Eden Hazard

[Flavia]

Hu?
Your French isn't up to much. That's not at all what that says.
"Si j'ai envie un jour de devenir comme eux, ça passe par gagner des titres"
How can you translate that as "He just need titles to be like Messi..." ?!

Nowhere it states that he thinks that it's just that what separates him from Messi. And nowhere it states that he says "I'm as good as Messi and Ronaldo were at my age".
You don't happen to be a journalist looking for a sensationalistic headline do you?

That's my interpretation. He does use an "apart", or "otherwise" there. He says that apart from the titles there's nothing to envy(from messi at 23), and that if he gets those titles one day, he'll be like messi and cr. I don't see another interpretation.

You can make it worse, as dailymail did(but I still don't think they're far off of what he meant), but you have to be naive, or really trying to tone down what he said, to not see it.

 

[antonnn]

He's not envying them for their footballing ability, which is more what I was getting at, and that's the good thing, he knows what he can achieve but he's not an arrogant twat about it.

 

[Flavia]

It's definitely a better way to look at it. But I don't know. The way he said it still strikes me wrongly.

 

[antonnn]

Fair enough, but as a Chelsea fan it's a good thing he's said something like that, since you're not going to achieve anything with no confidence after all. Hopefully he'll keep his feet on the ground.

In before Hazard isn't a top class player anymore cause Chelsea couldn't beat West Brom.

 

[footyfan]

E.H : I'm a lot younger than them. Thay have a palmares that I don't. But I have nothing to envy them at my age. If i want to get to their level, I have to win trophies. It's up to me.

This is the correct translation, or atleast the one that gets his meaning best.

"If one day I want to become like them, I need to win trophies"

This is true. If they had no trophies ever, Messi and Ronaldo would be considered at Hazard's level.

 

[coura]

This is true. If they had no trophies ever, Messi and Ronaldo would be considered at Hazard's level.

LOL.

 

[footyfan]

No LOLing if you actually think about it. Messi or Ronaldo at age 23 with no trophies in their career would be put in the same bracket as Hazard is today; in this hypothetical scenario, the best players in the world will be those who won the trophies and are the star players on their team.

Don't underestimate the power of media hype. Just last year, we were being sold news that Ribery is the same level as Messi and Ronaldo, how come no one ever talked about it in other years? Because he was almost the same player then too.

 

[Luftstalag14]

No LOLing if you actually think about it. Messi or Ronaldo at age 23 with no trophies in their career would be put in the same bracket as Hazard is today; in this hypothetical scenario, the best players in the world will be those who won the trophies and are the star players on their team.

Don't underestimate the power of media hype. Just last year, we were being sold news that Ribery is the same level as Messi and Ronaldo, how come no one ever talked about it in other years? Because he was almost the same player then too.

No way, Ribery really turned his game up a notch last year, it was truly his best performance in his career so far. Several years ago he was not this consistent.

Messi and Ronaldo would be comparable to Hazard if they had not won those trophies? Can someone tell me what justifies this friggin Hazard kid to be mentioned alongside Messi and Ronaldo in the first place? What has he done? What's so special or spectacular about him?

I for one have never been impressed by him. Almost every time I watched him play, I found me asking myself, "What's the deal with this guy?"

 

[antonnn]

Hm, the deal might be that he's an excellent player and a matchwinner, but to each his own. That said I don't think he's at the level to be comparable to those two at the same age, Ronaldo went to United at 18, Messi has always been at Barca, Hazard was in France until 21, so of course he's going to be behind. Still, that doesn't change that he's one of the best players in the Prem, and before today's game, was the form player in the whole league. That, and he's a lot better than most players in most leagues.

Anyway, if you don't like or rate him, then you don't like or rate him, that's your opinion. I don't really rate Bale, nor do I like him very much. He's not a shit player but he's overrated.

 

[footyfan]

No way, Ribery really turned his game up a notch last year, it was truly his best performance in his career so far. Several years ago he was not this consistent.

Messi and Ronaldo would be comparable to Hazard if they had not won those trophies? Can someone tell me what justifies this friggin Hazard kid to be mentioned alongside Messi and Ronaldo in the first place? What has he done? What's so special or spectacular about him?

