Eden Hazard is into his third season as a Real Madrid player. He recently lost his place as a starter to a rampant, in-form Vinícius Júnior.
What does that say? It says that the Belgian is no longer considered an undroppable figure from the XI when fully fit. And rightfully so.
No matter how good you are on paper, all that matters is how good you can be on the pitch when it comes to Real Madrid.
Eden Hazard knows that. In an interview with Belgium-based Dutch newspaper HLN, Hazard reassured the fans that he will prove his worth. Here is what he said (quotes via MARCA):
"“Real Madrid spent a lot of money on me, I want to pay them back.” “I signed for five years, the first two haven’t been good but I have three more to prove my worth. I hope it works, I hope to get up one morning and find myself in perfect condition for training, I’m waiting for the moment when I can prove my worth.”"
I would take a moment to appreciate Eden Hazard’s mentality. Real Madrid has been his dream club and to help the club win titles is something a player of his stature dreams of every single day.
However, you might be thinking how can he help the team when he is not even a starter anymore? Well, he might not start on the left wing anymore. But coach Carlo Ancelotti still believes that Hazard can help Real Madrid in a new role: as a central attacking midfielder in a ‘free-roaming’ role. We got a glimpse of that against Valencia, with the Belgian starting behind Karim Benzema and playing a decent 78 minutes.
The idea is that Eden Hazard starts on the right in a 4-3-3 on paper, but occupies the entire final third with the freedom of roaming wherever he can find/create space. While Hazard plugs into the more central areas, Fede Valverde can exploit the spaces left on the right flank.
In this article, I try to analyze what Real Madrid gain and what Real Madrid lose whenever Eden Hazard will feature as a free-roaming player in the (near) future, and conclude which one outweighs the other, giving my personal thoughts.
THE PROS
1) A Real Madrid XI with both Eden Hazard and Vinícius Júnior
When Eden Hazard was signed in 2019, people in the Madridista circles began to wonder how will the Belgian and Vinícius Júnior feature in the same lineup because of their playing positions: the left wing. Some thought that the former Flamengo prodigy would feature on the right flank since he had a fantastic 2018-19 season to back it up. But it was evident that Vini Jr. as a right winger was not half the player he was/is as a left winger.
Hazard was an automatic first-choice under Zinedine Zidane whenever he was on the pitch, with one of Rodrygo, Marco Asensio, or Fede Valverde (albeit to a much lesser extent) occupying the spot to the right of Karim Benzema.
We got the first glimpse of Eden Hazard and Vinícius Júnior in the starting XI against Mallorca in June 2020, when Zizou rolled out a 4-2-3-1 with Vinícius Júnior on the left, Eden Hazard functioning in the centre, and Gareth Bale on the right. Karim Benzema played up top.
Under Carlo Ancelotti, Eden Hazard began the first two games of the season on the left with Vini Jr. coming off the bench in both of these games and scoring 3 goals in all. That led Don Carlo to introduce the 21-year old youngster in the starting XI, with Hazard dropping to the bench.
Given the Brazilian’s form, it’s hard to bench him. At this point, he is one of the first names on the team sheet. Against Valencia during the weekend, Carletto played with a 4-2-3-1 formation featuring both Eden Hazard and Vinícius Júnior in the lineup for the first time under the new manager. And they clicked.
Having both Hazard and Vini Jr. on the pitch at the same time – playing in their favourable positions – allows a coach to be relaxed as far as the attacking part of the game is concerned. While Hazard functions on the centre even though he starts on the right on the paper, Vini Jr. can wreak havoc down the left flank.
2) It allows Eden Hazard to flourish
Eden Hazard isn’t getting younger. Heck, he will turn 31 in January 2022. Given his history with injuries ever since joining Los Blancos, he is not the same player he was at Chelsea. Sure, he can still have the occasional dazzle, but he can’t slalom past players effortlessly the way he did a few years ago.
That’s exactly where his newfound role as a free-roaming midfielder comes in. With Vinícius Júnior taking the left wing spot by the scruff of its neck, the only way Hazard can nail a starting spot under Ancelotti is by making the free-roaming role his own, which he is pretty much capable of doing. In fact, he likes to have that freedom of controlling the play and pulling the strings in attack, something which he can’t do as effectively by playing out wide.
According to Transfermarkt, Hazard has played as an attacking midfielder/second striker 106 times throughout his club career, scoring 37 times and assisting 35 times. That makes it 72 goals+assists in 106 appearances, averaging 0.68 G+A per appearance. In comparison as a left winger, he has featured 338 times, scoring 92 goals and registering 94 assists. These numbers sum up to 186 G+A in 338 appearances, averaging 0.55 G+A per appearance. That is a 19.18% drop-off from his stats in a free-roaming role. This suggests that he is much more productive when functioning through the centre of the pitch rather than out wide.
This transformation to a #10 or a free-roaming pseudo right-winger (as I would like to call it) can be compared to the one we have seen with Cristiano Ronaldo, who has become more of a #9 over the years, moving on from being a left winger. It allows Eden Hazard to have maximum impact from areas he can create more danger, with much more productivity.
3) The telepathic connection between Eden Hazard and Karim Benzema can continue
If one thing is clear from Eden Hazard’s time at Real Madrid, it is that he can put on a fantastic performance in tandem with Karim Benzema with a blindfold over his eyes. Before Hazard’s 2019-20 season was derailed due to a knee injury against Paris Saint-Germain in November 2019, he had developed a wonderful strike partnership with Benzema.
