The meetings follow one another and are alike for the Red Devil. And this, in a bad sense. After the victory against the Ukrainians (2-1), Carlo Ancelotti justified the choice to leave Hazard on the bench throughout the meeting. “Hazard is ready to play. It could have been today or Saturday (Editor’s note against Vallecano)”, he began. “Clearly, he needs minutes to be in the best possible condition and he is going to have them. I thought of putting him on the starting line to revive him. But, for strategic reasons, I finally opted for a pure winger like Vazquez . I think Hazard is better when he’s inside the game. “
A new statement that does not lead to optimism. Especially when we know that Vinicius, author of two assists, was still one of the best on the lawn of the Santiago Bernabeu and that he occupies the left flank. Especially since Carlito does not advocate a system with a nine and a half. Role that Hazard can also fulfill.
“Getting angry is normal and I understand that”, continues the coach who won the “Decima” with the Madrilenians. “I know what goes on in a player’s head when they warm up and don’t come in. All I can say is I’m sorry. But Hazard isn’t the only one. Marcelo won four C1s and warmed up for almost 40 minutes. He is a very important player but I did not bring him up because I saw that the match was not suitable. the complicated work of a trainer. ”
“Something is wrong with Hazard”
In the Spanish media, we oscillate between questioning and fatalism. In today’s edition, AS headlines: “Something is wrong with Hazard”. For the Spanish daily, “He no longer has his place in Carlo Ancelotti’s eleven. Neither with the doubts that remain on the right side of the attack. Nor with the absence of Rodrygo or the lack of form of Asensio. The role that can play the Belgian in this 4-3-3 is more and more vague. And his chances of playing are reduced. “
According to our colleagues, Ancelotti saves time. “When you ask the Italian about Hazard, he tries to be positive. His message is that he tries to instill confidence in him. ‘training to replay. ” But in reality, Ancelotti no longer trusts the Devil. “The numbers speak for themselves. Hazard has played 409 minutes with Real. That is 30.2% of the possible playing time. This is not even a third of the games played by the Merengue. This total places him in 14th place. Most used player rank by Ancelotti. By comparison, he played 251 minutes in the five matches for Belgium. This equates to a total of 55.7% of possible playing time with the Devils. This figure even climbs to 69.7% if we do not take into account the match for third place in the Nations League which he missed due to injury. “In other words, they don’t understand the double talk of the former Everton coach.
AS concludes his article with another number that speaks volumes: “His transfer in 2019 is still not profitable. Every minute of the 53 games he played with Madrid (2,849 ‘) cost … 35,100 euros.”
For Marca, Raul Varela, presenter of the daily A Dirario program, also spoke about the Hazard case. “In my opinion, Eden Hazard is Ancelotti’s first failure.” A counterbalance that we do not always find in the Spanish press. “The Italian manager froze. And that’s why he continues to incomprehensibly keep Hazard in the fridge. This is fueling a fierce debate in Madrid. Why do Real’s substitutes fail to change the during matches that go wrong? “, he asks.
“The data is not deceiving. Between the injuries and the manager’s mistrust of the Belgian, Bale, Jovic, Asensio, Isco or even Camavinga, the bench does not matter. And it is a serious problem because even Vinicius will not be able to not maintain that level of form this season. That is why it is urgent to do everything possible to get Hazard back. We have to accept that he will no longer be the Chelsea player and that he will not reimburse the 115 million paid out. Seeing him hanging out with Pintus around the corner without playing will remain a major failure for Carletto “, he concludes.
One thing is certain, the Devil’s situation is getting more complicated every day. Will he be able to turn the tide?
