Real Madrid: Nobody should question Eden Hazard’s professionalism

It’s pretty sad to see the decline of one of the greatest Premier League players ever. Eden Hazard joined Real Madrid in 2019 and frankly, nothing has gone his way since. He came to pre-season training overweight, which just made him play a lot worse. Once he got fit, started playing well, he got hit with one injury after the other. And now that the injuries aren’t really bothering him as much anymore, the manager just prefers other players in the same position.

According to Edu Aguirre via Chiringuito TV, Eden Hazard isn’t getting minutes due to his lack of professionalism and attitude, and that the staff has almost dropped the towel with him.

Now, I’ve thought long and hard about this quote from the journalist, and no disrespect to the them, but I just don’t see Hazard just giving up on his lifelong dream like that.

There is no way Eden Hazard has just quit caring about playing for Real Madrid

You can talk about Hazard being “unprofessional” when he first joined the club, in the sense that he was overweight to start the season. Even though every player deserves a vacation, he probably should’ve taken care of his body a little more, so that he and the team weren’t the sufferers.

After that, though, you can only count for his injuries early on in the season that could be linked with his “lack of professionalism”. Most of it has just been really, really bad luck. You can’t blame Hazard for most of the injuries that he suffered in his first two seasons at the club.

After that, if you talk about this season and this season alone, well, I really don’t think his professionalism has ever been in question until now. The Belgian started this season off in the best shape possible, and he’s hardly had any injuries apart from a couple of knocks. In the games he has played, I wouldn’t say he’s been bad. He’s actually had a bunch of really good games, but unfortunately, the lack of width and defensive coverage prevents him from fitting in Ancelotti’s plans.

The Italian coach wants his wingers to do more, and play more on the flanks as opposed to what Hazard offers. Ancelotti also tried giving him a free role in the middle of the attack, but, again, it wasn’t worth changing the whole system for.

Ever since Hazard’s gotten benched, there have been talks and reports about him working extra hard in training to get into the starting XI, and while the chances look slim, his professionalism simply cannot be in doubt, because that’s not the kind of player he is. He’s always been a professional, and like it’s been explained multiple times, it’s not really his fault that he isn’t in the lineup. It’s bad luck, injuries, him slowing down because of injuries and a lot of other things that he can’t control. What he can control is being as good as he can in training, which I’m sure is the case.

Besides, even if he doesn’t think he has a chance of ever getting back into contention for the starting XI, it’s not like his career is over. There are some clubs that would still want him, and even if he wants to leave Real Madrid, he will have to raise his stock so that clubs are actually interested in him.

Hazard said on record multiple times that he knows how important this season is for him individually, and that he wants to prove to everyone that he was worth the money invested in him. That promise wouldn’t just go to waste. I’m not saying it will be fulfilled, but there’s no way he doesn’t even try to change things for the better.