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The overreactions about Eden Hazard have come after Real Madrid’s defeat to Athletic Club in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup.
As one of the leading Eden Hazard apologists you’ll see writing about Real Madrid, I need to get this out of the way and be as honest with you as possible. Hazard, up to this point in his career with the team, has not come close to his return on investment. It’s no exaggeration to say that Hazard has been a disappointment, even with the caveat that injuries have played a role in his lack of success.
But that caveat is so crucial to the context of our discussion. If Hazard was putting on 3/10 shows week after week or had never shown a shred of talent, you could definitely give it a try with the man.
However, that is not the case with Hazard. It’s too easy for the children of corn, excuse me, Twitter dot com conveniently remove all the positive that the Belgian has done. I’m not just talking about the Chelsea stuff. No, I mean his great performances in the fall and early summer of the 2019-2020 season, as well as his performances this season against Huesca, Inter Milan and Borussia Monchengladbach (as an impact substitute).
However, therein lies the problem. I can name practically every one of Hazard’s great individual games with Real Madrid. If he was playing at his level, there would be too many matches to mention.
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Now we come to his performance against Athletic Club. It was horrible. I’m not going to beat around the bush. He played poorly and essentially did nothing to elevate his team. It is in these matches against a defense like Bilbao’s that a 100 million euro superstar is expected to play as such. Hazard didn’t even complete a single dribble, according to WhoScored.com, which is his best goal-creating asset.
Despite my assessment of Hazard’s performance, I feel that some Madridistas have gone too far with their criticisms of Hazard. I even saw a tweet gaining traction saying they would prefer the current version of Gareth Bale to Hazard. Bullet. About Hazard. In 2021. Come on.
There are still others who disparage Hazard as a failure, dragging his name through the mud without a semblance of conscience or respect. It’s infuriating to see a player of Hazard’s caliber discussed like he was nobody, and these exaggerations made in bad faith only serve to polarize opinion and make the fan base seem ungrateful.
Eden Hazard needs time, good health and confidence in her body
Hazard played badly against Athletic Club. He has been unable to show his best for Real Madrid for an extended period of time, which worries fans that he is not living up to the price. Those are valid statements and concerns to share. But anointing Hazard a failure already? Acting like he’s never been great or he’s suddenly a worse player than Bale or the untested and inconsistent options that the bands occupy at Madrid? That is a step too far and it is a step that I am not willing to take with any Real Madrid player who really believes that these statements are true.
Hazard is just two starts and four appearances away from another injury. Real Madrid are taking it easy and, depending on the way they play, they are also taking it easy. Do you prefer Hazard to play at a high level for the remainder of the second half of the season, or do you prefer him to crash to the ground and injure himself again in his first matches? We have to remember Hazard’s injury history and keep in mind that there may be a deliberate approach on the part of Real to make him play “safer” until he really builds strength and confidence in his lower body.
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Until then, let’s relax Hazard. We cannot be dishonest and pretend that he was world class, nor can we hide our dissatisfaction with his performance against Athletic Club. But he was far from the only poor player in the Spanish Super Cup. More specifically, he has been Real’s best player on the pitch before, and if he’s healthy, we shouldn’t suddenly change his tone and say that he can’t get back to that point in good health.
