Last week our great leader Stamford Chidge published his weekly column on Football.London, warning of a potential return of the Prince of Stamford Bridge, Eden Hazard.
In his piece, Chidge referenced the King of Stamford Bridge (or is that kite?) who returned to Chelsea four years after his acrimonious departure in 1974.
Like Osgood, Hazard left Chelsea in his prime and with the love and adulation of the Stamford Bridge faithful at its maximum.
His dream was to play under Zidane at Real Madrid and although we would’ve loved him to stay, we acknowledged that we wanted him to fulfil that dream.
Sadly for Eden, that dream has quickly turned into a nightmare. The Belgian has been unable to stay fit and often has returned from one injury only to be struck down by another immediately.
During his time at Chelsea this was never a problem, he was often hacked to pieces but managed to play week in, week out.
Is his injury record at Madrid a consequence of this build up over the years or is there something wrong at Real?
Cristiano Ronaldo famously used his own medical team and Gareth Bale finally has fitness after returning to Tottenham Hotspur.
The reason Osgood’s return was referenced by Chidge was because it went so badly. He scored just twice in 9 games (a record Werner can only dream of) and left that summer.
At the time, Chelsea were rooted to the bottom of division one, Osgood was coming back as the saviour of Chelsea Football Club, for Hazard, it’s to offer depth to the squad.
In a business sense, re-signing Eden Hazard makes little sense given he’s 30, on high wages and starting the decline down from the very high levels he set during his seven years at the Bridge.
But I say bollocks to the business. Eden is one of those rare talents who on his day can win a game on his own.
He excites you, makes you get off your seat, makes you believe that the impossible can happen.
We’ve been away from Stamford Bridge for so long we deserve to have that when we return.
The reasoning for not signing Hazard is the reason we’ve got midfielders who no longer shoot.
It’s why data analysis is more important to coaching in modern football than using a players natural ability.
Everything Chidge dislikes is the reason we shouldn’t go near Hazard.
Which is exactly the reason we should bring him home if possible.
Osgood was the King, Hazard is the Prince. The major difference is we’re not asking Hazard to be the saviour, to rescue us by falsely believing he can regularly reach the heights he did during those title winning seasons.
Tuchel already has the next generation in Kai Havertz and Mason Mount plus others who would be ahead of Hazard in the pecking order.
We’re just asking Hazard to excite us, to give us a reason to stand up and applaud the genius we’ve seen on the pitch.
We’ve been away so for long there’s going to be some disconnect, we’ve lost Frank Lampard, we’ve gained Tuchel and supporters haven’t really been able to have a voice heard.
Hazard is a player who can help us rekindle why we fell in love with football in the first place.
Sheer unadulterated joy.
So I’m sorry Chidge, but you’re wrong on this, our hearts should rule our heads.
It’s time to bring some joy back to the game.
