Opinion: 3 things Eden Hazard does better than any other player in the Premier League

When I think of the best player in the Premier League, Eden Hazard is one of the players that come to mind. Sergio Aguero, David Silva, David De Gea, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Mesut Ozil are all brilliant in their own right, but the Belgian on his day is the best, in my opinion.

The Chelsea star was the player of the year in the 2014/15 season when he led Chelsea to the Premier League under Jose Mourinho. He went on to win the Premier League again in 2016/17 under Antonio Conte. He has also won the FA Cup, Capital One Cup, and the Europa League. The only trophy that he has not won with Chelsea is the UEFA Champions League with the 2014 semifinals being his best result with the Blues in the tournament.

While his future is still uncertain, it would be a shame for the Premier League if he leaves for Real Madrid.

There a few things that make Hazard fantastic. Dribbling is too general a term and so I try to further dissect them so that I can pinpoint 3 special reasons for Hazard's greatness.

1. Shielding the ball

Chelsea FC v Everton FC - Premier League

Dribbling is often considered as the art of taking players on and beating them with your skill and pace. Players like Lionel Messi, Neymar or Cristiano Ronaldo in his best days are masters of dribbling. While Hazard is blessed with blistering pace, he is also the best in the Premier League when it comes to shielding the ball.

He almost always puts his body between the ball and the defender. This leaves the defender in the situation where he has no option but to tackle. That is also the reason why Hazard is almost always on the top of the list for most fouled players in the Premier League.

Many dribblers are great at changing pace but in tight spaces, they often lose the ball. Hazard is able to wriggle out from them or draw a foul due to his intelligence as well as his innate ability.

The video below is one example of how Hazard always puts himself between the opposition player and the ball. He eventually goes on to draw the foul.

2. Awareness to release the ball

When you are as gifted as Hazard when it comes to dribbling you may often tend to dribble in situations when you should pass. Hazard is great at reading the game. This makes him unique as he is an unselfish dribbler.

Hazard realises when he is getting crowded out and will release the ball, even if it means going back to Marcos Alonso or N'golo Kante. He prefers to keep hold of the ball rather than try an outlandish trick to try to go past three or four defenders.

This, in my opinion, separates him from other dribblers like Raheem Sterling or Anthony Martial, who are good on their own right but may hold on to the ball for a little longer than needed.

While there is no video which primarily focuses on him releasing the ball, this video shows how good a playmaker and passer the Belgian player is.

3. Does not dive

Another great quality of Hazard is the fact that he does not dive. His Chelsea teammate Willian is guilty of diving on many occasions but Hazard likes to play the game fair. He receives some brutal tackles but almost always gets up without creating a fuss.

Many other players like Dele Alli, Diego Costa, Neymar, Sterling or Luis Suarez are infamous for their theatrics. Even players like Sergio Ramos and Samuel Umtiti who are not wingers tend to dive. Hazard is a breath of fresh air in this case.

Not diving is not the same as drawing fouls. Hazard is an expert at drawing fouls and going down on contact but he never goes down without any contact. This, in my opinion, separates him from a lot of other players.

The video below highlights how Hazard draws contact and goes down instead of merely diving without contact.

Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.