Real Madrid News
Real Madrid superstar prioritising stay at club for three reasons despite struggles
When Eden Hazard secured his dream move to Real Madrid from Chelsea in the summer of 2019, it looked like a match made in heaven. The Belgian was at the top of his game at that time and seemed the perfect fit to lead the Merengues in a post-Cristiano Ronaldo era.
However, over three years into his stint at the Santiago Bernabeu and it would be safe to say that the Belgian international has been a huge dud. Fitness problems, unrelenting injury issues and poor form shot his confidence and rendered him a pale shadow of his former self.
Struggling for relevance, Hazard has been linked with an exit from Real Madrid for a while now, but has remained at the club despite his struggles to live up to the expectations.
Indeed, Mario Cortegana of MARCA reports that Real Madrid have made attempts to find an exit for Hazard in each of the last three transfer windows. The Spanish and European champions have looked at different formulae to get him off the books as his contract runs until 2024.
However, in spite of that, Hazard has always prioritised staying at the club even though he has found it hard to get going.
The primary reason for the Belgian international’s desire to stay put at the Santiago Bernabeu is that he wants to achieve success with Real Madrid. While he has won trophies and titles, Hazard has not made huge contributions to those triumphs, something he wishes to change.
The second reason why Hazard does not wish to leave the Merengues is that his family are settled down well in the city of Madrid.
Finally, another major reason for the former Chelsea superstar to not consider leaving is that he has not found any serious takers who appeal to him, be it from a sporting or an economic perspective.
Things could change for the Belgian international though after he made a big impression against Celtic earlier this week. After coming on to replace the injured Karim Benzema, Hazard had a hand in Real Madrid’s first two goals of the game before scoring the third himself.
With Benzema sidelined for the next few matches, Hazard will get regular opportunities to impress and it will be up to him to make the most of these chances.
Real Madrid News
Mourinho talks Carlos Espi, Diomande, Guler, Tchouameni, Atletico Madrid after Elche 2-3 Real Madrid
Real Madrid found another way to win, but Jose Mourinho was hardly celebrating the manner of it.
Carlos Espi’s injury-time strike completed a 3-2 comeback against Elche, rescuing Madrid after they had surrendered control of a game that appeared to be in their hands.
For Mourinho, the result was welcome, but the performance raised a familiar concern.
“When everything seems easy and you let things slide, it’s dangerous. Then the team reacts and wins, but it’s not pleasant.
“The other good thing is that nobody gets bored with these matches. They’re fun,” he began saying.
Mourinho knows what is going wrong
The Portuguese coach was particularly frustrated by another drop in intensity after the interval.
Real Madrid had opportunities to put the game beyond Elche before allowing their advantage to disappear. Mourinho believes that pattern is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
“It seems obvious to me. It’s easy to understand. These are games that are all but over, where we have chances to seal the deal but don’t. After failing to do so, we go from having it easy to losing control.
“If we play poorly from the first minute to the 90th, the concern is huge.
“If we have periods where we’re at our best and others where we’re not proactive, just waiting, lacking intensity… Of course it’s a concern. But we won.”
The win keeps Madrid moving, but Mourinho’s concern is less about the points than the way his team is repeatedly making matches unnecessarily complicated.
Carlos Espi again provided the decisive moment from the bench, although Mourinho knows breaking into the starting XI will be difficult with Mbappé ahead of him.
“He’s a guy who works hard and is very motivated,” Mourinho said.
He then added, “He’s up against a player who’s in a league of his own (Mbappe), and we’re well aware of that.”
Madrid derby comes at a delicate moment
Next up is Atletico Madrid, and Mourinho’s attention is already turning towards the derby.
Rather than focusing on the opposition, he remains concerned about his own side’s ability to manage matches.
“The only explanation I can find is that we can’t keep going like this. We misjudged the opportunities we had, and once they score a goal, everything changes,” explained the Real Madrid coach.
Meanwhile, there were positives to take from individual performances, as Mourinho praised Yan Diomande’s development after another energetic outing.
“He’s improving. Physically, you can tell he has more minutes under his belt. He has a great work ethic and intelligence—he’s done a great job.”
Mourinho refuses to call Guler indispensable
Arda Guler’s importance was also questioned after another fantastic performance, but Mourinho rejected the idea that any player is beyond replacement.
“No, no one is indispensable. We were losing control when I made the substitutions; Vini did a great job on defence, but he was very tired.
“And Arda, who was playing in the number 10 position, was also losing intensity.
“I brought in a fresh Jude and Brahim when we were down 0-2, but I could sense we were losing control. That’s how it goes for us. And then, we brought in the heavy artillery and turned it around.”
Mourinho was also pleased with Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde during Madrid’s strongest spells.
“When the team was playing well, he and Valverde were playing well. They broke through the pressure easily, with skill.
“But the game had two phases—or rather three: one until it was 0–2, another until it was 2–2, and another until the end. They did a good job,” he concluded.
Source: AS
Abdulhakeem Abubakar Mahmud
September 8, 2022 at 1:12 pm
There is no need for RM to buy a striker even next season since Harzard and Rodrigo Goes can serve as backup for Benzema till 2024 where it can go for Halaand when Harzard contract expired but next season RM needs Jude Bellingham as Tony Kroos and Modric era coming to an end.
Mokgothu Edward Leboko
September 9, 2022 at 7:25 am
Eventually Hazard will end-up be something Madrid wil reckon with since it had been a state of lookdown on the poor guy.
Trully speaking even Benzema has his time of shame whereby he usually looked to be lost,and endup being helped by his teammates.
Let all this happen with all players,Real Madrid is having depth of talent which sometimes they do not cherish,players need to be shown support.Those players who don’t perform to the standard may be given a chance to play with players of second dvision where they will up their performance and automatically developed those who are their minors a big deal.