Eden Hazard

First things first, I don't think chelsea would sell him to a rival especially one already in a much stronger position than them. He is as close to irreplaceable as a player they can have. The likes of Costa, Matic, Willian didn't come close to the effect he has on that team. They would quicker sell him to real, psg, bayern than a rival in the premier-league so I don't see this happening. But if there were to even be a small possibility they would sell and he would be willing to come, it would be a no-brainer of a transfer and I believe pep would view it as the same even for 100m or 300k wages.

Pep would turn him into a lesser versio of what he did messi as a 'false 9' at barca. That would mean jesus would have to rotate with raheem and sane for the wing roles and occasional as a striker if hazard needs rest. Hazard in that role with sane and sterling flanking him would take the team to an even higher level than it already is. Imo he's the only player in world football who combines incredible close control with acceleration and burst of speed at a high level anywhere close like messi does. To add to that he's also a creative player with a very good passing range. Basically think of someone with the close control/awareness of silva, the creative passing of de-bruyne and the burst of acceleration of sterling combined together and you have hazard.

My biggest problem with him has always been his off the ball movement as because of his ability on the ball, he always prefers to have the ball played into feet and all his best work is done with him always on the ball compared to sane/sterling where they are more dangerous with their movement when they don't have the ball. That's why I feel he would excel as a 'false 9' in this team/setup where most of the running is done by the young wingers to spread play and open space. He can do the de-bruyne and silva thing where they pick the ball and drive it through the middle on the break and produce an assist for a team-mate with a pass but where he stands out from almost anyone in the team is he also has the ability to go on by himself and beat several players and score in those tight games where space is little and the opposition have 10 men behind the ball. His dribbling and close control creates numerous goal-scoring chances in those games and situations. Aguero and Sane to a lesser extent are the only ones who can do that but even they are not on hazards level technically in tight-spaces. He is a world-class player and would be challenging for ballon dor consistently if he played for a team that were more front-foot in their approach than the counter-attacking sides he's been involved in for chelsea. At 27 he still has a good 4-5 years at the highest level as his game doesn't rely on sprint speed and runs in behind but rather close control, technique and acceleration.
 
And if Pep doesn't want him, he is clearly an idiot.
Fortunately that's not the case, irrespective of whether it's practically feasible or not by the end of it.

Goes against what you think about Hazard doesn't it? Too bad.

As long as the actual decision makers aren't thick enough to chase mahrez over hazard if the latter is available.
 
First things first, I don't think chelsea would sell him to a rival especially one already in a much stronger position than them. He is as close to irreplaceable as a player they can have. The likes of Costa, Matic, Willian didn't come close to the effect he has on that team. They would quicker sell him to real, psg, bayern than a rival in the premier-league so I don't see this happening. But if there were to even be a small possibility they would sell and he would be willing to come, it would be a no-brainer of a transfer and I believe pep would view it as the same even for 100m or 300k wages.

Pep would turn him into a lesser versio of what he did messi as a 'false 9' at barca. That would mean jesus would have to rotate with raheem and sane for the wing roles and occasional as a striker if hazard needs rest. Hazard in that role with sane and sterling flanking him would take the team to an even higher level than it already is. Imo he's the only player in world football who combines incredible close control with acceleration and burst of speed at a high level anywhere close like messi does. To add to that he's also a creative player with a very good passing range. Basically think of someone with the close control/awareness of silva, the creative passing of de-bruyne and the burst of acceleration of sterling combined together and you have hazard.

My biggest problem with him has always been his off the ball movement as because of his ability on the ball, he always prefers to have the ball played into feet and all his best work is done with him always on the ball compared to sane/sterling where they are more dangerous with their movement when they don't have the ball. That's why I feel he would excel as a 'false 9' in this team/setup where most of the running is done by the young wingers to spread play and open space. He can do the de-bruyne and silva thing where they pick the ball and drive it through the middle on the break and produce an assist for a team-mate with a pass but where he stands out from almost anyone in the team is he also has the ability to go on by himself and beat several players and score in those tight games where space is little and the opposition have 10 men behind the ball. His dribbling and close control creates numerous goal-scoring chances in those games and situations. Aguero and Sane to a lesser extent are the only ones who can do that but even they are not on hazards level technically in tight-spaces. He is a world-class player and would be challenging for ballon dor consistently if he played for a team that were more front-foot in their approach than the counter-attacking sides he's been involved in for chelsea. At 27 he still has a good 4-5 years at the highest level as his game doesn't rely on sprint speed and runs in behind but rather close control, technique and acceleration.
Good post.
 
Great to see he won’t be joining us!!

Inflated transfer fee, structure breaking wages, on top of that a serial diver. Criticizes his manager and team mates in public.

Exactly what we don’t need!
 
Fortunately that's not the case, irrespective of whether it's practically feasible or not by the end of it.

