Eden Hazard: Instant Impact

A lot has already been said about Eden Hazard, our £32 million signing this summer. His potential has been recognized by many after watching him play in the Ligue 1 and his choosing to sign for Chelsea has made every Chelsea fan very happy. Everybody knew about the dribbling and shooting skills that Hazard has. His pace, ability to change direction faster than wind was known worldwide. But what remained to be seen was how he would actually do in the English Premier League.

The English Premier League is very different from the other football leagues in Europe. While in Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, etc. football is more skillful, in England the football is very physical. The motto here is, if you can’t take the ball from them, kick them. It’s not child’s play to survive in a league like this and live up to the fan’s expectations. Eden Hazard impressed many Chelsea fans in what was an otherwise disappointing pre-season for Chelsea but his first taste of English football came against Manchester City. Hazard was impressive in that game- probably the only Chelsea player who played somewhat upto his potential- and showed lots of confidence. His failed back heel was highlighted by every non Chelsea fan- as was expected- but that did not deter his concentration.

However what no one could have expected was the intensity of the instant impact that Eden Hazard had in the Premier League. Playing away against Wigan in our very first League game of the season, Hazard had an assist to his name and had earned a penalty for Chelsea in the first 7 minutes itself! Thanks to a perfect finish by Branislav Ivanovic and a rocket of a penalty by Frank Lampard, Chelsea were ahead by 2 goals within the first 7 minutes of the match. During the remainder of the game, Hazard continued to impress and was constantly a threat to the Wigan defence. A lot of the fans were disappointed when Hazard was subbed off during the second half but we were happy with his performance.

Playing our first home game against Reading, expectations were high from the team. Hazard once again earned us a penalty in the early minutes of the game and Lampard again successfully converted it. However a fantastic header and an uncharacteristic mistake from Petr Cech saw Chelsea go down 2-1 at the end of the first half. In the second half, Hazard, again, was a key factor in our constant attack and provided the pass to Cahill which was then converted into a goal by the centre back. This goal gave Chelsea the momentum and we knew we could win the match. Hazard, pairing up amazingly with Juan Mata, Oscar and Sturridge, continued to trouble the Reading defenders. During the last minutes of stoppage time, when Chelsea were ahead thanks to a Fernando Torres goal, Reading pushed everyone including their goalkeeper ahead for a corner. After gaining position, Torres passed the ball to Hazard and he went galloping towards the goal with the ball. However, at the last moment, even though Hazard could have beaten the defender between him and the goal to score, he chose to take the safer option and passed the ball to Ivanovic who went on to convert it.

This gesture showed that Hazard is not only talented, but also a selfless player. Based on the instant impact that Hazard has had on our style of play, we surely have a gem on our hands.