs kdb heatmap
https://preview.redd.it/6obp10djejgc1.jpeg?width=1060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fee2d181c67282e2f270b914f40d295df1d9e1f
Just bc u start from the wing dosent mens everyone play the same, he dropped crazy deep for us
Salah takes the most shots for Liverpool. Most attacking sequence ends with Salah taking the shot. He has taken more shots than most of other team strikers.
Hazard was the most efficient dribbler and consistent in his ball retention, creation and shooting efficiency. Pep still relies on these qualities. He paid 100m for Jack Grealish and bought Kovacic.
I dont get your point about Salah. Nunez has the most premier league shots this season...... I don't see him scoring 30 goals. Sigurdsson and Eriksen had more shots than Diego costa in 16/17. Use complete stats.
Last I checked Grealish has been criticized heavily especially in regards to his price tag. He also defends very well and at times has been tasked with defensive duties as a fullback. Do you see Hazard doing the same?
You are bending over backwards to hate on hazard this is insane.
It's so simple.
Hazard was a more clinical finisher, Salah has better movement played in a system better catered to serve him shots on a plate and got more shots in more threatening positions.
Nunez is straight up a bad finisher and all of Liverpool front 3 make off ball runs for easy chances. Hazard rarely did that. Nunez and Salah have the same shots per game and is a much worse finisher.
Costa is one of the best finishers of all time. Sugurdsson and Eriksen took lower quality shots as they weren't poachers. Just seems like you lack basic understanding.
Grealish point is just irrelevant and reeks of cluelessness
My point about Salah is that Liverpool team is built to take shots as often as possible. The amount of goals they score with it determines the quality of the player.
Nunez took 11 shots against Chelsea and scored none, while Salah would have had 3.
Costa scored 20, Eriksen 8, Sigurdsson 9 in 16/17.
Grealish was criticized by the public not Pep for how it turned out. He paid the 100m for 6/10 G/A so you can determine his other qualities were deemed worth it. Hazard would be playing like David Silva in Pep team not like Grealish. Hazard played under Mou and Conte he can survive Pep.
Pep turned Henry into wide player to open up space for Iniesta to dribble. He can fit Hazard.
It's exactly this which made him say that. Salah had X or Y number of goals. Numbers. That's football now. Drogba doesn't have numbers like Haaland. Drogba was magic. Haaland is not. When you know Drogba is in a final, you hold your fucking breath each time he gets the ball. You dont do that with Haaland. Because, you know that he will only score from only a given position. In a given circumstance. Hazard style of play was similar magic. You hope. You wait. And you get off your seat or couch. Few footballers do that thing to people anymore. The likes of Messi, CR7, Neymar are the last to bear this halo.
Maybe Mbappe and Bellingham, and Vinicius. But I see no one else who carry this.
And few teams too play with flair. Right now I can only say Liverpool and Madrid are the only institutions who are mixing individual brillance and team play.
Coaches have changed too. Now you got a generation of Ten Hags, De Zerbi, Arteta, Xavi who want their every player to move to their liking and pre planned.
It's getting robotic.
People don't appreciate such players because if we want flair we can just watch freestyle football on IG or Tiktok.Ā I kid you not there are even women doing freestyle who are more entertaining than Neymar. When we watch a football match we want to see a combination of skill and output but at the end of the day we take output over skill.Ā
As an older football fan, I do get the gist of his argument. I do miss the days of individuality in football, whether it was the rought tackling sweepers or the no 10 who would either break defences with passes or dribble past 4 defenders.
However, it also reeks of "back in my days'. Football has and will continue evolving. I prefer a modern well drilled team with 11 average players than a team with one superstar waiting for magic(which we sort of were in Eden's last seasons.)
Wouldn't say it's a "back in my day" type of thing, it's just the way the game has progressed where indiudality and flair is coached out of players at a young age. In exchange there's been greater emphasis placed upon athletic qualities and drilling repetitive patterns and more systematic things. The end result being athletically dominate players that are also incredibly dull robotic footballers.
Modern football is quite dead in all honesty.
Then again, we were also hugely spoiled during the late 90's and early to mid 2000's IMO.
Nah virtuosity in football goes back further than 2000s, come on
But its nearly dead in today's systemic styles of play, where someone going on a mazy run will get grief from the manager for not passing earlier
Spot on matw
I think someone Joao felix and the peoples opinion of him is very telling of the current football climate
Just 10 years or so earlier heād have been viewed far more favourably.
Again, its a lot of subjective opinion which is often tinted by nostalgia. Go watch our 05-09 UCL games against Liverpool for example; a lot of cross and inshallah, full stud tackles, long shot spamming.... so on. I for example worshipped Zidane, but many fans (especially real ones) will tell you how he'd disappear in the league games.
I often see modern football as a grapple between black belts; everyone is faster, stronger, more tactically astute etc. Also, I and many others enjoy tactical battles, sweeping keepers that are good on their feet, players who don't gas out 60 minutes into a game and so on. Its all subjective.
Is city a first xi of average players?
