Tribal Football

Ex-Lille coach Puel: Why Real Madrid never saw Hazard's best

Ex-Lille coach Puel: Why Real Madrid never saw Hazard's best
Ex-Lille coach Puel: Why Real Madrid never saw Hazard's bestLaLiga
Former Lille coach Claude Puel has recalled handing Eden Hazard his debut as a 16 year-old.

Puel spoke to AS ahead of Lille's Champions League clash with Real Madrid and was asked about working with former Los Merengues attacker Hazard.

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He recalled: "I saw Eden play at Lille when I was 14 because I went to see my son, who played centre-forward, and Eden played behind him, providing him with good balls and allowing him to score a lot of goals. That was the first time he caught my attention.

"I gave Hazard his debut in a friendly against Club Brugge. He was incredible, dribbling past four or five players in one move, then passing to his teammate who simply pushed the ball into the net. He had great football maturity and didn't feel under pressure in the box. That's the mark of great players, where you get the impression that time stops to make the right decision."

On Hazard's struggles at Real, Puel added: "Eden was never able to play to his best level, with all his injuries preventing him from performing, but at Chelsea, where he was voted the best player in the Premier League, he was fantastic."