The Case For/Against: An Eden Hazard Captainship

A fan favorite and unofficial member of the top five best players in world football, Eden Hazard is the brightest spark on a sad Chelsea team. He is highly capable and you can always expect a show whenever he’s on the ball, but do these charismatic features go hand in hand with a leadership role?

He would be a terrific captain if he were a bit more vocal and demanded more from his teammates. That’s something that was characteristic of the entire team this season during the decline in performances - that nobody seemed to speak up and demand more from his teammates. Hazard seems a shy and quiet guy - one who lets his feet do the talking. And in that vein it would be his performances that would give him a shot at being a leader, letting his dancing dribbles speak volumes and showing his teammates what they have to live up to.

He has the potential to be a game changer but he needs support to do so. If he were given the armband one wouldn’t expect to see him marshaling play and reprimanding underachievers on the squad. He would give them a quiet encouraging word and go about terrorizing the flanks, cutting up the defense to allow his teammates to penetrate the opponents. It wouldn’t be wholly unexpected to see him handed the captain’s armband - plenty of Chelsea fans would probably prefer it on his arm than Branislav Ivanovic’s.

So the fans like him, his teammates appreciate his skill, but he doesn’t fit the traditional role of a “captain, leader, legend.” You get the sense he’s just a kid that wants the ball and wants to make his team and club happy. That he’s gotten this far by keeping his head down and working hard in training. He’s not megalomaniacally narcissistic like Cristiano Ronaldo who would demand the captainship purely because of his name, and probably would’ve gotten it for Real Madrid too were it not for Sergio Ramos’ long tenure.

A captain should be someone who puts himself behind the team, and John Terry was a terrific example. He and Frank Lampard are members of a dying breed of leaders - the workmen who plug away without making a complaint. They honored the armband and knew what it meant. Eden Hazard is immensely talented, yes, but it’s difficult to imagine him in a leadership role. I would argue that I’d prefer it on his arm to Branislav Ivanovic’s simply because Ivan’s season has been just so poor. Though the Serbian had his glory days for the club, we are stuck with him for one more season and he will herald the armband - Hazard would be an interesting successor.