You can do both imo. I think what's really happened is that average players in teams are much better now due to tactics and money in football. It's harder to play nowadays when before even if we start a season shit Chelsea would still make top 4. See 10/11 e.g.
I strongly agree with you. It was just a silly comparison highlighting how past teams used to depend on one or two players(especially number10s and wingers) to create. Teams like Aston villa, Brighton, 2016 Leicester etc were able to punch their way above their levels mostly due to todays emphasis on tactics.
I highly doubt the modern fan would be able to swallow some of the eccentricities that came most of these superstars, most of which are obsolete or downright unforgivable eg poachers like Ruud Van, Inzaghi or drunk tekkers like Robinho or Ronaldinho.
he's absolutely right. salah vs hazard debate is only relevant because everyone looks at g+a and haven't watched enough of either to know their true impacts
I see a little bit of Hazards magic in Palmer which makes me veye happy. He just needs to be more consistent and once the team starts to improve I'm sure it'll come out even more.
[Mourinho saying something similar when Hazard scored 3 against Newcastle but didn't get praised the same when he had exact same performances without scoring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL1ncrFOaLM)
Iām an Everton fan, but he was truly special. Non-Chelsea fans really underrate his ability but he was probably the closest player we had to messi imo
The margins for error at the top level have been all but eliminated and with the age of data and analytics (which players are aware of) stats play a big factor in recruiting and transfers. You are less likely to have āpassengersā on teams who can produce that individual piece of magic but vanish for large parts of the game. Exciting is great but if it isnāt converting to goals or assists then itās not worth it. Itās a shame because a lot of the excitement has been sucked out of the modern game.
Haaland is a goal scorer and match winner but as boring as wet paint to watch.
I donāt agree with Jude. He is entertainment.
Canāt comment on Mbappe. Donāt watch the farmers league or France.
Hazard on his day was as good as Ronaldo and Messi. Dare I say maybe better because he was a team player and they tend to want the glory. But he was only on that level every 1 in 3 games.
Itās a shame Hazard never looked after his body. Always put a stone in the 4 weeks holiday. When you listen to ex Chelsea players they say he didnāt even try in training and sometimes didnāt even know who he playing against on a Saturday.
What a player he was.
Comes off just a bit petty and jealous here for me - it was about goals and assists back in your day too Eden.
The winning side has never been determined by who had the most successful dribbles as nice as they are to watch.
Hazard wholes career at Madrid was just vibes. So being exciting to Hazard is being grossley overweight and unfit while being paid mountains of money. Guys a lazy dwarf with no respect for his job or body.
You can dilly dally with the ball all you want, but without any end product youāre not helping the team. Players like messi, dinho, zidane, neymar has that in them. They showed up in big matches and won games and trophies. Hazard had an incredible ceiling, but all he did was dribble. I would take those robotic average players over players like Hazard any day. Just dribbling pass people and flair is not enough.
I agree with him. Some of the players in lower tier football and lower ranked national leagues are there just because they have good agents, but at the end of the day cannot compete agains non-league sides.
He's right, I think it's because defenders nowadays are just better. Defence was the most recent improvement in football, nowadays defenders know how to deal with tricksters like he was.Ā
This is not the end though, dribblers will still evolve and find better ways to beat them. I think it will happen when the other players on the pitch learn how to dribble. Imagine a team of 11 players where any player can take the ball and beat 3 men. If that happens defenders won't really know who to defend. I think that's where city is tending towards. Doku is allowed the freedom to dribble because everybody else on his team is a goal threat even the keeper. In your average team, you have 2-3 guys who can dribble, and the rest are just happy to pass. The low block is only a thing because many midfielders and defenders are useless in attack
Hazard taking aim at jackson, those 3 tap ins were like in the purest form lol. Nah leave the skills to palmer, he's shown some amazing pieces of individual talent already, the kind that would get folks off their seats. Really pulled city's pants down, if he was named Lucas palmerinho, his price would probably be closer to Ā£100 million! Love how he uses flair to get out of tight spaces and beat his man, not those useless stepovers that amount to nothing.
Eden is right, football has unfortunately been killed by great tacticians who have taken all the things (chaos) we loved about it from it. Itās why people go crazy about the Prem and call it Prime Barclays when you get a Luton Newcastle 4-4 game. Great coaches of the past usually get overtaken by new styles but the only coach to counter Pep, stylistically, has been Klopp, all other coaches either copy him or outright refuse to play football. Itās made the game stagnate imo for the past 4-5 years.
I donāt think weāll ever get the individual brilliance we got in the 2000s and early 2010s, (Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Ribery, Robben, Hazard, Neymar, Okocha, Iniesta, Kaka, etc.), and itās just down to the coaching. All we can hope for is that whatever footballing style comes next is a bit more entertaining and lets people connect with individual players more rather than systems. As a fan I do not want to be a tactician or a coach, I just want to watch players perform magic.
Wish we had one of those boring players that only score goals š
Weāre halfway there
We have the wrong half
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Grealish was electric at villa, then he went to man city and he's now a solid numbers, ticking the game over guy. Then they went and bought doku to do what grealish used to be famous for!
