Eden Hazard had a thigh injury again. It’s nothing new for him in his Real Madrid career, and it isn’t even surprising news now. But it definitely came at the wrong time for both the club and the player. Just when he was getting back to normalcy, here came a stumbling block, which is going to keep him out of action for four to six weeks.
He is always an automatic selection whenever he’s fit, but his absence requires someone to cover for him and give their best to help the team offensively in the big games ahead.
Let us have a look at three players who need to step-up in the absence of Eden Hazard.
Vinicius Junior
Vinicius Jr. is the direct replacement for Eden Hazard in the squad. He was going to be Hazard’s backup after the Belgian’s arrival in 2019, but due to his injuries, Vini got more minutes than expected. The 20-year-old has three goals and three assists this season, but he didn’t score a single goal since October and has been disappointing of late.
Vinicius has few issues to sort out. He’s looking low on confidence, and he hasn’t looked well after that Benzema and Mendy tunnel incident. His finishing is still the same, and he is losing a lot of balls.
There’s a need for him to improve in few areas if he wants to be valued at Real Madrid. He needs to turn around his career. First of all, he has to improve on his finishing, which still looks terrible. He needs to focus on his passing as well, because your team can’t have the desired control when you keep losing the balls by misplacing passes. He needs to practice making runs in behind the defense, and improve his off-the-ball movement as well.
Last season, when there was a crisis at Real Madrid in February and Hazard was absent, he stepped up in big games vs Manchester City and Barcelona. It’s February again, big games are coming and the marquee signing Hazard is out on the sidelines again. Can he repeat the magic again and prove his critics wrong again?
Marco Asensio
“Why should we buy Hazard, when he have Marco?”, were the words of a senior board member in 2017, according to MARCA.
This was the level of trust the board had in Asensio. But he has yet to live up to the expectations. Those long-rangers brought some hype, but his inconsistency didn’t let him become the star he was touted to become. He scored just one league goal in the season after that, when everyone expected him to step up after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure. He’s 25 now, and this is the age where everyone expects a player to take up more responsibility. This is the right time for Asensio to take that responsibility.
Marco Asensio has been at the club since 2016, but Zidane hasn’t been able to figure out his best position yet. While he wanted Asensio to be a right winger, Asensio has been highly inconsistent on the right, and just scored one goal from the 900+ minutes he has played as an RW. But when Hazard wasn’t available, there have been instances where Asensio was used as an LW, ahead of right-footed players like Rodrygo and Vinicius.
He has been one-dimensional on the left, and most of the time, his contributions have been either a cross or a backpass. But he looked more active on the left compared to the right, and Zidane tried to redeem Asensio by playing him in a position where he can play better. Considering how much Zidane trusts Asensio, it wouldn’t be surprising if Zidane chooses Asensio on the left. But this time he has to step up and further disappointment will only raise question marks on his future at Real Madrid.
He has to take more shots and have an eye for the goal every time. He has to prove that long shots aren’t his only strengths and he can score the regular goals you expect from an attack-minded winger. He should focus more on doing something productive with the ball at his feet and be decisive, instead of ball hogging and back-passing the ball after keeping the ball for a long time.
This is his opportunity to prove his worth and save his career. if not now, he should expect to be the second choice in the future.
Isco Alarcon
Note: Isco suffered a back injury in training on Friday after this article was submitted for publication. Hopefully, the injury is not serious, but he will not play at Huesca.
Isco has been restricted to the bench for most of the season and it didn’t come as a surprise considering how poor he has been since 2018. But Isco is one of the players in the squad who’s trusted by Zidane for the big games. Last year, when Isco was going through a similar phase, Zidane tried to revive the Spaniard by starting him in big games vs PSG, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Manchester City, most of the times when Hazard was out with an injury.
Who knows, the same thing can happen this time as well. It’s still believed by the Spanish Media that Zidane hasn’t lost his faith in Isco and counts on him, despite the rumours of Isco’s departure being circulated at the same time. If Isco is given a chance by Zidane, he has got to make it count. Zidane might for a 4-4-2 diamond with Benzema, Asensio, and Isco upfront, using Isco in his favourite position.
Isco is 28 now. For a player of his quality, he should be in his prime and be a starter at any club. But right now he is a fringe player at Real Madrid, and he has only himself to blame. His attitude hasn’t been well received by many, and a manager like Santiago Solari didn’t hesitate to bench him. He has been criticised a lot for his fitness, and there have been times where his commitment has been questioned. If he wants to revive his career, then he needs to be serious about his career and show greater commitment on and off the pitch.
I would’ve mentioned Rodrygo as well, if not for his injury. Reportedly he is going to take another week or two to return to the squad list. Currently he is being seen as the most talented young winger of our team, by many of the fans. His return is going to be very important for Zinedine Zidane, since Rodrygo is someone who can play well on both wings. Hope he recovers soon and resumes from where he left off!