Eden Hazard - Style of Play

Style of Play

Hazard primarily plays as either an attacking midfielder or a winger and has been credited as being "possibly the outstanding talent in Europe right now". At Lille under former manager Rudi Garcia, Hazard often played in the latter role in the team's 4–3–3 formation and regularly switched flanks due to his ability to effectively use both feet. Following the departures of fellow play-makers Yohan Cabaye and Gervinho in 2011, during the 2011–12 season, Garcia played Hazard as a central attacking midfielder, while also allowing the player to roam back onto the wing if necessary. Two of Hazard's most common exemplary traits is his pace and technical ability, which has been described as both "astonishing" and "mesmerizing", respectively. Hazard's former teammate and Lille captain Rio Mavuba described Hazard as "a great player, with an immense talent. He’s actually not that big, but he’s so fast. He’s also very difficult to dispossess and his finishing is top notch". Hazard's pace coupled with his finishing and inability to be dispossessed easily led to his former coach Claude Puel dubbing him "little Messi", in reference to the Barcelona star. Puel's sentiments were later echoed by former Marseille manager and media personality Rolland Courbis who commented "At times it looks to me like Lionel Messi on the right-hand side". Hazard's "flair and tricky" style of play has been described as being similar to Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo; a comparison later repeated by former French international Christophe Dugarry. His vision, described as being the trait he has improved on the most, has allowed him to develop into an effective passer, which compensates for his relatively low goal-scoring output.

In Belgium, Hazard's talent and similar ascension up the country's football hierarchy has led to comparisons to former Belgian international Enzo Scifo. Both players share the same birthplace and Scifo himself spent time with Hazard while he was in Tubize admitting "Eden, you know, I've coached in Tubize. During the week, I took care of the young people at least once, and he, in those days, I immediately saw he had a secure future". However, despite the positive opinions, Hazard has endured criticism from some. His former national team coach and mentor Dick Advocaat agreed with the majority in that Hazard possessed everything required to be a world-class player; however Advocaat admitted that the attacker lacked charisma stating "I told him to have more charisma. He is a talent, but he can not be seen like that forever". In 2010, former Belgium national team manager Georges Leekens questioned Hazard's work-rate. Lille youth academy director Jean-Michel Vandamme countered both managers criticism by arguing that Hazard simply possesses an intellectual honesty that is out of the ordinary and unexpected of today's footballer declaring "He is a real competitor, not a cheat, nor a moaner, because you don’t hear him complaining when he gets fouled". Hazard's calm and cool demeanor on the field has been cited as one of his best attributes. So far in his career as a professional, in which he has accumulated over 200 appearances, Hazard has collected 13 yellow cards and a red card for accidentally kicking a ball boy, while trying to a retrieve a ball that the ball boy was lying on in order to waste time.