Given King Karim is probably playing better than any other footballer on the planet at the moment, it only makes sense to throw Eden Hazard in the mix to operate right behind the Frenchman in a fluid offensive system. It helps elevate not just the team, but can also finally help us witness the true connection between these two players.
THE CONS
1) A less-dominant Real Madrid midfield
Although there’s an upside to Eden Hazard featuring in a free role, it results in Real Madrid going ahead with a double-pivot. With the abundance of world-class midfielders, playing Hazard in midfield (as a #10) leaves just two spots up for grabs.
While this can work when one or two crucial midfielders are out injured (for example, Toni Kroos, who has just returned to the training with the team), it usually means sacrificing someone like a Luka Modrić or a Toni Kroos, who are more influential when playing in a midfield three.
Much of Real Madrid’s success since Ancelotti first took over the reigns of the team ahead of 2013-14 was centered on having a strong, three-man midfield that could do it all. The holy trinity of Kroos-Modrić-Casemiro led Real Madrid to three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles and two leagues under Zinedine Zidane.
That’s not to say that having Hazard function as an attacking midfielder cannot bring success to the club, I just believe having three natural central midfielders provides Real Madrid a better shot at dominating the proceedings against much tougher opponents.
2) Playing Fede Valverde out of position
Fede Valverde is adept at playing both as a box-to-box central midfielder, or out wide as a right midfielder/winger. However, Fede’s strongest suit remains playing as a central midfielder. That is where he is at his dominant best.
We saw Ancelotti go ahead with Fede on the right-hand side of the attack against Valencia because Hazard played in a central, free-roaming role. He made good runs and his pace complemented the position he was playing in.
Everything said and done, it’s not fair to Fede when he is played out of position. You see, the Uruguayan has put on some of his best displays in the Royal White while playing as a box-to-box midfielder, something he excels at unlike any other player in the world. It takes just one lung-bursting run from Fede Valverde to unlock the channels and pin the opposition defence higher up the pitch, creating space not just for himself with his blistering acceleration, but also for the other forwards.
While Real Madrid gain a lot with Hazard in a free-roaming role, Real Madrid lose a lot more with Fede playing in an unnatural position.
3) Lesser minutes for more naturally-suited playmakers
Marco Asensio announced his arrival as a free-roaming midfielder with a splendid hattrick against Mallorca last night, his first-ever for Real Madrid. Once Asensio was subbed off to a standing ovation from the Bernabéu faithful, Isco rolled back the years with a disco-dazzling performance, ending the night with a goal, 5 completed dribbles (most by anyone on the pitch), and the captain’s armband.
While it’s easy to forget these players when the most important Real Madrid figures are talked about, let’s give credit where it’s due. Asensio scored five league goals last season. Just five. And all of them coming by playing as a forward. On Wednesday night, under a gung-ho Carletto system, Asensio scored a hattrick as a midfielder. Yes, as a midfielder.
Isco, who hadn’t scored a goal for Real Madrid since the Round of 16 1st Leg against Manchester City in February 2020, had a memorable outing off the bench. To his credit, he has performed much like his older self whenever he has been on the pitch.
Hazard’s presence as their competition for the free-roaming spot does sound exciting, but it also means lesser minutes for one or two players out of the trio. And at the moment, none of them deserve to have a fringe role within the squad. This is something that can be written about in detail in another piece, but I’ll just leave it here for now.
Personal Thoughts
To begin with, I still believe Eden Hazard can be a very important player for Real Madrid this season, provided he can shrug off his injury woes. I don’t want to jinx it, but he looks sharp in training and had a pretty decent outing against Valencia.
Hazard can still contribute while playing as a left winger, but I think that spot totally belongs to Vinícius Júnior in the team now. Not only has he added goals to his game, but he seems to have developed many more aspects of the game which weren’t visible during the last few seasons. If anything, Hazard will share a minor chunk of the minutes playing as a left winger. We should expect and accept Hazard in his free-roaming role.
Starting Hazard in an asymmetrical formation can reap rewards for a team that has made a very promising start to the season. It’s just too big a deal to overlook the potential that this Real Madrid side could have with Hazard tucking in behind Benzema and having the freedom to play anywhere in the final third.
On whether the pros outweigh the cons or vice-versa, I believe we need to have a larger sample size in front of us to come to an outright conclusion. For the moment, it seems as though the only way Hazard can nail a place in the XI is by absolutely knocking it out of the park everytime he is handed an opportunity as a playmaker/free-roaming pseudo right-winger. Vinícius Júnior has made the left wing his own and Ancelotti has done the right thing by not bringing Hazard back as a left winger in the team. At least for the time being.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks/months as the season begins to take shape. Real Madrid are off to a near-perfect start to the season and are scoring goals for fun without Eden Hazard contributing much. I can only imagine how the offensive output would transcend if a fit and firing Hazard operates between the lines.
There will always be a downside to playing Hazard in a free role since it could affect the midfield combination and the overall structure of the team off the ball, but it surely is a prospect that demands attention and excitement. The Belgian might never be a starting left winger for Real Madrid, but he still has a lot to offer, and he seems to have gotten a new lease of life in his new role. Whether he can grab the opportunity remains to be seen, but optimism surrounds the possibility nevertheless.
Eden Hazard is not done just yet.