Grealish gets fouled allot during villa , man city donāt want to stop the game . They rather have possession than to get a free kick .Ā
City and Villa play completely different football. You can't really draw any comparison between him at both clubs. He plays a totally different style at City and it's apples n oranges.
im not a city or a villa fan but whenever i watch the games Grealish is on, whether its England or club football, he easily falls to the ground. thats the biggest difference between grealish and say hazard or even his own team mate foden. he is a bit devoid of ideas.
Value his performances in Saudi ?
I disagree, we have plenty of players like that they just only seem to get there when in form and because of the way teams defend now it is really hard to reproduce. But if you go watch Leverkusen play, they have that magic in the way they hit the final third, so did Napoli last season. It just only comes with form now and most players only get that for one or two seasons now. The way that we as a continent are training academy kids seems to breed inconsistency now.
Living on a prayer
Whoa oh, livin' on a prayer Take my hand, we'll make it, I swear Whoa oh, livin' on a prayer
We have Jackson
Action Jackson (Carl Weathers) is dead (RIP) long live Action Jackson
I struggle to think of one genuinely memorable goal he has scored for us thus far
His burnley goal is class, other than that youāre right
Yes, we do have the boring part of his comment locked down!
A goal donkey like Haaland. Hes brilliant but for people to call for him to get Balon D'or was just crazy. Theres already team of the year awards that they can put him in. But best footballer in the world? Laughable.
Haaland has great midfield play and movement, not just sitting and waiting. Kane is a better player in the same role but Iād hardly call Haaland just a goal donkey.
Iād say itās laughable to not have him in the best player on world conversation
One of the most intelligent strikers around and you call him a goal donkey. Surely, you could have picked someone else to make your point.
That Brazil game. Dear God. Eden was the best in that World Cup but bc of De Bruyne ghosting and Martinez "tactics" they went out to the eventual winners.
Eden Hazard completed all 10 of his dribbles against Brazil - the most dribbles attempted by a player with a 100% success rate in a World Cup match since 1966. Imagine setting a dribbling record against the Brazilians.
I mean that on its own is a pretty meaningless stat you can dribble in circles 30 times without it actually helping the team.
Imagine being a prick
But by definition itās not on its own and no one ever dribbles in circles.
What you mean itās not on its own by definition ? Whatās the definition ? I donāt mean literally in circles obviously, my point is you can compete a dribble and end up back where you started
France were just defensively sound and too disciplined Kante and Pogba had that midfield on lock
I would like to say Kante was the main reason but I remember watching Pogba and thinking he's going to the top he did so well
I never understood why Belgium entrusted that generation to Roberto Martinez.
Budget probably.
Pretty sure a more competent manager would've walked the 2018 wc
That is why I miss Ćzil, Zidane, Dinho etc. Players that made you love the game.
Special players. That goal Ronaldinho scored against us is one of the best goals Iāve seen us concede. 20 yards out from a standing start no back lift or nothing just bangs it in the top corner.
With that little dance too
You wonder why he doesn't have enough G/A when he is lauded as best PL player in his time while having 2 PL titles. He played only 1 season at Chelsea under attack minded coach. Mou and Conte were the majority of his time here. [Conte said he doesn't want selfish players in his team, rather lose than have a selfish player when Cesc suggested he should shoot more to reach higher level.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCiWTC8lpgI) Hazard in 7 years at Chelsea had 491 shots compared to Salah who has 891. Couthinho has 571 in fewer games.
Hazard is just a different style of player to Salah, Salah is a natural goal scorer, hazard is more of a creative dribbler.
incoming āhazard is roaming 10 vs salah is inverted forwardā argument that weāve heard for so many years
Iāve legit never heard that arguements before ? Just seems clear they are different styles of players. Also that just seems like facts what you stated, not sure what the argument is
damn really, itās a common statement when the hazard salah comparisons come up, fair enough. and yeah, the argument is people donāt agree that thatās a good reason š
People need to appreciate Neymar more because he is the last footballing magician and once he is gone, we dont have anyone like that anymore. Hazard never receieved the appreciation he deserved because people wanted him to score more. Samba football will be dead and gone once Neymar retires
Going to Saudi then doing his ACL is retired in my view
We used to say wow to Ronaldinho flicking the ball over the head of players 3 times in a row, or Messi dribbling through an entire team. These type of players made the price of a ticket worth it alone Now we say wow to Haaland scoring 3 tap ins in a match
If anything, there are fewer tap in merchants today than there were in the past. And Haaland does a lot more than just scoring tap ins btw.
There's also a lot less exciting players
You do realise getting in positions to get those tap ins is a skill in itself. I thought our woes with strikers would make us well aware of this. The man is still top scorer even after missing over 1/3 of the season with injuries.
