But Torres had already lost his form and confidence by the time Liverpool finally sold him to Chelsea. RVP is still in great form and if he leaves there's no indication that he won't still be able to knock in the goals wherever he goes.
Look at Aguero and Tevez push around defenders and control the space around them. Then look at Torres and Mata. Dzeko was an extremely accurate aerial presence during the season. Abramovich is going to hire a guy who gets the team to play with more flair so Chelsea will take on a new identity, but you can't succeed in the premier league without playing rough. Hulk is better suited coming down from the right flank - Chelsea get more out of him from that position. It will be interesting to see what Arsenal do. Even with Wilshere coming back their midfield is iffy, defense has always been loose, and they obviously need to add to their attack. But with Wenger, it's always about finding the diamond in the rough so I feel they'll end up with unheard of guys from Ligue 1 and Ukraine and end up just managing to finish in the top 4. But as long as they look good doing it... United and City are set, even if Dzeko, De Jong and a few others leave. Liverpool continue to sign mediocre English talent and hope for the best.
Live in Belgium and have played against Hazard when I was younger, good talent. What I like the most about him is that he never whines/reclaims to the referee after he gets fouled and yet statistics show that he was the most fouled player in Europe this season. He'll do great at Chelsea, would have loved to see him at United but he wouldn't have got as much playing time in the #10 role. Now that they've signed Hulk, best thing they could do is sign Fellaini or a badass midfielder like someone proposed earlier. That, and get Pep Guardiola to coach them. Oh and btw, Hazard has signed with Nike wayyyy back. Already done ton's of projects with them.
Chelsea now has the experience and young guns to win the Champs League. Oh wait, they already did that this year? Well back-to-back it is.
Hazard took 90 touches in his 90-minute appearance, 27 more than the busiest England player. Attempted and completed more passes than any other player - 62 of 71 on target. Fired the most shots - with two on target and two wayward. Created six chances as he roamed around the England half. He didn't shine (and rarely does wit the NT) but saying he was **** makes me feel like you don't know anything about football.
Maybe he wasn't total s*** but he wasn't very good either. Considering the hype and his price, I was not impressed at all. Number of touches vs another team and percentage of completed passes are worthless numbers. I can see the talent but he wasn't impressive at all yesterday...especially considering he had just signed with one of the biggest clubs for a lot of money.
I totally agree, but i've never seen a belgian game where I thought to myself "wow hazard really played well tonight". And i've seen all the games he played with Belgium. He'll take a couple of months to get used to playing with Chelsea, then he'll be solid. Just give him time.
^Another example is Wayne Rooney (or heck even Messi). Wayne was **** for England for almost 2 years, yet he was the best striker in the world for ManU. I think too many people where expecting to much out of this friendly game versus a UK squad that played with 10 defenders at home.
Settle down buddy... I know Eden is talent, I wanted him at United badly. But my statement was based on that one game. He wasn't very good. Part 2... Hulk is ****.
@Reasons, what do you think of him choosing Chelsea? What are your expectations/opinions on his future? Curious to hear your thoughts.
Like most I was pretty disappointed in the signing (Arsenal fan) and couldn't really understand it at first. A team that plays a style completely different from his, Drogba leaving, most of the pillars being old players, Torres uncertainty, no coach and a guy playing at the position he wanted to play (Mata). I was hoping he'd sign for United to play under Ferguson (who is amazing with young talent). However, after cooling off and studying the case, I realized this was the best choice for him; Obviously money wasn't the problem (since Hazard had found financial agreements with every team). He's a very smart guy and is driven to become one of the best players on the planet, so he thought this very carefully because he doesn't want to **** it up. Chelsea was the best destination available. First, he'll be able to play the #10 position, since Mata can slide to the wing. At United, that's Rooney's spot, and moving him back to the front is not a possibility considering Welbeck and Chicharrito also play there, and Rooney has said multiple times he prefers to play behind a striker. City is packed with offensive weapons, guys like Nasri, Touré, Silva, Aguero are all proven commodities (though I have no doubt Hazard will pass them in time) at the moment, so they would have took playing time from him and slowed his development. Secondly, Abramovich has stated that he wants the team to become more offensive-minded, and the signings of Hulk (and hopefully someone like Pep Guardiola) can turn this team around. Hazard can be part of this rejuvenation . The pressure is also not as big as City or United, who both we're #1's this season, while Chelsea wasn't even in the top 4. In conclusion, I think Hazard is going to have an amazing career. I'm calling it right now, I think he'll win the Ballon d'Or one day. However, it won't come over night, and it will take time. I think he won't shine statistically in his first season, and non-chelsea observers might even call him a bust. But he is going to have an epic impact on that team. He is going to create so many opportunities for his teammates (lets hope Torres can score with open nets) and is going to be Chelsea's maestro. He is going to be so advantaged to play with great players, because though Lille was a great team, Hazard was often "too quick" for his teammates ( could also see that a couple of times with the NT). What I mean is that he was trying to do things that lesser experienced players couldn't understand or weren't fast enough to combinate with him. After getting used to the PL though he is going to explode. His combination of speed/vision/creativity/technique/(and now finishing) are going to make him one of the best players on the planet. He is very similar to Messi, and isn't afraid to say that he regularly watches film of him, Ronaldo and other players to study their game. Furtermore, though the media has turned him into an arrogant spoiled kid, he is pretty far from the description. He's a down-to-earth kid, pretty shy and just likes to play the game. What I like most about him is that when he gets fouled he rarely whines (and he's the player who got the most fouled last season in Europe). I'll admit I'm a Hazard fan, being part-Belgian, having played against him, knowing some of his relatives, etc. However, most of Belgians feel the same way as me. Not only the people, famous scouts have praised his drive, established players have said he will succeed no doubt, even Zidane said he would "sign him in a heartbeat" when he was only 17. He is a smart kid and he's surrounded by people who know what they're doing, so I trust he is in the best situation to become an amazing player and delight the PL. On a side-note, he has 3 younger brothers; Thorgan - who's the most fighter of the 4 and plays in L2 (probably won't amount to much) and Kylian, who's said to be the most gifted of the family (even more giften than Eden at his age), however he lacks the ambition to become the best like his older brother, and some say he isn't even sure he wants to become a pro-football player. He is playing in the youth system at Lille right now. The fourth brother hasn't started playing yet.
