"He's the best player in the Premier League," claimed an animated Jamie Carragher, clearly taken aback by the goal he'd just witnessed
The Liverpool legend had just watched Chelsea's Eden Hazard slalom away from as many as six challenges before slamming the ball past Simon Mignolet to settle a Carabao Cup tie in his side's favour late on
It was another stunning goal for the Belgium international's growing catalogue and enough for Carragher to label the wing wizard as the finest footballer in the land
And undoubtedly, Hazard is one of the Premier League's biggest stars.His new manager Maurizio Sarri was suitably impressed
"[Hazard] is not only one of the best in the Premier League, if not the best, but he's one of the best in Europe and the world," said the Italian after his side's 2-1 triumph at Anfield on Wednesday
Five goals this season sees him at the top of the Premier League's goalscoring charts too, and there's no question Hazard has returned from the World Cup in the same dazzling form he showed for semi-finalists Belgium
Liverpool will come up against Hazard once more this week when they travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday and while much of the pre-match focus is likely to shine on the former Chelsea talisman, there may be one particular player on the opposite side with a point to prove
In his six years and 322 games for Chelsea, Hazard has netted 98 goals, with his season's best sitting at a solid - if not spectacular - 16 two years ago
In contrast, Mohamed Salah spent his first year with Liverpool obliterating records left and right with a 32-goal haul that saw him become the all-time Premier League top scorer for a 38-game campaign
When you consider the talent that has preceded Salah in England's top flight, it is some feather to place in your cap
It was the Egyptian who inspired Liverpool to a remarkable charge to the Champions League final, before his 44-goal season cruelly ended in tears after Sergio Ramos' skullduggery
His other-worldly performances saw him scoop the PFA and FWA Footballer of the Year award, as well as Liverpool's own in-house version of the gong
Salah's scarcely believable Liverpool record stands at 47 goals in just 60 games, with 12 assists to Hazard's 41
In six years, Hazard's best goal return for Chelsea was four short of a milestone Salah had reached by early February last season
To put it into perspective, Salah has exactly half as many Premier League goals as Hazard's 74 in what is just six games more than a quarter of the time
Boiling such world-class players' impacts down to bare, black and white statistics perhaps betrays the aesthetic joy that they bring to the game in different ways, though
The two best players of a generation have set the bar astronomically high and it is the standard to which other world stars - including Salah and Hazard - aspire to reach
Salah's appearance on the podium of FIFA's The Best awards this week is proof that the Liverpool superstar is being recognised on the world stage for his output, at least
Wherever you stand on the issue, there is no denying that Salah's goalscoring feats far outweigh his Chelsea counterpart's
To watch Hazard in full flight, it is easy to make such claims about him being the division's best
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét