This explains Eden's injuries a lot more than anything else... https://www.goal.com/en/news/hazard...e-luis-real-madrid/12ni1u8ro3aio1wrjrk5mwwo5z
In other news City are still really rather good at football. But what is that abomination Pep is wearing?!?
The Eden Hazard story. "futbolistas de cristal" (glass footballers). https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56148185 Mourinho became swiftly aware that the way to get the best out of Hazard was to ensure he was relaxed, happy and not under any massive pressure. Similarly, when Antonio Conte was at Chelsea he would privately admit the best way to ensure top performances from Hazard was by not putting too many stresses on him. The doctors in the Belgium national side are convinced the problems he is suffering are more physiological than psychological.
Makes sense. I don't buy for a second the whole "he's a winger they get hurt" - the guy was a 50 game+ a season player for us. This current situation for him is unheard of. Hope he can figure it out.
It is the position and wingers do age badly. It'd be one thing if he was 23, 24, but he's 30, with no history of conditioning himself, no history of eating right, and a series of injuries that he had in his last few years with us. Including a few he was playing through (the hip injury in 15-16). Hazard's current situation isn't unheard either. Lot of great players that have moved to big clubs and have failed due to injury. The list of great players who have moved to big clubs and failed is extensive, too.
I mean there’s aging badly and there’s going from a 55 game season to not being able to play 3 games in a row.
It happens more than you think. Hazard isn’t the first elite player to move to another big club and struggle due to injury. Redondo went from playing several games a year for Madrid to not even playing for two years at Milan. Kaka spent his time at Madrid injured. As for Hazard, it really isn’t that shocking. His own teammates have pointed out that he doesn’t really train. And given his age, all that wear and tear, I’m surprised it didn’t catch up to him earlier.
Yeah, I'll be a revisionist and say, knowing what we know now about his habits, it's not shocking but the drop off is still wild. I still don't look at 29 -> 30 as this magic "now your body breaks" #.
Oh, I'm not saying that part. But given his position and his habits, it really shouldn't be a surprise. And it was silly of Madrid to offer us all that money for a late 20s tricky winger but hey, we'll take it. It catches up with you. And depending on your lifestyle, it can be minor or it can be major. I'm 33, I'll be 34 this year, and though I'm in great shape, I've started to notice little things here and there. It took me ages to recover from a bruised heel (My damn fault for landing on it while climbing on a pavilion) last summer. Before that, I had a gnarly back issue that came out of nowhere (Thank goodness for having a PT gf at the time). It now takes longer for me to recover from more intense workouts (I've slowly transitioned to biking more often than running). I have to be more methodical with working out, so it's impressive when I see Thiago Silva still looking class at 36. On a related note, I worked with a few former Pistons players. The way some of them walk, it's not even walking but more or less limping. You can tell the years they played took a toll on them.
I still look at his history at Chelsea and that carries a lot of weight in my mind. The drop-off is severe, despite what you have pointed out (none of which I necessarily disagree with). The view that this is psychological makes this make more sense to me. Had Hazard stayed with us, imo, he would have continued performing at a world class level. The current climate/conditions don't help either - players are dropping like flies all over, no matter their age (not to deny that that isn't a factor).
It wouldn't surprise me, but given his age and position, I'm leaning towards that. Real Madrid is not the kind of place for him if he wanted a low profile. The article also mentions Covid, which, given what I've seen it do to active friends of mine, should also be a factor.
https://www.skysports.com/football/w-brom-vs-brighton/report/429096 Shocking decisions are the norm now.
So Juve have signed Weston McKennie from Schalke on a permanent deal once his loan officially ends. Kind of incredible - a 22 year old American in Juve's midfield. Kind of like Pulisic being Chelsea's #10...though I don't really know how much longer that will be the case. His form has plummeted and doesn't seem to be in TT's plans. He's not alone, though. Our offense has been pitiful as a whole. Anyway, 18.5m for McKennie. A steal for a player of his caliber.
Was worried that he would ride the bench at Juve and it would be a lost year for him, seemed like a step too far at his age. But Pirlo really seems to like him, and he's playing a lot. Also worth repeating the PIRLO likes him. An inexperienced manager, but that man knows what makes a good midfielder if anyone does. Awesome to see
Yeah, maybe. McKennie's got that bit of fire in him. Good in defense, distribution. Like Kovacic, but McKennie knows what a shot on goal is, too.
I’m still mad we didn’t take a crack at him. He’d have been perfect in our system under Lamps and he’d look great in this current system too. He brings a size and physicality that we’re missing in the midfield. He’s a monster in the air too.
Burnley and Sheff Utd doing work today taking points off of Leicester and Villa. Hope palace can do likewise with Man Utd.
Now if we can capitalize against Pool we’re right back into the mix. A loss wouldn’t undo everything but would be a set back. Draw would be statusquo.