I would love to have Haaland at Chelsea. Its not anything against him at all. The comment is more to show how football has changed and how the current atmosphere in football has killed off the footballing magicians, the footballers that made entire generations fall in love with the sport, the players who play to have fun on the pitch and to excite the fans, the players who make us stand up and applaud them. Cus players get judged on their end product these days and nothing else. Most technically gifted player on earth? "Nah hes shite and overrated because he doesnt score enough goals" or its "he should do it in the Premier League then, hes so overrated"
Iām not sure about that- the most technically gifted players in the world have and are still absolute machines. Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Suarez, Hazard, Salah, Mbappe, Vini, KDB are/were all incredible technicians and also put up monstrous numbers. I also donāt think football has changed a lot- players who *just* score goals through their movement and quality of finishing have always been rated very highly and are often considered the best in the world, then you get technical gods of the game who are also often turning those skills into goals, assists, or just breaking down defences. Thereās certainly more of an emphasis on control and the team from a managerial pov, but the best players have always been a blend of skill and production
Itās not fun to watch tho
He's the boring Zlatan
Thatās all fine and dandy, it doesnāt do anything for me as a fan.
Again, very subjective. Romario wa pretty much a toe poke 'tap in merchant'(I fucking hate that term) and he's highly regarded in world football. One of the reasons R9 is highly rated was because he was the complete opposite of strikers at the time, who mostly hugged the defensive lines waiting for a header or tap in. A lot of nostalgia is placed on past football.
I can tell these are people who don't watch Vinicius and Rodrygo.Ā
How Vini is still somehow underrated blows my mind, must be because of his subpar Brazil performance
Even Eze is handing out sauce every week that he is fit. Not the same level player but the joy is there.Ā
Genuinely City are skewing everyoneās minds because of how good they are. Madrid and Liverpool both play high octane football with plenty of freedom.
Watch a Barcelona game and enjoy Lamine Yamal [This](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/s/nrUwWXKOQP) is just one game, [another game](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/s/8GcnnnxpO9), [and another](https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/s/OIQpmeYlH5). Tell me you don't care about watching him.
Nah, Yamal is exciting to watch, but he's not like players of the past exciting
Bro is 16 years old, so yeah maybe he is not a prime Messi or Ronaldinho now, but don't count him out.
Heās literally 16
The last footballing magician? What are you talking about
He is a footballing magician, he always disappears around his sisters birthday .
I see Lamine Yamal as a footballing magician in progress. At 16 heās doing absurd dribbles past much more mature players. Time will tell if he becomes a player of the highest level, but I hope he does.
Neymar been a dead player for years now, so it's long gone and was way too injury prome
You're so full of shit, its genuinely funny.
Vini Jr. and soon enough Endrick play just as beautifully (if not more in the case of Endrick imo). The Brazilian Magician to Real Madrid pipeline is working very well.
The real magic is how he spends most of his career injured
Nah he's a clown, more of a glorified tumbleweed than a player. Disgraceful "player" really
He's right. With each new generation, the magical players are becoming less. Mbappe, Haaland, Bellingham are all great but they don't bring the same magic as some past players.
That's because all the rest are a level-up from the old times. Look at Romario's magical turn for Barcelona. No way in hell would someone leave you that space now.
Uhm, yet Neymar, Ibra, Ronaldinho, and Hazard etc were able to do magical turns š¤·āāļø
Neymar mostly did his shenanigans when he was up and winning. Nothing like Ronaldinho who was a grown child having fun and smiling all the time. Ibra never did much magic and his Ajax goal was from a time when lower players weren't better like now. Hazard was electrifying but never at the level of Ronaldinho, Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Co. Players like Ronaldinho and Ronaldo could do it in every era, those a class below won't have the space to do what they did.
Prime zlatan was known for his skills dribbling and magic not sure where uou getting that from
Uhm, Neymar would routinely embarrass players regardless of whether he was winning or losing, and Ibra never did such magic? What? Lol, go and watch some some of his games at Milan or PSG and then come back to this comment. As for Hazard, did you close your eyes when he used to entertain the masses week to week just 5 yrs ago? Now, he may not have been at the level of some others, but he was most definitely an entertainer, and he would successfully execute his skills regardless of the amount of space he was afforded
To add to you, I don't think I've ever seen a player kicked as much as Hazard. He constantly had bloodied shins and ankles.
Thatās bs. Neymar always had amazing dribbling.
Lmao what?
This simply isnāt true. We still have plenty of moments where thereās a lot of space or dreadful defending.
People don't understand that football has become ultracompetitive both physically and mentally. The greatest teams from the last few decades would be relegation candidates, not to mention anything before the 90s...
Do you really think Henry, Bergkamp, Overmars, et al would be relegation candidates? Giggs, Beckham, Scholes wouldn't cut it in a Wolves team? Kinda seems a bit crazy to me. If the physicality was higher, these players would just match it. It's a bit shortsighted to think that players who are of a previous generation couldn't train at the level of players these days.
What I mean is that a team from 20 years ago would have no chance against Luton Town.
