Kel Varnsen wrote:

Klaus wrote:

Kel: He's still too much of a highlights player in my opinion. He's only going to get better though whereas Arshavin is entering his decline. He's got a very good shot and is more than willing to give it a go from distance which is something we're missing. Would hate to see him end up at any other club when he finally moves.

how is his link up play? is he a smart player who will release the ball quickly when needed and find space to provide the other players with passing options?

Surprised you've not seen anything of him. He's a proper footballer, great appreciation of what's going on around him, rarely tries to beat one man too many, even though he probably could - he does the 'right' thing often, makes good decisions.

If his goalscoring develops, and there's no reason why it shouldn't, especially in a better team with other creative players, he will be as good as anything out there, barring two men. He has just about everything you'd want in a wide player in our team.

Caligula wrote:

These are the questions I have about Hazard:

1) is he a proven, reliable goalscorer?

2) does he consistently give width (with speed)?

If the answer to both of those is no, then he should not be our priority. Bring in Benzema and Young. Toss out Bendtner, Rosicky, Arshavin in the process.

This season he has played a free role behind the striker, so providing width hasn't been in his job description, but in previous seasons he has shown that he can beat his marker on the outside with ease and his delivery is always measured and intelligent.

On the goalscoring, he's not a 'proven, reliable goalscorer' right now, no, but I think it's a matter of time before he becomes one. He plays in a team where he is far and away the best player, nearly everything creative that happens has Hazard at the heart of it, in our team that would be different. Cesc would have a field day playing with Hazard in front of him.

No, I think he's completely different to Nasri.

Caligula wrote:

I'm not sure I understand the part about Cesc would have a field day playing with Hazard in front of him. Cesc strikes me as someone who would most benefit from having Henry, Ljunberg and Pires running in front of him to meet the final pass and score a goal. What you have described is yet another creative. Yet another pass that will be made before we take a shot. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Wenger said it took Samir Nasri until this season to learn how to play without the ball, make more runs in behind, he always wanted the ball into feet and didn't understand how to exploit space. He has been almost unrecognisable this season because he's improved that area of his game. I don't think Hazard will come with that problem. He is Lille's primary creator, and he does look to find space deep to get on the ball and create, but that's only because he is their best player, he shows numerous times throughout every match I've seen him in that he already understands what Nasri has had to learn. If there is space to move into he sees it and moves into it, he's brilliant at it in fact, that maybe doesn't reflect in his goalscoring totals, but I put a lot of that down to him playing in a poor team.

Caligula wrote:

Goal-scorers will score goals even on poorer teams, Ricky. Darren Bent, for example, has done it everywhere he has gone, including the woeful Charlton and Sunderland. The notion that players will start scoring goals once they are on a better team is not always proven. We look at Chamakh, for example. Popular opinion was that after his 15 or so goals last season, he'd be a goal-scoring machine given the service from all our tricky little fellas.

Now, I like Hazard. Don't get that twisted. What I've seen is good. I'm just concerned about getting another little guy who is going to help us retain more ineffective possession. Actually, given the choice, I would take Bent over him, and I think that Hazard is a superior player

The comparison doesn't hold up, mate. Bent is a limited player, he relies heavily on others to score goal, that's not to put him down, if the service is there he will score goals. Hazard is playing for a team where he asked to create for others because he is by a million miles the best player in the team. Different players with different roles.

C.Ronaldo didn't begin to look like he could be a proper goalscorer until he was 21/22, and then bang, he found a way to put together the great pace, clever movement and composure he had and started banging them in. I'm not saying Hazard will start banging in 30 goals a season out of nowhere, but he definitely has it in him to be a serious goal threat, season in, season out.

It definitely wasn't me!