Real Madrid News
Struggling Real Madrid superstar looking at the World Cup as opportunity to salvage season
Eden Hazard has endured a torrid time since joining Real Madrid from Chelsea in the summer of 2019 in a deal worth over €100 million. Injury and fitness woes have constantly bogged down the Belgian international who has looked like a pale shadow of his past self.
Following Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League triumph last season, the 31-year-old had vowed that the new campaign will be his best in white. But that has not materialised as Hazard has once again struggled to make any sort of impact.
Indeed, the attacker has played just six times across all competitions this term, scoring and assisting just one goal apiece.
Despite his struggles, Hazard has been named in the Belgium squad for the FIFA World Cup along with Thibaut Courtois. The 31-year-old winger will be leading the Red Devils at the quadrennial event in Qatar in over a week.
And, according to AS, Hazard is looking at the World Cup as his opportunity to salvage his struggling campaign and find some form.
As iterated earlier, the veteran wing-wizard has played just six times this term, of which only two have been starts. Furthermore, the attacker has not played a single minute of La Liga football since early September.
For him to earn some relevance in the Real Madrid setup, Hazard will need to enjoy a solid World Cup campaign. A strong performance for Belgium, thus, could help the 31-year-old play an increased part in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans for the second half of the 2022/23 season.
It could also help him attract suitors for either the January window or the summer as Real Madrid will reportedly look to part ways with their record signing in the near future.
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