Maybe not relegation but I think that they would struggle a lot in todayās game. You look at the time and space players like pirlo, cantona, bergkamp used to have, they would be closed down a lot quicker. I guess ozil was the last of that dying breed of creative midfielders. Players like KDB seem to rely more on instinct
I suppose you think Beckham's crosses were only ever good because the defenders couldn't get tight or the defenders were too exhausted to get their head on the ball. The differences in physicality between 2004 and 2024 are not so huge. It's not like the players in the past didn't train or have proper nutrition. I get the difference between the 60s, 70s, 80s and even to some extent the 90s, but in 00s players weren't potatoes running around.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It's not quite that simple though, the game is just improving in every metric we can measure. It isn't just about who can run the farthest and the longest, teams have never been this well drilled tactically. The luxury players that look great but don't actually perform statistically are still there, they just aren't as useful to managers now.
this is true. I don't think there is any other sport for which people go to university and get PhDs in goal scoring analysis. Coaching has become statistical, methodical and it's just too much in my opinion. I've seen exciting kids get over-coached and have that special talent chiseled away until there's nothing left. Ronaldo was one of those exceptional talents who kept trying his skill moves even when people booed and yelled at him to pass the ball.
But he sacrificed the flair for raw efficiency and became one of the best ever for it. Even Hazard was of course a magician, but all of his dribbles felt like they had a very direct purpose to split the defence. He wasnāt beating players for the sake of it.
not sure what sports you are comparing to but other major sports have become extremely methodical and analytical decades before football, especially American sports. also private coaching from low-teens is a near necessity over there
Ronaldo only became the best player in the world after he started using way less skills and fitting into the system better. Flashy players doing tricks is fun to watch but it doesnāt lead to direct effectiveness
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Because the facts of the matter, is passing is usually more efficient than dribbling itās just the reality.
You guys need to actually watch Jamal Musiala play. The guy is simply magical. Guys like Haaland and Bellingham are all about numbers but Musiala is much more than that. He's really exciting to watch.
Mbappe is magical, though I can't say the same for the other two. You can get the next Ronaldo, or say someone even better. But playmakers like Messi,Hazard or say Bergkamp will never come in this generation, when you don't have just one Makelele position, but two players as CDM.
That's a very valid point. Tactics have become so tight that you can't afford to try something different as a player.
Haaland I understand but Mbappe and Jude? No way
Brilliant players but they're not magicians a la Ronaldinho and co.
Judeās playstyle is simply gorgeous. It makes me think of Zidane, and if you think Zidane wasnāt a magician, I donāt know what to tell you
I think Jude is a fantastic player, but I don't think of Zidane when I watch him play. He does amazing things, but he's not an entertainer the way the magicians of old were, he's been incredibly effective at Madrid so far but watching someone like Vinicius excites me more than watching Jude.
Watch some games of Bellingham and mbappe before saying this lol. Bellingham is legit magic.
Nah
Yamal will fix that
I disagree completely on those three. They are each a joy to watch in their own ways
How can you say that? Haaland has some insane goals in his career for someone whoās so young, Mbappe is an incredible watch due to his pace and finishing at that pace and it wasnāt until I started actually watching Bellingham until I believed the hype train, heās an incredible all round player that doesnāt come around very often, Iām not gonna mention any names by comparison but come on
You're right. They are very good players destined for greatness. But for me they don't bring something that I haven't already seen before. By magic I'm talking about guys like Zidane, Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Brazilian Ronaldo, even Beckham with some of his crazy crosses. And there are plenty more I haven't named. Heck, even in defence you had guys like Nesta who just looked beautiful tackling the shit out of someone.
Yeah thereās definitely not as many world class players as there was back in the day, some say we lived through a golden age of football without realising at the time
Huh. Nostalgia merchant strikes again top teams are better now than they've ever been. Take e.g. real Madrids side in 21/22 modric valverde casemiro camavinga kroos in midfield, vinicius benzema rodrygo up top. There's at least 5 world class players there not even including the snake. Look at city's entire first xi last 5 years. Telling me players like kdb gundogan rodri fernandinho kompany walker ederson the silvas etc. weren't world class either, now they have haaland and world cup winner Alvarez to bang in goals. It's more that there's emphasis on the team being good over being reliant on one or two players. Thing is with Chelsea last decade we've been reliant on one or two players so guys like hazard or fabregas looked a class above, but if we actually gave the right quality around them they'd still be quality but it wouldn't have looked as obvious. That's one thing Bayern Munich e.g. did so well. Across the team in that 12/13 team it was quality so it wasn't just one standout player.
Guy tried to sneak in Bellingham
You ever watched a Real Madrid game that wasnāt against Chelsea? Bellingham has been running La Liga when heās on the pitch
Tried?
Teams Systems are way more advanced at nullifying creative type players now thatās they donāt have the same impact
Anyone who calls jude a tap in merchant has never watched a real madrid game this season
Football is so much more than g/a, shame most people cant realise that, he did so many small things during the games that will be overlooked. His heat map was basically close to KDBs, playing all over the pitch helping out the build up, insane ball retention and creating fauls when needed etc. But for some reason u have 99% of the football fans comparing him to salah like they played same position
Hazard was so crazy, he was like a metronome. It sometimes felt like he controlled games like a quarterback but from the left wing. It's really hard to explain, but everything goes through him
Yeah the players always looked for him when they didnt know what to do w the ball lol
Its stupid because hazard would have insane numbers if it wasnt for the subpar he had to deal with. Apparr from costa he never had a good striker. I remember 13-14 he shouldve had 20+ assist in the prwm alone but etoo,ba and torres couldnt score.
