The Weekly Take, Issue 279: An Abrupt End to a Legendary Career

After a career spanning three clubs and almost 16 years, one of the greatest players of this era has hung it up.

On Tuesday, Real Madrid winger Eden Hazard announced his retirement via an Instagram post. At just 32 years old, Hazard is much younger than most other players would be at the time of their respective retirements. However, to say that this was an unexpected announcement would clearly be incorrect. Ever since joining Real in 2019, the Belgian had been battling a series of severe injuries which restricted him to just 76 matches over all competitions during his four years in the Spanish capital.

The fact that Hazard has gone out with a whimper rather than a bang has caused him to have become seriously underrated by many. The story of Hazard's football career goes all the way back to his time at Lille, where at just 18 he was already a regular starter. It wasn't long before Hazard established himself as more than just a promising young talent - such was the potential that Hazard showed that by 2011, a 20-year-old Hazard was hyped as a generational prospect who would be likely to become one of the all-time greats. By the end of the 2010-11 season, Hazard was already a two-time Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year as well as the Player of the Year that same season. Most importantly, he spearheaded Lille's first domestic league title in 57 years.

All of that was just a taste of what was to come. In his breakout season of 2011-12, Hazard absolutely dominated the league, scoring 20 goals en route to another Ligue 1 Player of the Year honour. That off-season, he was by far the most coveted player in any transfer window in years. Hazard eventually signed for Chelsea for what was in hindsight a remarkably low transfer fee of €35 million. To say that the expectations placed on Hazard were through the roof at this point would be a gross understatement.

Things started well for Hazard at Stamford Bridge. A PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2013-14 was followed by one of the greatest individual seasons in recent memory. Hazard put together a year for the ages to lead Chelsea to a dominant Premier League title victory. Hazard, as expected, won the Premier League Player of the Season award and even had a puncher's chance at the Ballon d'Or - a remarkable feat in the era of prime Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

From that high point, however, things began to go sour. Chelsea would finish just 10th in the league the next season - a campaign notable for the first protracted slump of Hazard's career. Chelsea did bounce back the following season by winning the league after the addition of legendary defensive midfielder N'Golo Kanté; however, this would prove to be the outlier of the back half of Hazard's Chelsea stint. Questionable signings, unnecessary coach firings and hirings, departures of players who would go on to be stars elsewhere, and general mismanagement essentially wasted most of Hazard's last four years at Chelsea - culminating in his departure to the Bernabéu in 2019.

It was never supposed to have ended like this for Hazard. His €100 million signing by Real ought to have sealed his legacy in the modern-day pantheon once and for all. But of course, "Father Time is undefeated" - and in fact, Hazard's standout play as a youngster ended up giving Father Time a head start.

Every now again, a player comes along who puts together a tremendous career full of highlights and honours - and yet somehow still falls short of the hype. While that certainly describes Eden Michael Walter Hazard, that must also never detract from the following:

The second-greatest player to ever come out of Belgium even amidst its Golden Generation. Arguably the best to ever suit up for Chelsea. The Eden Hazard Sweepstakes of 2012. The 2014-15 season. His outstanding play at the 2018 World Cup. The countless defenders left chasing shadows behind his otherworldly dribbling and once-searing speed. And though his powers had long been diminished by then, his moment of ultimate catharsis when Real won the 2022 Champions League.

Most importantly of all, when telling the story of world football in the 2010s, Eden Hazard's name will appear again and again.

The Weekly Take, Issue 46: Go South, Young Man

Chelsea’s troubled season has hit a new low.

The Blues did not put up any resistance whatsoever in a 2-0 London derby loss to Arsenal.

It was a disgraceful performance that was devoid of any heart, spirit, or verve – they were easily and systematically taken apart by the Gunners. So dismal were Chelsea that after the game, head coach Maurizio Sarri publicly questioned the team’s character and desire, and understandably so.

To put it in perspective, much-hyped players such as Jorginho, Mateo Kovačić, Pedro, and even the usually excellent N’Golo Kanté were completely dominated by the less-heralded likes of Mattéo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

But the problems at Stamford Bridge go beyond the pitch.

This club is dysfunctional to the core. Spending big money on players who went on to underperform greatly, firing coaches willy-nilly, giving up on players before they get their chance to shine – you name it, Chelsea since 2015 have done it.

Their poor results over the last three-and-a-half years speak for themselves.

One Premier League title which increasingly looks like an outlier. One FA Cup. No Champions League runs beyond the last 16. An average of 73 points per season at the time of writing, which would have seen them miss this season’s Champions League entirely (which, incidentally, they actually did). Absolutely nothing else to show for their immense spending.

I’ll go even further: there are only two reasons Roman Abramovich and his Chelsea team are not complete laughingstocks.

The first is because unlike the NBA or NFL, for example, European football has no salary cap. Abramovich’s immense wealth serves as a shield from his own incompetence as a club owner.

Abramovich just assumes that throwing major money at whatever the problem may be will solve it, regardless of the true situation.

I would even say that Chelsea are the New York Knicks of European football.

Impatient. Mismanaged. Don’t develop young prospects properly. Disastrous talent evaluation skills.

Like the Knicks, the only things Chelsea have going for them are their wealth and the large, glamorous market they play in.

The second reason may soon no longer apply to Chelsea. This reason is none other than Eden Hazard.

Ever since the Belgian superstar came to London in 2012, he has been let down by the club time and again in terms of surrounding him with the best possible supporting cast.

This team shipped out players such as Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Mo Salah, and Filipe Luís before any of them had spent much time on the Chelsea roster.

It only gets worse when one considers that in that same timespan, Chelsea’s five most expensive signings have been Kepa Arrizabalaga, Álvaro Morata, Jorginho, Tiémoué Bakayoko, and Danny Drinkwater.

Taking all of this into consideration, as well as the facts that Hazard is in his prime at 27 years old and linked with Real Madrid, it is clear: for the sake of his career, Eden Hazard needs to leave the dumpster fire that Chelsea currently is and head for the Santiago Bernabéu.

A player as great as Hazard is does not deserve to be placed in the situation he finds himself in at Chelsea. What’s more, ever since Cristiano Ronaldo left Real for Juventus, Real have been struggling to fill the void left behind by the Portuguese legend.

Hazard’s arrival would change that. We have seen how great he is, whether in the Premier League, Champions League, World Cup, or European Championships. If he were to leave in this current transfer window, he would fit in seamlessly alongside the likes of Luka Modrić, Gareth Bale, Raphaël Varane, and compatriot and former Chelsea teammate Thibaut Courtois.

What’s more, in a few years’ time, Hazard might be expendable at Chelsea anyway. The London club have just signed the much younger but incredibly talented Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund, who plays the same position that Hazard does. It’s as though even Chelsea themselves expect Hazard to leave.

Even if he were to stay at Stamford Bridge, Eden Hazard will be remembered as an all-time great and the finest footballer to ever come out of Belgium. Hazard is also arguably already the greatest player to ever wear the royal blue of Chelsea.

But if he is to truly cement his legacy, he has to go – the sooner, the better – for his club has failed him one too many times and will likely continue to do so, should he stay.