So Hazard scores a solo goal in a preseason game against Barcelona, a great goal no doubt, and he is suddenly better than Ronaldo. Can someone please tell me what the hell Mourinho has been smoking recently. A few days ago he came out and said to the Guardian, I quote

” If you add up the amounts clubs have spent in the last three or four years I think maybe you will find a surprise.

“If you put Ozil plus Alexis Sanchez, plus Chambers, plus Debuchy, you will find a surprise.

“It’s a fantastic squad with good players, fantastic goalkeeper, they are more than ready to be a title contenders.

“Get a calculator. That is the easiest thing, it leaves no space for speculation. If you want to be honest, objective and pragmatic it is the easiest job for a manager to do.”

I really doubt Mou used a calculator, because he couldn’t be more wrong. Believe me I hate calculating, but this time I did. Chelsea has spent a total of £234.259m in the last three years, while Arsenal has spent a total of £148.2m. Though Arsenal’s spending has actually increased in recent years, it is still less than two thirds of Chelsea’s since 2013/2014.

Now after such blasphemy which Mou couldn’t even wait for us to digest. He went on and started comparing Hazard to Ronaldo last season, which is really funny, a player who scored 61 goals last season to one who scored 17. Its not really something worth arguing.

In football there are the type of players who have the power to decide games on their own, Hazard falls into this faction. But there are those who are able to do it more consistently than the others. Now players like Messi, Ronaldo and even Neymar have proven to do it far more consistently than Eden Hazard. His output pales in comparison to those mentioned above. It is an insult to compare him to either Messi or Ronaldo now. Where was Hazard when Neymar was scoring 39 goals a season, and 10 in the champions league, scoring in every single leg from the quarter finals to the finals, in a team with major goal scorers like Messi and Suarez. Chelsea is built around Hazard, he is their best player and the one mostly looked upon to create chances and step up and win games when needed, and he’s doing a good job, but that doesn’t make him the best player or any better than Neymar talk more of Ronaldo. He is the focal point of all Chelsea attacks so he is bound to have superior stats like, most take ons, most chances created etc, but Neymar has Messi and Suarez to contend with when it comes to playmaking, despite that he still produces and does the most important thing, creating problems and scoring consistently. He does this for both Brazil and Barcelona, while Hazard seems a shadow of his Chelsea self when playing for Belgium.

Messi and Ronaldo have set the bars higher. If you’re going to claim to be the best player in the world, your numbers should be of a certain standard, clearly better than the rest of your peers. Boasting with stats such as most successful dribbles and most chances created do not really matter, if they did players like Choupo Moting, Bellarabi and Firmino should have their says, because they are pretty high on the lists of most dribbles in the past two years. It is the output that matters the most. 17 goals and 9 assists is not enough to challenge the likes of Messi and co. Hazard is a great player, and I see him challenging Neymar for the Ballon d or years to come, but today Neymar’s numbers put him closer to Messi and Cr7, the reason he is currently challenging them for the ballon d or.

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Where amongst the World’s best does Hazard stand? State your thoughts below