Goes against what you think about Hazard doesn't it? Too bad.

As long as the actual decision makers aren't thick enough to chase mahrez over hazard if the latter is available.

So if Pep decides on Mahrez, he's an idiot then.

Unlike you.
 
First things first, I don't think chelsea would sell him to a rival especially one already in a much stronger position than them. He is as close to irreplaceable as a player they can have. The likes of Costa, Matic, Willian didn't come close to the effect he has on that team. They would quicker sell him to real, psg, bayern than a rival in the premier-league so I don't see this happening. But if there were to even be a small possibility they would sell and he would be willing to come, it would be a no-brainer of a transfer and I believe pep would view it as the same even for 100m or 300k wages.

Pep would turn him into a lesser versio of what he did messi as a 'false 9' at barca. That would mean jesus would have to rotate with raheem and sane for the wing roles and occasional as a striker if hazard needs rest. Hazard in that role with sane and sterling flanking him would take the team to an even higher level than it already is. Imo he's the only player in world football who combines incredible close control with acceleration and burst of speed at a high level anywhere close like messi does. To add to that he's also a creative player with a very good passing range. Basically think of someone with the close control/awareness of silva, the creative passing of de-bruyne and the burst of acceleration of sterling combined together and you have hazard.

My biggest problem with him has always been his off the ball movement as because of his ability on the ball, he always prefers to have the ball played into feet and all his best work is done with him always on the ball compared to sane/sterling where they are more dangerous with their movement when they don't have the ball. That's why I feel he would excel as a 'false 9' in this team/setup where most of the running is done by the young wingers to spread play and open space. He can do the de-bruyne and silva thing where they pick the ball and drive it through the middle on the break and produce an assist for a team-mate with a pass but where he stands out from almost anyone in the team is he also has the ability to go on by himself and beat several players and score in those tight games where space is little and the opposition have 10 men behind the ball. His dribbling and close control creates numerous goal-scoring chances in those games and situations. Aguero and Sane to a lesser extent are the only ones who can do that but even they are not on hazards level technically in tight-spaces. He is a world-class player and would be challenging for ballon dor consistently if he played for a team that were more front-foot in their approach than the counter-attacking sides he's been involved in for chelsea. At 27 he still has a good 4-5 years at the highest level as his game doesn't rely on sprint speed and runs in behind but rather close control, technique and acceleration.

Hazard is an excellent player.

Sané imo will totally eclipse him maybe even next season.

Aguero has always been a better central striker, Hazard is crap at it & hates playing there.

So we change everything to experiment with Hazard as a 'false 9' after scoring 106 goals, without one.

Not the smartest decision imo & absolutely won't happen.
 
So if Pep decides on Mahrez, he's an idiot then.

Unlike you.
He would never decide on mahrez unless hazard is not happening, which seems to be the case now. You're desperately trying to save your own face because you know you'd rather laughably pick mahrez over hazard even if the latter was available. Like I said, as long as the actual decision makers aren't thick enough, it's all very well.
 
Hazard is an excellent player.

Sané imo will totally eclipse him maybe even next season.

Aguero has always been a better central striker, Hazard is crap at it & hates playing there.

So we change everything to experiment with Hazard as a 'false 9' after scoring 106 goals, without one.

Not the smartest decision imo & absolutely won't happen.
There's a HUGE difference between a pure winger that is comfortable only playing 'outside' (Sane), and a player that feels himself in tight spaces like a fish in the water. Sane can't 'eclipse' Hazard as he'll never possess EH's certain qualities. Either you have that specific vision and skills to play through the middle or not, you can't train Bale, Sane or Ronaldo to play centrally like Messi or Hazard.

Right now City lack the ability to penetrate through the middle, to hold the ball in congested spaces under pressure better. Rewatch Liverpool games if you think otherwise.
 
He would never decide on mahrez unless hazard is not happening, which seems to be the case now. You're desperately trying to save your own face because you know you'd rather laughably pick mahrez over hazard even if the latter was available. Like I said, as long as the actual decision makers aren't thick enough, it's all very well.

'Save my own face' lol.

i wouldn't give a flying fuck either way. I've been wrong about 100s of things & right about plenty. And if we sign Hazard, I'd just see the positives in it.

But basically, if we sign Hazard I somehow 'lose face' but if we don't sign Hazard (which we won't) I 'lose face' ?

So if we don't sign him you are ok telling people they are idiots.

You're more up your own arse than Mourinho.
 
There's a HUGE difference between a pure winger that is comfortable only playing 'outside' (Sane), and a player that feels himself in tight spaces like a fish in the water. Sane can't 'eclipse' Hazard as he'll never possess EH's certain qualities. Either you have that specific vision and skills to play through the middle or not, you can't train Bale, Sane or Ronaldo to play centrally like Messi or Hazard.

