Showing posts with label Eden Hazard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eden Hazard. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Hazard apologises to ballboy

Rafael Benitez has revealed Eden Hazard exchanged apologies at full-time with the Swansea ballboy(Charlie Morgan) that he appeared to kick during Chelsea's Capital One Cup exit on Wednesday.



Hazard was shown a red card deep into the second half of the 0-0 draw at the Liberty Stadium, after he showed his frustration when the ballboy refused to return the ball to the Belgian.



The youngster was helped away from the pitch as he winced in pain after receiving a boot to the ribcage area, but Benitez said both parties resolved their differences in a meeting that took place in the changing rooms after the match.



"I didn't see the incident from the bench, but afterwards the boy came in to talk to Hazard, and both apologised to each other," Benitez told Sky Sports.



"The boy knows he was wasting time, Hazard was frustrated because he wanted to get the ball back. They apologised, they made a mistake, and that's it.



"We're disappointed because we lost a player but the best thing is to move forward."



South Wales Police will not investigate the incident after the youngster said he would not press charges.



In a statement Chief Superintendent Josh Jones, of South Wales Police, said: "South Wales is aware of the incident involving a ballboy at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. We are making arrangements for him to be interviewed. South Wales Police takes such matters very seriously.''



However, the ballboy met with police at the stadium and revealed that he would not be taking any further action.



Reflecting on Chelsea's dire performance, which saw them barely threaten despite needing to score twice to rescue the tie, Benitez said the damage was done in the first leg.



"We didn't take our chances in the first leg, and we didn't take our chances in this leg. Credit to Swansea," he said.



The Chelsea boss also refused to blame referee Chris Foy, who turned down a first-half penalty appeal when Demba Ba went down in the area, saying: "It does not matter, we cannot change this. We didn't take our chances."

Friday, December 14, 2012

Top-selling official EPL player jerseys



Robin van Persie’s popularity at Manchester United since joining from Arsenal in the summer is demonstrated by news that his is the best-selling official Barclays Premier League shirt in North America this season.



Figures released by Sporting ID, which produces the names, numbers and sleeve badges of the Barclays Premier League, show that the United forward, who has scored 11 Premier League goals so far, leads his United strike partner Wayne Rooney, who was found to have had the best-selling shirt in the League’s history. In third is Chelsea striker Fernando Torres.

"North American soccer fans support the Barclays Premier League as fanatically as anywhere else"

Robert Thayne

United States striker Clint Dempsey is the biggest mover, rising to sixth after his move from Fulham to Tottenham Hotspur in August. Dempsey is the first US player to make the top 10 in North American sales.

"North American soccer fans continue to support the Barclays Premier League as fanatically as anywhere else, often waking at 4am to catch games on TV," said Sporting iD’s global sales and marketing director Robert Thayne. "Players like Van Persie, Eden Hazard, Clint Dempsey, Steven Gerrard and Jack Wilshere are top-class players playing for the biggest clubs in the world and their fans in North America are really no different than the ones who live in the UK.

“They are clearly showing their support of these players and their club by personalizing jerseys with official Premier League player names, numbers and sleeve badges.”



Top-selling official Barclays Premier League player jerseys in North America : -



1. Robin van Persie (Manchester United)





2. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)





3. Fernando Torres (Chelsea)





4. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)





5. Frank Lampard (Chelsea)





6. Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur)





7. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)





8. Javier Hernandez (Manchester United)





9. Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United)





10. Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)





Thursday, December 13, 2012

Premier League's top 10 dribblers

Dribbling has been described as an art form, as pace wingers and creative maestros slalom in between opposing players. The Premier League boasts some of the best dribblers and technicians in world football,Thanks to Opta, we bring to you the Premier League's top ten dribblers, in order of most dribbles completed (stats correct up to 13 December 2012).



Newcastle's slaloming Frenchman is top of the tree, completing over half of his attempted dribbles. Ben Arfa's impressive ability with the ball at his feet also sees him top the list as Europe's best dribbler so far this season.



Suarez has been Liverpool's talisman so far this season, finally finding his goal scoring boots with ten league goals. The Uruguyan is also leading the charts with the most attempted dribbles, however he has been pipped to top spot in terms of completed dribbles.





At joint third are Santi Cazorla is enjoying his brilliant debut seasons in the Premier League, with Cazorla showing just why he is one of Europe's top midfielders.





Raheem Sterling to become a "special talent" for Liverpool in the future, the wonder-kid justifies the hype surround his fledging talent.





West Ham's midfield enforcer come in at joint fifth, Diame joined West Ham from Wigan last summer for a fee of £5.5million.





QPR's Moroccan magician continues to impress despite they are still in search for a win.





QPR's Samba Diakite is arguably surprising entrants, He is very effective going forward, completing 30 dribbles this season.



Newcastle's Davide Santon is one of the most underrated player in Premier League with 30 dribbles completed this season.





Tottenham's understated powerhouse comes in at nine. Dembele has been a revelation since arriving in the Premier League, and has continued to impress since joining Tottenham earlier in the season.





At number ten is Chelsea's Belgian wizard Eden Hazard. The attacker has flourished since joining the European champions this summer and rightfully features in this list.





Thursday, December 6, 2012

Five reason why team-mates won't pass to Torres

Jason Burt on the lessons that Rafael Benítez will draw from his side's Champions League rout.

1. Apathy has replaced anger

There was a smattering of boos as he emerged from the tunnel but Rafael Benítez was largely ignored by the Chelsea supporters. There were the now obligatory placards and the chants of “One Di Matteo” but there wasn’t the bear-pit atmosphere of his past two home games. Maybe that was because of this flat Champions League occasion. Maybe the anger aimed at Benítez is subsiding. He will desperately hope it’s the latter.



2. David Luiz can be a leader

The Brazilian defender is so often pilloried for his lapses but here he took responsibility. After Eden Hazard’s woeful penalty was saved, and with Fernando Torres dithering, Luiz took the ball and drilled it into the net for Chelsea’s next spot-kick to gain the first goal. He was also a relatively vocal presence on the pitch and helped to drive his lacklustre team forward adding much-needed dynamism.



3. Team-mates are reluctant to pass to Torres

He may have scored twice but there’s a clear sense that the struggling striker has lost the faith of some of those around him. Time and again Juan Mata, Hazard and Ramires thought twice about picking out Torres’s runs and when they did find him the move often broke down. The celebrations for his goals were also muted. It did not add up to any sense of unity.



4. Ivanovic is struggling

He is not alone but, until recently, the Serbian defender had been a model of consistency. There were signs of frailty against West Ham, when he was bullied by Carlton Cole, and last night he was beaten far too often and failed to close down Joshua John for the visitors’ goal.



5. Hazard should dribble more

The Belgian started the season on fire, running with the ball, beating opponents, creating goals but has suffered a dip to his confidence while – rightly – his lack of work off the ball, especially defensively, has been criticised. However, he comes alive when he runs at defences as he showed when creating Torres’s second goal and needs to be encouraged to do more of the same.



Source - Telegraph