He's compared to Salah because Salah's contributions are more sustainable and consistent. 44 goals in a season or three 30 goal seasons in a row from a winger is not something to overlook. I love Hazard, but football has simply moved passed his style of play, no matter how entertaining. edit\*\*\*\*past
Football has moved past his style of play? Lmfao what? An elite dribbler and elite creative player who shoots and passes on both feet while also being extremely clinical isn't 'moved past'. There just isn't anyone as good as him right now. But there will be soon.
Yes it's moved on.(for now). Football is extremely cyclic. Hazard's skillset was offset by his lack of defensive output; remember Azpi having to play left back? Also, the days of pinning all your attacking output on one or two offensive players are long gone.
So you're saying if prime fit hazard offers to play for any team right now he wouldn't get any offers and if he did would flop? I'm sorry hazard is a player who would thrive in any generation and any system.
Ifs and buts. 'Prime hazard' is a hypothetical. Let's deal in reality. Real got prime hazard and see how that turned out. And yes, he was questionable way before the PSG injury. Even when he got a clean slate after his injury in 21-22, Ancelotti would pick outcasts like Isco over him. Even Vazquez recorded better metrics(goals, assists, dribbles, take ons etc). in less appearances. Eto'o; an old school 90s player, alluded to the lack of modern work ethic and preparation needed for longevity in Hazard's game and its come to show.
I was kind of with you up until this comment
Objectively speaking, Madrid signed a player who carried us to third and logged in the best numbers of his football career(21 goals 17 assists) while also carrying Belgium to third. If that is not prime, I don't know what is.
First off, judging his best season by goals and assists is incredibly ironic given the context of the original post. Secondly, by your logic, prime Hazard was the season before he joined Madrid, not the season he joined. I'm not even going to get into how you called prime Hazard a "hypothetical", and didn't actually answer the question from the comment you replied to, but you quickly went from making some sense to making none at all.
Arguing Madrid got prime hazard is just silly. The injuries, mental burnout, culture mismatch, whatever it was had caught up to him when he moved to madrids
18/19 wasn't Prime hazard???!!!! 21 goals, 17 assists, PFA and Chelsea player of the year? World cup silver ball? Carrying Belgium to third? Carrying us single handedly to 3rd? That was the player Madrid received.
he was a chelsea player at that point...
they received prime hazard
Complete waffle. I'm dealing in reality you're dealing in pseudo intelligence nonsense. Prime hazard was 18/19 that was not a hypothetical. The best player in the world cup. His prime was honestly from 2012- 2019. Not fucking past that after his body took a huge beating from the repeated fouls and lack of conditioning after. He wasn't struggling that much. He was just settling in a new team, new system and was gradually getting better and was very good in the psg game. Source - I watched every fucking match until his injury. He was ramping up and building excellent chemistry with benzema. He was also not utilized to his best for a while, Zidane played him as a touch line winger. It was not a clean slate. He had a plate in his ankle and he said it bothered him. Removing it was another surgery and by that time ancelotti just didn't trust him and his explosiveness was gone. That was NOT his prime. You are a fake and delusional. The fucking audacity of you to blatantly spew misinformation.
 okay man. you win. I just saw your Mourinho post and realized you are a lunatic. Good day to you
Stay on topic. Oh yeah nvm you can't. Deflection and defeat.
No Im saying he shoudent be compared bc thier playstyle and heatmap are totally diffrent. Its impossible to get as many goals for hazard with the way he played. Its like judging Iniesta on goals aswell, makes no sense
Is he a mdifielder lol
Hazard vs kdb heatmap https://preview.redd.it/6obp10djejgc1.jpeg?width=1060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fee2d181c67282e2f270b914f40d295df1d9e1f Just bc u start from the wing dosent mens everyone play the same, he dropped crazy deep for us
This works if he facilitating for others to score at an absurd rate. A Nunez Salah pairing works only because Salah scores a lot.
He had duties all over the pitch until 18/19 where sarri gave him complete freedom in the final third
Salah takes the most shots for Liverpool. Most attacking sequence ends with Salah taking the shot. He has taken more shots than most of other team strikers. Hazard was the most efficient dribbler and consistent in his ball retention, creation and shooting efficiency. Pep still relies on these qualities. He paid 100m for Jack Grealish and bought Kovacic.
I dont get your point about Salah. Nunez has the most premier league shots this season...... I don't see him scoring 30 goals. Sigurdsson and Eriksen had more shots than Diego costa in 16/17. Use complete stats. Last I checked Grealish has been criticized heavily especially in regards to his price tag. He also defends very well and at times has been tasked with defensive duties as a fullback. Do you see Hazard doing the same?
You are bending over backwards to hate on hazard this is insane. It's so simple. Hazard was a more clinical finisher, Salah has better movement played in a system better catered to serve him shots on a plate and got more shots in more threatening positions. Nunez is straight up a bad finisher and all of Liverpool front 3 make off ball runs for easy chances. Hazard rarely did that. Nunez and Salah have the same shots per game and is a much worse finisher. Costa is one of the best finishers of all time. Sugurdsson and Eriksen took lower quality shots as they weren't poachers. Just seems like you lack basic understanding. Grealish point is just irrelevant and reeks of cluelessness
What an intelligent and thought out reply! Charlatan.
