I dunno why Jose hasn't tried it yet, but I think he should play Hazard as our #10. I think his creative talent is being somewhat limited in the left flank. If he plays more centrally he'll dictate the tempo more and we'll be able to unlock defenses more easily and he'll thrive there imo.

 

I think Jose likes to give Hazard a lot more free license to stay forward than the rest of the team with the exception of Costa. 

 

So he tells Dave to stay in defense rather than bomb forward from left back and we essentially become a back 3 during attacks (Cahill, Terry, Dave) with Ivanovic pushing forward to provide width and overlap on the right. 

 

Playing in the centre, Hazard would need to do a lot more tracking back and defensive work. 

 

What Oscar does very well is drop deep to receive the ball which allows Fabregas to press on and influence play further up the pitch.... If Hazard drops that deep he isn't going to be having much effect because it's too far back to be running at defenses and you're no longer playing to his strengths... If you ask Fabregas to stay deep you limit what he's best at too. 

Its worth a shot at least. Hazard does his fair share of defensive work even if Dave stays back most of the time.

 

Going forward it would help both Hazard and Fabregas to have someone on the same wavelength close to them. If Hazard and Fabregas are our two best players going forward, then it makes sense to have them play close to each other so they can work off each other. Ideally, that would mean Fabregas at no.10 but we only have one Fabregas at the moment.

 

And having Cuadrado providing width on the right would mean Ivanovic doesn't have to get as far forward leaving Fabregas with less covering duty.

 

We would sacrifice some stability through the middle sure, but its at least worth trying in 'easy' home games.

Hasn't Eden mainly played wide before we got him?  I know he likes the #10 top, but I admit I didn't know a great deal about him until we were rumoured to be interested

10 games left and would love him to get a few more goals, would really put him in the running for player of the year, even though I already think he is the best player in the league. Even though we were playing dreadfully watching him glide along the pitch with three southampton players trying to cling onto him was a pleasure

Hasn't Eden mainly played wide before we got him?  I know he likes the #10 top, but I admit I didn't know a great deal about him until we were rumoured to be interested

 

yes but his wish is to play as a nr 10. he wants to mould himself after zidane

yes but his wish is to play as a nr 10. he wants to mould himself after zidane

Where has he said this?

Hazard re: Zidane/number 10 role/shirt:

 

"I wanted it [the #10 shirt] because my idol was a No 10 – Zidane – when he was in the French league.

Am I better than him? No. Maybe one day. When I was young, I played the No.10 role. But now I am a left winger or a right winger. I think now football is finished with the No.10 role. You have to play with two wingers and one striker. And I have to do more."

Hazard loses the ball too much and has too poor decision making to make it at #10. At least on the wings there is usually more space for him. 

I would say you have a valid point, but its not like we have a David Silva at no.10 who doesn't lose the ball cheaply and has excellent decision making. At least in the middle, his close control and dribbling would be utilised in more dangerous areas. Like this:

 

 

Watching that, you wonder why he doesn't step on the turbo more often.

Would love to see him just charge at defenders like that instead of the stop and start, change of pace technique he usually uses. It would mean losing the ball more I guess, but when he pulls it off, it's like he leaves a trail of fire behind him.

(Or a trail of desperately clinging defenders)

Truly awesome sight.

Edited March 21, 201511 yr by GhostOfDembaPast

As rightly pointed out earlier, Dave staying back means Hazard has less defensive responsibility. But on the other hand, the lack of an overlapping fullback means there is no one to take a defender away so that the opposition can double team him more often than not. 

 

On the rare occasion that he gets a 1v1 situation, Hazard usually has the acceleration to leave any fullback struggling, but over long distances he doesn't really have the pace meaning that they can catch up to him, but still, he usually manages to use his body well enough that they have to resort to fouling him.

 

But if he's playing through the middle against slower defensive mids and centrebacks, once he's gone there is no catching him. And a foul would result in either a penalty or a free kick in a very dangerous position.

Hazard loses the ball too much and has too poor decision making to make it at #10. At least on the wings there is usually more space for him. 

Not sure if serious?

Do you think he'll get over 20 goals this season? 10 more games to go he need 5 more.

He hasn't scored 20 goals for us untill now and we've been expecting him to score 30 every season lolz and he says he wants to score 50-60 like CR7 and Leo. I doubt that is ever going to happen unless he improves his shooting ability and killer instinct.

 

Let's see!

Do you think he'll get over 20 goals this season? 10 more games to go he need 5 more.

He hasn't scored 20 goals for us untill now and we've been expecting him to score 30 every season lolz and he says he wants to score 50-60 like CR7 and Leo. I doubt that is ever going to happen unless he improves his shooting ability and killer instinct.

 

Let's see!

 

He will never score 50 goals a season playing in the Premier League. I personally don't think Messi or Ronaldo would score as many as they do now playing in the Premier League. I don't think the prem is the best league right now but i think its the toughest on your body. It's hard to stay at your best all the way through to the end.

 

Ronaldo may get to 20 this season though, i hope he does. We haven't been that great in attack of late though so that will need to improve for him to do it.

I'm saying 50-60 overall including all comps not just Premier League. I do agree he can't score that much, 25-30 max I think.

Edited March 21, 201511 yr by CFCBlue12

Hazard loses the ball too much and has too poor decision making to make it at #10. At least on the wings there is usually more space for him. 

 

this post gave me cancer

this post gave me cancer

Ridiculous use of that word.

Ridiculous use of that word.

 

i beg to differ

this post gave me cancer

 

launcher reminds me of lane. 

launcher reminds me of lane. 

 

Do you think thats a good thing?

Do you think thats a good thing?

 

All I'll say is, lane made some good posts but he was rude and unapologetic and I don't think anyone cared when he ended up getting banned, so if it is indeed him, I hope he's better behaved this time.

Really do hope we keep Hazard as long as we possibly can. By far the most exciting player I've seen since Zola, every time he picks up the ball you can't help but get excited

 

Also like how humble he is, he's not in it for just personal glory, he's a true team player. Also never hear anything negative regarding his personal life, he's a family man which is always nice to see in young footballers. 

We'll probably sell him and sign a hard-worker like James MIlner

Wish I had mentioned this earlier now. He has an absolute hammer of a left foot, which we don't get to see enough of when he plays on the left.