Right now City lack the ability to penetrate through the middle, to hold the ball in congested spaces under pressure better. Rewatch Liverpool games if you think otherwise.

I don't think we lack any ability apart from converting crosses personally. We scored 9 goals against Liverpool & had two more perfectly good ones disallowed.

I think Sane will soon be a better player than Hazard albeit different. In the same way KDB & Ronaldo are better than Hazard.
 
There's a HUGE difference between a pure winger that is comfortable only playing 'outside' (Sane), and a player that feels himself in tight spaces like a fish in the water. Sane can't 'eclipse' Hazard as he'll never possess EH's certain qualities. Either you have that specific vision and skills to play through the middle or not, you can't train Bale, Sane or Ronaldo to play centrally like Messi or Hazard.

.

Tierry Henry says hi!
 
Hazard is undeniably one of the best players in the world, and has been playing for one of the best teams in the world.

Mahrez, hasn't. But it's easy to imagine his stats being pretty similar, if he does. On a decent season, he has matched Hazard & matched him last season, in spite of all the 'downing tools' shit.

Hazard PL:
12/13: P34 Gls 9 Assts 14
13/14: p35 Gls 14 Assts 9
14/15: p38 Gls 14 Assts 10
15/16: p31 Gls 4 Assts 4
16/17: p36 Gls 16 Assts 5
17/18: p34 Gls 12 Assts 4

Mahrez PL
14/15 p39 Gls 4 Assts 3
15/16 p37 Gls 17 Assts 10
16/17 p36 Gls 6 Assts 4
17/18 p36 Gls 12 Assts 10

But we should not underrate our own players, who are much younger than both & imo will be as good or better than both.

Sane PL
17/18 p32 Gls 10 Assts 15

Sterling PL:
16/17 p33 Gls 7 Assts 11
17/18 p33 Gls 18 Assts 11

Gabriel Jesus PL:
17/18 p29 Gls 13 Assts 3
 
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Hazard is undeniably one of the best players in the world, and has been playing for one of the best teams in the world.

Mahrez, hasn't. But it's easy to imagine his stats being pretty similar, if he does. On a decent season, he has matched Hazard & matched him last season, in spite of all the 'downing tools' shit.

Hazard PL:
12/13: P34 Gls 9 Assts 14
13/14: p35 Gls 14 Assts 9
14/15: p38 Gls 14 Assts 10
15/16: p31 Gls 4 Assts 4
16/17: p36 Gls 16 Assts 5
17/18: p34 Gls 12 Assts 4

Mahrez PL
14/15 p39 Gls 4 Assts 3
15/16 p37 Gls 17 Assts 10
16/17 p36 Gls 6 Assts 4
17/18 p36 Gls 12 Assts 10

But we should not underrate our own players, who are much younger than both & imo will be as good or better than both.

Sane PL
17/18 p32 Gls 10 Assts 15

Sterling PL:
16/17 p33 Gls 7 Assts 11
17/18 p33 Gls 18 Assts 11

Gabriel Jesus PL:
17/18 p29 Gls 13 Assts 3

Your final point is a great one. On paper, we don't require either if everyone is fully fit and firing.

But at the tempo we play, we kind of rode our luck in that department this season and most of our injuries ended up being defenders or short term around intl breaks.

But our current crop have performed better than anyone we are looking at right now considering their profiles.
 
Your final point is a great one. On paper, we don't require either if everyone is fully fit and firing.

But at the tempo we play, we kind of rode our luck in that department this season and most of our injuries ended up being defenders or short term around intl breaks.

But our current crop have performed better than anyone we are looking at right now considering their profiles.

Totally agree but I'd say we were even more jammy injuries wise. We had Sane and Sterling both out for a bit but never at the same time. Aguero and Jesus seemed to spend almost the whole season with one being out and one being fit. If any of those mentioned had been injured at the same time we'd have been in a pickle. Not to mention if we had suffered injuries to KDB or Ferna, with Silva spending time in Valencia we could easily have been in a very different position.
 
Your final point is a great one. On paper, we don't require either if everyone is fully fit and firing.

But at the tempo we play, we kind of rode our luck in that department this season and most of our injuries ended up being defenders or short term around intl breaks.

But our current crop have performed better than anyone we are looking at right now considering their profiles.

I'm often the first to wield stats (which really should be called performance indicators) out in a debate and I have not problem with the context in which these are being used. However, as much as I am sure Mahrez can be a better player at City, I think the same is true of Hazard and who would have the most potential is not clear cut but I think Hazard's ceiling would be higher. However, if you choose to believe, as I do, that Hazard was Pep's first choice but he has quickly decided to move on because he wants things settled before the World Cup, it becomes a pointless debate. I think, in this instance, Mahrez would be a fantastic consolation prize; especially as signing Hazard was far more a case of hope than expectation. I'll be delighted if City can get Mahrez this time round.
 

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