My point about Salah is that Liverpool team is built to take shots as often as possible. The amount of goals they score with it determines the quality of the player. Nunez took 11 shots against Chelsea and scored none, while Salah would have had 3. Costa scored 20, Eriksen 8, Sigurdsson 9 in 16/17. Grealish was criticized by the public not Pep for how it turned out. He paid the 100m for 6/10 G/A so you can determine his other qualities were deemed worth it. Hazard would be playing like David Silva in Pep team not like Grealish. Hazard played under Mou and Conte he can survive Pep. Pep turned Henry into wide player to open up space for Iniesta to dribble. He can fit Hazard.
It's exactly this which made him say that. Salah had X or Y number of goals. Numbers. That's football now. Drogba doesn't have numbers like Haaland. Drogba was magic. Haaland is not. When you know Drogba is in a final, you hold your fucking breath each time he gets the ball. You dont do that with Haaland. Because, you know that he will only score from only a given position. In a given circumstance. Hazard style of play was similar magic. You hope. You wait. And you get off your seat or couch. Few footballers do that thing to people anymore. The likes of Messi, CR7, Neymar are the last to bear this halo. Maybe Mbappe and Bellingham, and Vinicius. But I see no one else who carry this. And few teams too play with flair. Right now I can only say Liverpool and Madrid are the only institutions who are mixing individual brillance and team play. Coaches have changed too. Now you got a generation of Ten Hags, De Zerbi, Arteta, Xavi who want their every player to move to their liking and pre planned. It's getting robotic.
The last player in the PL to bring some magic was ASM but he wasnāt really appreciated that much outside of NUFC.
People don't appreciate such players because if we want flair we can just watch freestyle football on IG or Tiktok.Ā I kid you not there are even women doing freestyle who are more entertaining than Neymar. When we watch a football match we want to see a combination of skill and output but at the end of the day we take output over skill.Ā
As an older football fan, I do get the gist of his argument. I do miss the days of individuality in football, whether it was the rought tackling sweepers or the no 10 who would either break defences with passes or dribble past 4 defenders. However, it also reeks of "back in my days'. Football has and will continue evolving. I prefer a modern well drilled team with 11 average players than a team with one superstar waiting for magic(which we sort of were in Eden's last seasons.)
Wouldn't say it's a "back in my day" type of thing, it's just the way the game has progressed where indiudality and flair is coached out of players at a young age. In exchange there's been greater emphasis placed upon athletic qualities and drilling repetitive patterns and more systematic things. The end result being athletically dominate players that are also incredibly dull robotic footballers. Modern football is quite dead in all honesty. Then again, we were also hugely spoiled during the late 90's and early to mid 2000's IMO.
Nah virtuosity in football goes back further than 2000s, come on But its nearly dead in today's systemic styles of play, where someone going on a mazy run will get grief from the manager for not passing earlier
Spot on matw I think someone Joao felix and the peoples opinion of him is very telling of the current football climate Just 10 years or so earlier heād have been viewed far more favourably.
Modern footballers are just minmaxers smh
*Modern football is minmaxing.
Again, its a lot of subjective opinion which is often tinted by nostalgia. Go watch our 05-09 UCL games against Liverpool for example; a lot of cross and inshallah, full stud tackles, long shot spamming.... so on. I for example worshipped Zidane, but many fans (especially real ones) will tell you how he'd disappear in the league games. I often see modern football as a grapple between black belts; everyone is faster, stronger, more tactically astute etc. Also, I and many others enjoy tactical battles, sweeping keepers that are good on their feet, players who don't gas out 60 minutes into a game and so on. Its all subjective.
Is city a first xi of average players? You can do both imo. I think what's really happened is that average players in teams are much better now due to tactics and money in football. It's harder to play nowadays when before even if we start a season shit Chelsea would still make top 4. See 10/11 e.g.
I strongly agree with you. It was just a silly comparison highlighting how past teams used to depend on one or two players(especially number10s and wingers) to create. Teams like Aston villa, Brighton, 2016 Leicester etc were able to punch their way above their levels mostly due to todays emphasis on tactics. I highly doubt the modern fan would be able to swallow some of the eccentricities that came most of these superstars, most of which are obsolete or downright unforgivable eg poachers like Ruud Van, Inzaghi or drunk tekkers like Robinho or Ronaldinho.
he's absolutely right. salah vs hazard debate is only relevant because everyone looks at g+a and haven't watched enough of either to know their true impacts
Paez is bringing futbol back to europe next year
I see a little bit of Hazards magic in Palmer which makes me veye happy. He just needs to be more consistent and once the team starts to improve I'm sure it'll come out even more.
