Eden Hazard still some way off hitting Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo levels
Chelsea star could have done with a tall striker clearing a path for him in Champions League draw with Barcelona
THEY are roughly the same size, wear the same number and thousands are willing on Eden Hazard to join Lionel Messi in football’s elite.
They can do similar things and represent the most skillful, awe-inspiring elements of their respective clubs in terms of God-given ability. Hazard and Messi make their teams tick.
The one big difference that remains between these two blessed footballers is reputation.
Hazard still has to work a crowd to appreciate his undoubted talent; Messi need only glide to within a yard radius of a spinning ball and a momentary hush descends as fans draw breath, creating a minor windstorm as air is vacuumed off the pitch in expectation.
Messi’s rightful status in the game means even when he does ordinary stuff, it is perceived as brilliance simply because he has been doing it all for so long.
A dozen seasons for him at the Nou Camp. Hazard has been Chelsea’s talisman for six years and there is a feeling he may never quite hit the levels of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
There are some in the cluttered entourage surrounding top players like Hazard who believe the Belgian is too laid-back to take the football world by the scruff of its neck.
Hazard wants to be compared to the greats — admitting he needed to ‘shine’ last night in his first meeting against Messi at club level. The Argentinian had emerged triumphant against Hazard at the 2014 World Cup.
The Chelsea star was as good as Messi last night, certainly no worse.
But Chelsea’s tactics were what stood in the way of Hazard having the night of his life.
It is patently obvious that at 5ft 7in, Hazard could do with a big bloke clearing the path for him in the penalty box.
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Messi had Luis Suarez as his foil, yet strapping Chelsea strikers Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud sat on the bench.
It was left to little Eden to play as a ‘false nine’, in other words, as a pretend centre-forward.
The last time manager Antonio Conte tried this tactic, Chelsea were bullied by Watford and thrashed 4-1.
When 6ft 4in Giroud was finally unleashed at Vicarage Road, Hazard peeled off to the left, dropped back to pick up the ball and did what he — and Messi — can do best by driving at defenders.
In the first half last night, Hazard looked most dangerous on the left, tearing past right-back Sergi Roberto, cutting to the line and sending the ball low across the box.
In the 33rd minute he was poised, stopped like a middle-distance runner straining at the tape, dead level with the Barca defence waiting to be set free by a superb pass from the quick-witted Willian.
A dart down the left with the ball at his feet, a pass back to his Brazilian team-mate and suddenly the ball was smashing against the woodwork in a major let-off for the Spaniards.
When Willian hit the other post four minutes before half-time, it was from Roberto’s mistake on the left under pressure from Hazard.
And yes, when Chelsea finally made the breakthrough with the goal just after an hour, it was Willian who picked up a superb pass from Hazard, yep you guessed it, out on the left.
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It is a bit of an insult to label Hazard a ‘false nine’ because everything about his game is genuine — even his 15 goals this season making him the club’s top scorer.
Just let him have a bruiser next to him to skittle over the opposition. If Conte does this on a regular basis then Hazard might just get the reputation he deserves and at least have a fighting chance of winning the Ballon d’Or.