Real Madrid: The logic behind Carlo Ancelotti’s treatment of Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard’s status at Real Madrid has plummeted this season under Carlo Ancelotti and has hit an all-time new low. Hazard has never been confined to the bench before the way he has been this season under the Italian who simply prefers using other players. And you can’t even blame the manager or Hazard for his current predicament at the club.

It is indeed sad to watch Eden Hazard at the moment, he’s been fit lately but he’s been of no use to Carlo Ancelotti who has already found his main starman to lead the attack in Vinicius Jr and deservedly so.

So far this season, the 30-year-old has only started four La Liga fixtures out of the 11 that have been played. In total, he’s only played a combined total of 343 minutes, which is basically a total of 3.8 games in terms of 90 mins. Per game, he averages just 38 minutes in La Liga and has played only 34.6% of the available minutes in La Liga. He is yet to score a goal this season in any competition and has only one assist in La Liga. All stats are from FbREF.

Real Madrid paid a record transfer fee for Eden Hazard in 2019, but in Carlo Ancelotti’s eyes, the Belgian international is just another player in the team. There is no special status, no special treatment, and no luxuries for any player in the team. It almost looks like Carletto has no soft spot for any particular player and every place in the starting eleven is earned on the basis of merit and effort.

Vinicius Junior has earned the job over Eden Hazard on merit

Meanwhile, Vinicius Jr has become the first-choice option for Ancelotti, and deservedly so. In hindsight, Ancelotti has been slightly harsh with his treatment of Eden Hazard. In no way am I saying that Vinicius Jr should be dropped just because Hazard deserves to play since he’s a more proclaimed player.

Vinicius should continue starting every game the way he has been doing so, but I believe that Carlo Ancelotti could have been kinder with his treatment and words directed towards Eden Hazard.

The 30-year-old has gone through the worst time of his career since arriving in 2019 due to injuries and bad luck. Given the tough times, he’s had to deal with, I’m sure Ancelotti could have been more supportive of the Belgian as he was during his first press conference since being appointed for the second time.

In the past few days, Carlo Ancelotti has been rather candid with his opinion on Eden Hazard.

"Hazard’s problem is not his form, but the fact that the manager prefers someone else. He has to keep working"

In this quote, he clearly puts out the picture to the media and fans that he simply prefers other players like Vinicius. While Vinicius deserves to start, I don’t really understand why Carlo prefers using Marco Asensio over Eden Hazard. The Spaniard is pretty ineffective in all honesty yet he’s been getting the nod ahead of Hazard lately.

He then even compared Eden Hazard’s situation to Mariano Diaz, which is honestly a surprising comparison for a player of Hazard’s status.

"“Hazard is training well. It happens players don’t play but this might change. Look at Mariano, nobody thought he would have played but he showed professionalism”"

In relation to Hazard’s lack of minutes and rumours suggesting a possible move out of the Spanish capital. Carlo Ancelotti responded with a not-so-optimistic answer that fans may have been hoping for in regards to Eden Hazard’s future at the club.

"“If a player wants to leave in January? I’ve never obliged anyone to stay, no doubt about this.”"

While the question was not directly directed at Ancelotti about Hazard, it’s pretty obvious that the subject of the topic was the former Chelsea forward.

I’ll finish this article by saying that Carlo Ancelotti’s opinion on Eden Hazard is that he’s just another player like every other player who needs to fight and prove their worth. This wasn’t the case when Zinedine Zidane was at the club.

Hazard idolised Zizou, and Zizou had a soft spot for the Belgian, too. Many a time the Frenchman would pick the Belgian to start games despite recovering from injuries or performing poorly in the previous fixture.

Carlo Ancelotti has simply removed that special status for the Belgian. He is not bothered about the transfer price tags as the Italian is simply looking to put together his best eleven based on merit rather than a player’s individual status.

I don’t really see Eden Hazard coming back from this and it could well and truly be his final lap at Real Madrid. It’s been a disappointment that it turned out this way but Hazard’s absence has not really affected the team as Vincius Jr and the other forwards have filled in the void.