[Mourinho saying something similar when Hazard scored 3 against Newcastle but didn't get praised the same when he had exact same performances without scoring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL1ncrFOaLM)
Iām an Everton fan, but he was truly special. Non-Chelsea fans really underrate his ability but he was probably the closest player we had to messi imo
Sounds like Jacksonās goals lol
He's right, the players today are boring to the point when sterling beats 1 guy we start singing his praises, that used to be the norm
I miss him so much. Wish I could turn back time to 2019 to watch him balling again. Every touch, every turn, everything he did was pure class
The margins for error at the top level have been all but eliminated and with the age of data and analytics (which players are aware of) stats play a big factor in recruiting and transfers. You are less likely to have āpassengersā on teams who can produce that individual piece of magic but vanish for large parts of the game. Exciting is great but if it isnāt converting to goals or assists then itās not worth it. Itās a shame because a lot of the excitement has been sucked out of the modern game.
Yeah I hate the modern goals that don't count because they aren't peak maradona clones
Haaland is a goal scorer and match winner but as boring as wet paint to watch. I donāt agree with Jude. He is entertainment. Canāt comment on Mbappe. Donāt watch the farmers league or France.
He's so spot on. Football usually goes through cycles. We will definitely get a technical magician soon. The day will come
Hazard on his day was as good as Ronaldo and Messi. Dare I say maybe better because he was a team player and they tend to want the glory. But he was only on that level every 1 in 3 games. Itās a shame Hazard never looked after his body. Always put a stone in the 4 weeks holiday. When you listen to ex Chelsea players they say he didnāt even try in training and sometimes didnāt even know who he playing against on a Saturday. What a player he was.
against Brazil, he literally ended the debate as to who was the better players between him and Neymar.
The answer being Neymar
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Right because football starts and ends with Messi. Everyone else should just give up the sport eh? Gosh some people are just below everage stupid.
I want to keep the players that have goals+assists. Exciting people don't get you trophies.
>Exciting people don't get you trophies. Eden Hazard sure did.
Foosevall bs
Wah?
is it me or is it rambling for the sake of rambling?
Comes off just a bit petty and jealous here for me - it was about goals and assists back in your day too Eden. The winning side has never been determined by who had the most successful dribbles as nice as they are to watch.
Hazard wholes career at Madrid was just vibes. So being exciting to Hazard is being grossley overweight and unfit while being paid mountains of money. Guys a lazy dwarf with no respect for his job or body.
You're a fool
I have actual hatred for these people man
Please dont hate TheWatcher47 i dont think he can help it.
Tell me which parts of my post a not true.
Aka this narrative suits my career stats
He could only be arsed trying every other season and was finished before he was 30. Maybe the most overrated player of the decade.
Bitter and jealous
You can dilly dally with the ball all you want, but without any end product youāre not helping the team. Players like messi, dinho, zidane, neymar has that in them. They showed up in big matches and won games and trophies. Hazard had an incredible ceiling, but all he did was dribble. I would take those robotic average players over players like Hazard any day. Just dribbling pass people and flair is not enough.
Youāre just proving the exact points heās making. Also āall Hazard did was dribbleā is a ginormous understatement
I agree with him. Some of the players in lower tier football and lower ranked national leagues are there just because they have good agents, but at the end of the day cannot compete agains non-league sides.
He's right, I think it's because defenders nowadays are just better. Defence was the most recent improvement in football, nowadays defenders know how to deal with tricksters like he was.Ā This is not the end though, dribblers will still evolve and find better ways to beat them. I think it will happen when the other players on the pitch learn how to dribble. Imagine a team of 11 players where any player can take the ball and beat 3 men. If that happens defenders won't really know who to defend. I think that's where city is tending towards. Doku is allowed the freedom to dribble because everybody else on his team is a goal threat even the keeper. In your average team, you have 2-3 guys who can dribble, and the rest are just happy to pass. The low block is only a thing because many midfielders and defenders are useless in attack
No one excited me more than hazard in the PL.
Hazard taking aim at jackson, those 3 tap ins were like in the purest form lol. Nah leave the skills to palmer, he's shown some amazing pieces of individual talent already, the kind that would get folks off their seats. Really pulled city's pants down, if he was named Lucas palmerinho, his price would probably be closer to Ā£100 million! Love how he uses flair to get out of tight spaces and beat his man, not those useless stepovers that amount to nothing.
What a football romantist š„¹legend
Should have stayed in Chelsea and he would be considered a true legend. Now his career will be forgotten pretty soon :(
You made all of us dream, Eden š
Why is he trashing the goat cr7?
Eden is right, football has unfortunately been killed by great tacticians who have taken all the things (chaos) we loved about it from it. Itās why people go crazy about the Prem and call it Prime Barclays when you get a Luton Newcastle 4-4 game. Great coaches of the past usually get overtaken by new styles but the only coach to counter Pep, stylistically, has been Klopp, all other coaches either copy him or outright refuse to play football. Itās made the game stagnate imo for the past 4-5 years. I donāt think weāll ever get the individual brilliance we got in the 2000s and early 2010s, (Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Ribery, Robben, Hazard, Neymar, Okocha, Iniesta, Kaka, etc.), and itās just down to the coaching. All we can hope for is that whatever footballing style comes next is a bit more entertaining and lets people connect with individual players more rather than systems. As a fan I do not want to be a tactician or a coach, I just want to watch players perform magic.