Posts Tagged ‘Eden Hazard’

Manchester United, David De Gea, Real Madrid & Barcelona

Posted: January 15, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Thanks to the recent transfer embargo handed out to the two Madrid teams, it seems that David De Gea may be staying at Manchester United for a while longer.

It may be that, having signed a new deal at Old Trafford, he decided that he didn’t want to leave anyway. At the time there was no encouragement from the Real Madrid fans, (mainly because he used to play for Atletico), nor was there much forthcoming from the management. It appeared that the chief procrastinator in all this drama was, as usual, Florentino Perez. It was he who wanted De Gea.

The story goes that when he realised how against the move the fans were and how much they liked Keylor Navas, he conveniently messed up the paperwork which saved him from an embarrassing u-turn on the matter. Whatever the truth is, De Gea remains in Manchester with two of his three amigos.

Given Florentino Perez’ penchant for wanting everything HIS WAY because, as far as he is concerned, HIS WAY is what is best for Real Madrid irrespective of what anybody else may think, it is no surprise that they have fallen foul of some rule about wresting kids from the arms of their parents at a very young age. (more…)

Will Eden Hazard Still Be At Chelsea Next Season?

Posted: January 8, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The answer to the above question is looking more and more likely to be “no”.

Having, apparently, fallen out with Jose Mourinho, this feeling now appears to have spread to the rest of the club. What has happened to a player who, only last season, was being placed behind only Messi and Ronlado in the world’s best players list?

We know that under Mourinho he was sometimes played out of his favourite position. We also know that he was expected to carry out defensive duties by tracking back and not letting the opposition wing backs have a free run. What we also know is that he didn’t like that side of the game.

Ideally, Hazard would play for a team whereby he was told to stick himself around the halfway line and wait until the hard working defenders managed to get the ball to him. Then he would be able to do what he does best, whether that be run at the defence through the middle, or on either wing.

It is unlikely that he will get his wish under Hiddink, who is also a bit of a taskmaster and expects his players to work hard for the ball. Whether or not Hazard sticks around to see if there will be a change of manager in the Summer is anybody’s guess but, at the moment, he is not of that mind. (more…)

Will Guus Hiddink Steady The Ship At Chelsea?

Posted: January 3, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Managers, Opinion, Premier League
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The first impression is that he will. Already Jon Obi Mikel has spoken of a more united dressing room since Mourinho went. There are rumours that Eden Hazard is also happier although he actually improved considerably when Jose first returned. Still, that relationship also seemed to have turned sour.

Michael Emenalo, Chelsea’s technical director cited “palpable discord” between the players and Mourinho as the main reason for his sacking but then rather contradicted this by saying that the players had followed instructions, given by Mourinho,to the letter.

This was clearly an attempt to absolve any of the players of any blame in the same way as a military officer will be blamed for the failings of his troops and morale will be increased, (hopefully).

The problem with this is that outside observers point out that the players followed his instructions to the letter last season and won the title. So, either Jose got it completely wrong by changing his instructions to the team this season, or it is a little more smoke blown over the situation. One has to assume that, had the players been following his instructions to the letter, then Chelsea would not be in the mess they are in at present. (more…)

Jose Mourinho & Chelsea: The Odd Couple

Posted: December 17, 2015 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Opinion, Premier League
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(Jose waves goodbye to Chelsea again, probably for the last time, but who really knows?)

For a while it was a match made in heaven. Jose and Chelsea had a passionate marriage which lasted three years and only ended in divorce when the bubble appeared to have burst and the passion went out of it.

After a short separation, Mourinho and Chelsea realised that they could no longer live without each other and decided to give it another go. The passion returned for a short while and everything was fine for a short while. The problem is that “short while” has come to define the marriages between Mourinho and Chelsea.

Now he has gone, probably for good, because of the vow “for better or worse” in the wedding ceremony. To Jose’s way of thinking this meant that the “better” bit was for him and the “worse” bit was for Chelsea and everybody else. In other words he was quite happy to take all the praise when winning, but turned into a spoiled brat when losing.

The final straw, in my humble opinion, was when he turned on his own players after the Leicester City game, which Chelsea lost 2-1. (more…)

When Football And Medicine Don’t Mix

Posted: August 12, 2015 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Opinion
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When a footballer is genuinely injured he is usually substituted and the game continues with eleven against eleven. When a footballer feigns injury he is usually booked and the game continues with eleven against eleven, (assuming the referee or linesman spots the deception). In between these two extremes is the “ouch, that hurt!” type of injury.

This is a minor injury which is not serious enough to warrant a substitution. It may not even require any attention from the physio but this one is the difficult one to call. If the player is more seriously injured than at first thought, the physio will be in trouble for not immediately attending. If the physio attends and the injury is not serious then the club may suffer as the player will need to leave the pitch until allowed back on by the referee.

All the annoyance and confusion caused by Eden Hazard going down injured against Swansea City towards the end of the game at Stamford Bridge can be summed up in five words. The law is an ass. (more…)

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