I for one have never been impressed by him. Almost every time I watched him play, I found me asking myself, "What's the deal with this guy?"

Ribery played almost at the same level in 2011/12, but was never considered among the very best.

What did Messi and Ronaldo do before winning all those trophies? They were also prospects, albeit very good ones. If Hazard is to win trophies, and by that obviously also imply that he played a major part in winning trophies, it would elevate him to the bracket of the top 3-4 players in the world, which is what the intent in his quote is anyway when he says "If I want to become like them" - not a direct comparison of skills to Messi and Ronaldo.

Let's take the example of Ronaldo, who I followed very regularly when he was at United. He had his truly groundbreaking year when he was 23 and won the double of league + CL in 08. Before that, in 2005, 2006 and early 2007, he had personally improved a lot, but he was still just another Hazard, one of the best (or the best) young players in the world. Don't forget Hazard actually won the Ligue 1 Player of the Year twice at the age of 20 and 21, and a league winner with Lille, so he's not shabby by any means. This year, he could very well be on course to win the EPL.

Hm, the deal might be that he's an excellent player and a matchwinner, but to each his own. That said I don't think he's at the level to be comparable to those two at the same age, Ronaldo went to United at 18, Messi has always been at Barca, Hazard was in France until 21, so of course he's going to be behind. Still, that doesn't change that he's one of the best players in the Prem, and before today's game, was the form player in the whole league. That, and he's a lot better than most players in most leagues.

Anyway, if you don't like or rate him, then you don't like or rate him, that's your opinion. I don't really rate Bale, nor do I like him very much. He's not a shit player but he's overrated.

I see no difference between Ronaldo at age 22 and Hazard now who just turned 23 last month.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Anyway, if you don't like or rate him, then you don't like or rate him, that's your opinion. I don't really rate Bale, nor do I like him very much. He's not a shit player but he's overrated.

It has nothing to do with whether I like him or not. I actually don't dislike him at all. There are players that I dislike immensely but I have to otherwise admit that they are damn good (Ronaldo, Ribery came to mind), with Hazard I just haven't been impressed. Maybe he will prove me wrong.

 

[Antimadridista1]

He will never be at Leo's level. He can reach the level of Cristiano but he should forget about Messi. No way.

 

[antonnn]

It has nothing to do with whether I like him or not. I actually don't dislike him at all. There are players that I dislike immensely but I have to otherwise admit that they are damn good (Ronaldo, Ribery came to mind), with Hazard I just haven't been impressed. Maybe he will prove me wrong.

Well Hazard has plenty of time to go, he's made massive improvements this season and he's a lot more consistent, but it's there for all to see that he's not there yet. His all round game is just a lot better, and without him we'd be a lot worse off, he's won us many matches this season and performed very well against top sides.

I see no difference between Ronaldo at age 22 and Hazard now who just turned 23 last month.

Well by 23 Ronaldo had a 40 goal season, although he had a more dominant team than Hazard, and also Hazard isn't as much of a goalscorer type as Ronaldo was/is. I feel in certain areas Hazard is better, but goals win you games and 40+ goals lead the team to a EPL+CL double. We'll come back to this at the end of the season, it's only fair. At 22 I guess the comparison is a lot closer since at that age they were both a lot less consistent than a year later.

 

[mouseinthehouse]

it would elevate him to the bracket of the top 3-4 players in the world.

I don't believe (even if he wins trophies) Hazard is a top 3-4 player in the world. To be a top 3-4 player such as cr and messi you need to have the status that if you were placed on another team you would instantly bring them to contending for titles. If you put messi/cr on any other team you would consider that team at least a contender if not more (depending on the players around them). I just don't view Hazard in the same light.

 

[DonAndres]

Hazard as an overall dynamic footballer is maybe in top 10 right now. Those are the standard attackers (Messi, Ronaldo, Ribery, Suarez, etc.). However when you include players in other roles (Silva, Ibrahimovic, Busquets, Iniesta) Hazard hasn't really claimed a definite spot.

The end of the season will show as he'll definitely win young player of the year and tallying up his numbers+reviewing his overall play would show how good he is on the stage of elite players. He's becoming a more prolific scorer, has always been a very creative assister, is one of the best dribblers in the world, and most of all has the hunger to push from great to unbelievable.