Eden Hazard Capable Of Winning The Ballon d’Or
It has been said time and time again by awed spectators but many believe that Chelsea FC superstar Eden Hazard is capable of winning the FIFA Ballon d’Or. The Ballon d’Or is one of the more prestigious awards in world football though in recent years critics have derided it as more of a popularity contest than anything else. Chelsea FC defender Cesar Azpilicueta is not concerned with the politics of the award and believes that Hazard is capable of winning it.
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Azpilicueta, as quoted by beIN Sports, believes Hazard has the ability to break up the Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi dichotomy. “We are talking about two monsters of football today. Eden is a great player, younger than them, and therefore has more capacity for improvement,” said the Spanish international.
He continued and said, “I think in the future he could win the Ballon d’Or, he has the quality to it, but I see more focus on titles than achieving individual trophies. But yes, he has great quality and I think in the future we will see with the trophy in his hands.”
The only player to threaten the Messi-Ronaldo dichotomy in recent seasons was Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery. Ribery lead Bayern to the Bundesliga and Champions League title but it still was not enough to even finish as the runner-up. This lead to some accusations that the Ballon d’Or voting is fixed but it is hard to argue against the brilliance of the La Liga duo. They seem to break a new record every month and are showing no signs of slowing down.
Eden Hazard is an excellent player who is able to control matches for Chelsea FC but not quite at the level of Messi or Ronaldo. He is able to do all the little things to win matches such as leading counter attacks, holding up play when needed, and tracking back in defense. What he is lacking is that true killer instinct in front of goal. One of his flaws, of which there are few, is his unselfish play at times.
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Sometimes Hazard is too willing to lay the ball off to his teammates instead of simply going for goal himself. We saw that against West Ham with his layoff to Willian when he had only the keeper to beat. If Hazard is ready to take that next step and join the Messis and Ronaldos of the world at the Ballon d’Or ceremony he must be more aggressive and a bit more selfish.
If he is even nominated in the top three, Hazard will become the first Chelsea FC player since Frank Lampard in 2005 to receive that honor. He certainly has the talent but just needs to work on the mentality necessary.
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