Three Real Madrid players Carlo Ancelotti does not seem to trust
Eden Hazard
No surprises in guessing the last name in this article, with this name being the most obvious one. Carlo Ancelotti has faced a lot of criticism on social media for not giving a lot of minutes to Eden Hazard of late. But is that criticism valid? Let us check it out.
Hazard started off as Real Madrid’s main left-winger for the first few weeks, forming a trio with Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale. He did register an assist to his name in the first game against Alaves, but he wasn’t at his best yet. Meanwhile, Vinicius Jr improved his game a lot and had done enough to convince Don Carlo that he can be the team’s best left-winger, and Ancelotti took note of it.
Hazard retained his spot in the starting XI, but he lost his left-wing position to Vinicius Jr, and he was given a free role in the front three. He didn’t look effective, and he lost his spot to Rodrygo. At times his role was unclear because he wouldn’t take a lot of shots or create chances, and would just link up with players and bring the ball out from tight spaces, with minimal defensive coverage.
He did well in some aspects of the game, but he couldn’t prove that he can provide something on the pitch that other players like Rodrygo and Asensio cannot. He’s a proven player, but every manager has the right to live in the present and pick his team on the basis of the current form. Ancelotti did the same, as he mentioned that Hazard’s problem is that the manager prefers other players ahead of him.
Carlo Ancelotti had also explained his choice of using Lucas over Hazard against Shakhtar, citing the width offered by Lucas as the reason. He had also mentioned that Hazard prefers to go inside, which gives us an insight into what Ancelotti expects from his players, and about the tactics he wants to deploy. My colleague Ranoveer has provided us with a better analysis of Hazard’s situation, and why Ancelotti is refraining from using Hazard.
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What’s the solution to this Hazard problem at Real Madrid. Given Vinicius’ form, Hazard’s age and his recent injury record, it is difficult to see Hazard regaining his spot in the starting XI. But if there’s anything Eden Hazard can do, that is to work harder on the training ground and prove to the manager that he can offer a lot more to the team.
And it would be better for Carlo Ancelotti to introduce Hazard a lot earlier in the game, instead of giving him less than 10 minutes to show his worth. Given the tight schedule and his tendency to not rotate the squad heavily, there’s a need for Ancelotti to make better use of his substitutions and present second-choice players with better opportunities.