BIOGRAPHY
in the first part of 2008-09, Hazard
suddenly became a starter in the new
year, and in no time at all he was tripping
the light fantastic, voted France’s best
young player in 2009 and 2010.
Both Lille and Hazard grew ever
stronger and in the 2010-11 season
the pay-off was delivered, with the little
Belgian centre stage in their conquest
of a league-and-cup double, the club’s
first silverware in over half a century.
Hazard, deservedly elected MVP
in Ligue 1, proved quite unstoppable,
ostensibly lining up on the left flank
but given licence to cut inside whenever
the mood took him. Not so much classic
winger as off-centre playmaker.
It cannot be stressed enough
how dependant that Lille side was on
Hazard’s inspiration. The Belgian kid was
their attacking catalyst. He brought along
the explosives
and lit the fuse.
No wonderGarcia was so effusive in his praise,
explaining: “He’s a player who never
ever doubts himself.
“He is never deterred when something
he tries does not come off. The next
minute he’ll put the ball in the back of
the net or make a decisive pass.”
In his autobiography, Garcia also gives
short shrift to the theory that Hazard’s
free-spirited tendencies make him an
awkward customer to handle. He wrote:
“Eden is a really good kid. Cool, calm and
always ready to listen. A very pleasant
player to coach because you don’t have
to repeat the same thing over and over
to him. He understands, he accepts, he
takes it on board and works it out.”
Garcia was the perfect coach for
Hazard. He gave him a great deal of
freedom, did not bog him down with
pages of script and generally treated the
entire Lille squad
with kid gloves. As
long as his playerstechnical refinement whatsoever, he
had a great deal of athletic and physical
ground to make up and had all manner
of collective lessons to learn.
“When he broke into the pro ranks he
had to prove himself,” says former Lille
reserve-team boss Pascal Plancque. “He
did have a laid-back side to him and that
could shock some people.
“At the start it was not simple for him
with a few of the older players. But he
quickly learned the code of conduct to
adopt. The experienced guys did not take
long to understand that Eden would win
matches for them.”
All he needed was the right head
coach. Whereas Puel frequently chided
him for his lack of consistency and
unwillingness to tracking back, the next
Lille boss, Rudi Garcia, was considerably
more sympathetic. Drawing a veil over
Hazard’s so-called faults, Garcia was far
more interested in what Hazard could do.
After mainly being used as a substituteOCT 7, 2011
Gets his first
international goal, in
a 4-1 victory against
Kazakhstan.JUN 4, 2012
Chelsea confirm they
have agreed terms
with Lille for his
signature.AUG 19, 2012
Makes his Premier
League debut as
Chelsea beat Wigan
Athletic 2-0.AUG 25, 2012
Scores his first goal
for Chelsea, as they
beat Newcastle
United 2-0.MAY 11, 2013
An injury against
Aston Villa rules him
out of the Europa
League Final.Happy times...
celebrating (far right)
with Lille team-mates