Eden Hazard won Europa League Player of the Season honors on Friday.
And it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
2018/19 #UEL Player of the Season!
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) August 30, 2019
Hazard was undoubtedly one of the most talented players in the Europa League last season. The former Chelsea winger had a terrific Premier League campaign with 16 goals and 15 assists and earned every bit of his $114 million transfer fee to Real Madrid over the summer.
But Hazard wasn’t anywhere near the best performer in the Europa League last season, let alone on his own team.
Chelsea played 15 matches in the Europa League on the way to the title. Hazard made eight appearances (four starts) for a total of 451 minutes — or about 33 percent of the available minutes. It’s astonishing UEFA was able to find enough clips of him for a highlight reel.
@hazardeden10 pic.twitter.com/UGbGZEBDuX
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) August 30, 2019
Hazard did have a stellar performance in the final, scoring two goals and an assist, but those were his only goal contributions of the entire campaign.
In contrast, Olivier Giroud played more than 83 percent of Chelsea’s minutes in the Europa League. The Frenchman registered 11 goals with five assists, including a goal and two assists in the final. You could argue that Giroud, Willian, Pedro, N'golo Kanté and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all had better Europa League campaigns than Hazard.
Hazard wasn’t even in the top 10 in Europa League goals or assists, and yet he was named the player of the season, with more than twice the vote as second-place Giroud (340-119).
What gives?
It could just be that the voters only watched the Europa League final and no other matches, because honestly, who actually watches the Europa League (besides me)?
More likely it has to do with Hazard’s connection to Real Madrid.
A star forward who now plays with one of the flashiest clubs in the world is a sexier pick than a beefy striker stuck at transfer-banned Chelsea, even if Giroud is the sexiest man this side of Tommy McNamara.
This isn’t without precedent. In 2006, Gianluigi Buffon had a good claim for the Ballon d’Or after winning the World Cup, but instead it went to his Italy and Juventus teammate Fabio Cannavaro, who had just moved to Real Madrid.
Could there really be a conspiracy theory that Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez rigged the vote as Reddit threads might have you believe? No, of course not; that’s preposterous. The award is voted on by the coaches of the 48 Europa League clubs and a journalist from each of UEFA’s 55 members. There’s no way anyone is getting that diverse group of voters in on one conspiracy.
More likely, people saw Eden Hazard have a great final and then immediately become a Galáctico, so therefore they concluded that he must have been the best player of the season, without even considering the facts.
Because anyone who actually watched the Europa League knows Olivier Giroud deserved Europa League Player of the Season.
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