What Happened to Eden Hazard?

Eden Hazard was amongst the best players in the Premier League, and by association, the world, at Chelsea. A record transfer took him to Real Madrid. But he could never come close to the form showed at Stamford Bridge.

Why was that? What happened to Eden Hazard at Real Madrid?

Recollected by Seb Stafford-Bloor, illustrated by Craig Silcock.

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#Chelsea #RealMadrid #Hazard

[dorime-pb]

Comparing Hazard's time at Real with Bale is an insult to Bale.

[hqs]

A player with the 3rd most MOTM's in the world after Messi and Ronaldo is no joke. An absolute force to be reckoned with.

[lennertvr]

I’m from Belgium and each time our national team plays fans, analists and journalists are trying to compare young talents to Eden Hazard. But they always forget to mention how crazy talented Eden was. He debuted at 17 years old and was by far the best player at our 2018 World Cup journey. There will never be another Eden Hazard, a joy to watch for Belgium

[izixrud]

a lot of these comments still don't get it; Hazard pretty much suffered a career-ending (recurring) injury in that 2019 PSG game. Even though he played after that, he's pretty much been handicapped by that injury. If you've ever suffered an injury and play sports, you sub-consciously try to avoid further injury in the same area. And this results in being unable to play at the desired level or style that you normally could.

[imblackandwhat]

What people don’t mention is Hazard is fine and content with this. He was the best player in the premier league for years, was Belgiums captain and carried them in 2018. Any other footballer would’ve talked to press and given lukaku type interviews. He posts online like once a year, i doubt he will mention this until years down the line.
He only cares for his wife and kids that he spends time with. I can only respect this.

[stuartclifton]

Sad to see his decline, as an Arsenal fan I hated seeing him play against us but I couldnt help but appreciate it!!

[nirmalrana]

Just for entertainment, we should not forget what players go through in terms of physical pain. Salute to Hazard and all football players. They are committed to their work.

[jacobsharp]

He was the player that made me fall in love with football, will always appreciate him

[mozanr]

The ability that made Hazard special was also his doom. His playstyle required exceptional physical and technical readiness and focus. Partially the closest player to Lionel Messi.

[blackhatmaster]

As a Belgian I followed the whole story and it seems that plate in his ankle that was mentioned caused repetitive injuries and had to be removed.
Before that, every time he started playing again, trying to get back at his level, he was plagued with injuries
Unfortunately for Hazard, after he removed the plate and had a chance to recover his level, Vinicius exploded and there was no room for him anymore.
I still have to say that in the last World Cup despite the weak performance of Belgium, he was one of those who performed the best.
With his injuries healed, I'm sure he still have football in him.

[frammo]

His unprofessionalism and laziness came back to bite him. Pure talent can only carry you so far.

[littleninjr]

I'm so glad I had my season ticket while we had Hazard. He was exquisite. When him, Mata and Oscar were all on form, it was a joy. He won so many games for us individually.

[xmattx]

His trajectory reminds me a lot of Kaka. Capable of amazing things in his prime, then shipped off to Madrid when he was most likely past due

[ahnafdrubo]

Careers don't need to be long just memorable

[faajose]

Premier League's finest, Eden Hazard is a proper legend regardless he was a nightmare to defend against, goal scoring and assist is the metric of the game but if you watched how Chelsea plays Hazard singlehandedly influenced games without scoring or assisting, and that's how great he was.

[coleyboy]

Never cared for Chelsea but absolutely loved him. His talent was undeniable, that 2014-15 campaign and his 2018 World Cup were something else.

[Heispatrik]

Just 4 years ago I didn’t imagine I’d be watching a “what happened to Hazard video” today

[bigowl]

He was a world class player at Chelsea arguably top 5 in the world at his peak. Very elegant yet explosive on the pitch. Sad to see it end early.

[yashshah]

That match against PSG, that tackle by meunier ruined it all…. Was extremely happy when he moved to Madrid, sadly never saw his best

[Saksham]

The guy was highly unlucky with injuries. He was actually a good teamplayer and a positive guy. He had to bear a lot of trolling and shaming, which fans of Real barely shy away from. He was my favourite player & I myself expected him to shine & deliver great years at RM, but injuries were huge & many.
Remember Kaka, the unstoppable force of nature. Was he unprofessional, not even by a stretch, but injuries destroyed his capacity as a footballer too. Feel bad for him & Madrid supporters.