Like most I was pretty disappointed in the signing (Arsenal fan) and couldn't really understand it at first. A team that plays a style completely different from his, Drogba leaving, most of the pillars being old players, Torres uncertainty, no coach and a guy playing at the position he wanted to play (Mata). I was hoping he'd sign for United to play under Ferguson (who is amazing with young talent). However, after cooling off and studying the case, I realized this was the best choice for him; Obviously money wasn't the problem (since Hazard had found financial agreements with every team). He's a very smart guy and is driven to become one of the best players on the planet, so he thought this very carefully because he doesn't want to **** it up. Chelsea was the best destination available. First, he'll be able to play the #10 position, since Mata can slide to the wing. At United, that's Rooney's spot, and moving him back to the front is not a possibility considering Welbeck and Chicharrito also play there, and Rooney has said multiple times he prefers to play behind a striker. City is packed with offensive weapons, guys like Nasri, Touré, Silva, Aguero are all proven commodities (though I have no doubt Hazard will pass them in time) at the moment, so they would have took playing time from him and slowed his development. Secondly, Abramovich has stated that he wants the team to become more offensive-minded, and the signings of Hulk (and hopefully someone like Pep Guardiola) can turn this team around. Hazard can be part of this rejuvenation . The pressure is also not as big as City or United, who both we're #1's this season, while Chelsea wasn't even in the top 4. In conclusion, I think Hazard is going to have an amazing career. I'm calling it right now, I think he'll win the Ballon d'Or one day. However, it won't come over night, and it will take time. I think he won't shine statistically in his first season, and non-chelsea observers might even call him a bust. But he is going to have an epic impact on that team. He is going to create so many opportunities for his teammates (lets hope Torres can score with open nets) and is going to be Chelsea's maestro. He is going to be so advantaged to play with great players, because though Lille was a great team, Hazard was often "too quick" for his teammates ( could also see that a couple of times with the NT). What I mean is that he was trying to do things that lesser experienced players couldn't understand or weren't fast enough to combinate with him. After getting used to the PL though he is going to explode. His combination of speed/vision/creativity/technique/(and now finishing) are going to make him one of the best players on the planet. He is very similar to Messi, and isn't afraid to say that he regularly watches film of him, Ronaldo and other players to study their game. Furtermore, though the media has turned him into an arrogant spoiled kid, he is pretty far from the description. He's a down-to-earth kid, pretty shy and just likes to play the game. What I like most about him is that when he gets fouled he rarely whines (and he's the player who got the most fouled last season in Europe). I'll admit I'm a Hazard fan, being part-Belgian, having played against him, knowing some of his relatives, etc. However, most of Belgians feel the same way as me. Not only the people, famous scouts have praised his drive, established players have said he will succeed no doubt, even Zidane said he would "sign him in a heartbeat" when he was only 17. He is a smart kid and he's surrounded by people who know what they're doing, so I trust he is in the best situation to become an amazing player and delight the PL. On a side-note, he has 3 younger brothers; Thorgan - who's the most fighter of the 4 and plays in L2 (probably won't amount to much) and Kylian, who's said to be the most gifted of the family (even more giften than Eden at his age), however he lacks the ambition to become the best like his older brother, and some say he isn't even sure he wants to become a pro-football player. He is playing in the youth system at Lille right now. The fourth brother hasn't started playing yet.
I was thinking about Hazard for Bayern, but realistically, where would he play? We will have ................Dzeko (I hope)...... ...................Mueller............. .Ribery.....................Robben. .....Schweinsteiger.....Kroos.... Alaba...Badstuber..Dante..Lahm .................Neuer.................. Bench: Starke (GK), Gomez, Pizarro, Shaquiri, Boateng, Van Buyten, Rafinha, Gustavo, Contento, Tymoshchuk, Can As we have seen this year, this team can go to war with anyone. Neuer, Lahm, Robben, Ribery, Schweinsteiger are all arguably the best or second best in the world at their respective positions. Mueller was the best young player at the world cup 2010 and the top scorer. Kroos is still underrated, one of the best young midfielders in the world. Dzeko (if we get him...) is one of the top 3 forwards in the world, in my opinion. Much better than Gomez at being involved in the game. Alaba is a fantastic talent. Badstuber is rock solid. Only small question mark is the second central defender (Dante or Boateng). I'd love to have Goetze, Lewandowski, Kagawa, Hazard...but where would they even play? One player we should still get rid of is Tymoshchuk. I hope we find a taker for him after the Euro. Also, Petersen needs to go. Sometimes, one of Mueller or Kroos will need to go to the bench for a more defensive-minded central midfielder (perhaps Gustavo or someone else we will buy).
Chelsea just signed Oscar for £25 mil... looks like the Hulk deal fell apart and Porto is a pain to deal with as usual. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1127207/chelsea-seal-oscar-deal?cc=5901 Haven't seen him play and can't load youtube - anyone have a scouting report?
