He gets a lot of appreciation yes but i don't think he truly gets enough, he has carried us as an attacking force since he has arrived (especially under Jose) and apart from 15/16 (when he was playing through a hip injury) has elevated us well above the actual quality of our squad's every single season.

10/11 was a horrendous crash of a season when all our great player's declined to the point of being average almost overnight, since then we have been recovering and if it weren't for Eden, this would have been a highly painful transition, he has been THAT good.

His first season he came into a squad who quality wise were Europa qualification level yet got us in the top 3, i know Mata got POTY but he tailed off after Christmas, Eden returned from his ballboy ban like a man possessed and got us over the line.

The two full Jose season's he elevated two squad's that quality wise were probably top 4 fighters to title challengers then title winners. In my opinion Jose's second coming would have crashed and burnt a lot earlier had Hazard not been around, most of the time we were clueless in attack unless Eden was on song and making thing's happen.

Conte worked miracles last season but there was only so much even he could have done without Hazard, in many tight games he made thing's happen for us and while Costa got the goals and Kante the plaudit's, his attacking drive allowed us to create so many chances.

In short having this magical player around has allowed us to constantly compete for the title during a period of transition, now i feel we are quite close to finally having a team that could actually compete without him technically (good back up forward, wingback and another AM) but i really really hope he stays and reaps the benefits, as Hazard in a fully functioning team unit is terrifying.

Edited September 17, 20178 yr by Argo

Are you his agent?

1 hour ago, Argo said:

He gets a lot of appreciation yes but i don't think he truly gets enough, he has carried us as an attacking force since he has arrived (especially under Jose) and apart from 15/16 (when he was playing through a hip injury) has elevated us well above the actual quality of our squad's every single season.

10/11 was a horrendous crash of a season when all our great player's declined to the point of being average almost overnight, since then we have been recovering and if it weren't for Eden, this would have been a highly painful transition, he has been THAT good.

His first season he came into a squad who quality wise were Europa qualification level yet got us in the top 3, i know Mata got POTY but he tailed off after Christmas, Eden returned from his ballboy ban like a man possessed and got us over the line.

The two full Jose season's he elevated two squad's that quality wise were probably top 4 fighters to title challengers then title winners. In my opinion Jose's second coming would have crashed and burnt a lot earlier had Hazard not been around, most of the time we were clueless in attack unless Eden was on song and making thing's happen.

Conte worked miracles last season but there was only so much even he could have done without Hazard, in many tight games he made thing's happen for us and while Costa got the goals and Kante the plaudit's, his attacking drive allowed us to create so many chances.

In short having this magical player around has allowed us to constantly compete for the title during a period of transition, now i feel we are quite close to finally having a team that could actually compete without him technically (good back up forward, wingback and another AM) but i really really hope he stays and reaps the benefits, as Hazard in a fully functioning team unit is terrifying.

You've given me a great idea for a thread, thank you Argo.

Brilliant post, btw.

This is the way i see it.

Drogba, Lampard, Robben, Duff, Cole etc, they all got to play together and they were all big match winners. Hazard doesn't have the luxury of playing with as many talented players as we had back then. Back then, we never had to rely on one or two players for that big moment, the pitch was full of players like that. Hazard, with Pedro pitching in now and again, is basically doing the same thing as the players i mentioned above, the difference is that he isn't playing with the same quality around him. You take peak Drogba, Lampard, Robben, Duff and Cole out of that team and put it into today's team,without Hazard, and they wouldn't be as effective for us now as they were back then because they don't have the support around them.

Hazard's goalscoring stats for us:

2012-13 - 13 goals - 2013-14 - 17 goals - 2014-15 - 19 goals - 2015-16 - 6 goals - 2016-17 - 17 goals.

This is a better return from any winger we have had at the club during our most successful period. Put that in our team back when Drogba and Lampard were at their peak and we dominate the league and maybe win a couple more Champions League trophies.

Back in those days, i never used to worry so much if one of those players got injured, half of Robben's time with us he was injured, but with Hazard it is different. With Hazard, i don't personally think we can win anything big if he is out for a long period of time. You take one of any of the top players we had out of the team during 2004-2010, and i still think we would have done ok, you take Hazard out of today's team and it's clear to see that we lack that spark.

I'm excited to see how Conte changes up our form and tactics to include Hazard. 

The 3-4-2-1/3-4-3 we played last season may make way for 3-5-2/3-4-1-2. I think Eden would make a great #10 in that. Frank and Dave filling up the wide space on the right with the left forward or Hazard drifting out wide with Alonso. 

Inverting that triangle in midfield may be a possibility since Conte used that at Juve. Cesc could fill the Pirlo role and Eden gets forward a la Pogba.