Tactics and Transfers: Chelsea need the Eden Hazard on display at Belgium

The World Cup has been full of wonder so far. The big favorites are out, England is in and three of the last four are relative historic underdogs. It has been a fulfilling tournament, but a reminder of one sad thing for Chelsea supporters.

I do wish to clarify something for you readers here. I like Eden Hazard and I understand he is talented. A couple of cement-thick blockheads who couldn’t seem to understand my position on the value of Eden Hazard wrote to me on the topic last week. And so in more blunt and basic terms I want to spell a few things out.

Eden Hazard is – on his day – the third-best player in the world. On the day they are both on their games, I take Hazard over Neymar without much question. It’s not just because I find the Brazilian’s affection for hilarious histrionics petty and pathetic. Hazard can be a true joy. Still to this day his talents have been underappreciated and underemployed by most – maybe all – of the managers he has played for at Belgium and Chelsea.

For instance, Hazard is the second-best dribbler in Europe behind Lionel Messi. He is far more effective and dynamic than Neymar, who is more of a show pony with less effectiveness at this point. Meanwhile, those skills have left Cristiano Ronaldo’s game and Ousmane Dembele has not demonstrated it as well as he had in past years.

The part of Hazard’s game that makes him the most special is his passing, which is too often forgotten. During the early part of his time at Chelsea, Hazard played in the same team as Juan Mata. The underappreciated Spaniard was a marvelous passer. But his role pushed Hazard into a more external position on the wing where the Belgian could not show off his own passing abilities.

Since then Hazard has been utilized to about 85% of his ability on the wing by both Belgium and Chelsea. It’s been torturous. Hazard should be in a more central position in either the false-9 or a bit further back at the tip of a midfield three. He has the ability to control a game either through his dribbling or passing. He could very easily make Chelsea’s matches tick over time and time again if he has more time on the ball.

Essentially, the way Manchester City use Kevin de Bruyne in a 4-3-3 is how Chelsea should play Hazard. Yes, there are times as a winger that it will work, but Hazard in a Zidane / Totti central role would be even better.

Though both Chelsea and Belgium fail to maximize Eden Hazard’s unique brilliance, at Belgium Hazard fights through that managerial faux pas. At Chelsea, he shrugs his shoulders and drops his head. For Belgium, Hazard is a brilliant captain who forces himself on the game and drags his team across the finish line. For Chelsea, Hazard is different, more passive. That is the problem.

Despite some obvious coaching errors, he does not make the most of himself consistently. The standards upon him are so high because of who he is and what his talent demands.

Both teams need to do a better job getting the most out of a player who is a historic talent for club and country. But as in all relationships, the blame is two-fold. Hazard needs to be his Belgium best for Chelsea soon, otherwise Chelsea will not be able to keep him. He’s too important to the club to allow his standards to drop. The Blues are not the size of Real Madrid or Manchester United. They cannot pay a player £200,000-300,000 a week for him not to be a leader and a match decider every single week.

It’s really just that simple. If Eden Hazard cannot reach the standards his potential demands, then Chelsea cannot afford to keep him.

He shows glimpses of exactly who he should be. With a player like him playing at his best consistently Chelsea could be a top-six club in Europe. But without, Chelsea are not even top in their own league. It’s both sad and disappointing.

Next: Chelsea are seriously messed up if Roman Abramovich is getting involved

Eden Hazard can and should win a Ballon D’or during his career. But the only person he will have to blame for not doing so will be himself.

NB: “Tactics and Transfers” is Barrett Rouen’s weekly column, appearing every Monday at 7:30am BST. It may or may not include discussion of specific tactics and / or transfers. Most people know this, but just in case you didn’t.