Football news - The Warm-Up: The Eden Hazard saga continues
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Updated 15/10/2018 at 08:39 GMT
Well, it's not much of a saga but bear with the Warm-Up, it is international week. Plus, Laurent Koscielny savages Didier Deschamps and fair play to Gibraltar.
Belgium's footballer Eden Hazard reacts during a press conference
Image credit: Getty Images
Eden Hazard wants to leave Chelsea (on good terms)
Everyone knows Eden Hazard wants to leave Chelsea. He eluded to that fact last week, when it was suggested that he would need to move to Spain to win the Ballon d'Or:
That’s why I want to go, maybe.
Furthermore, for the non-believers, he said so during the World Cup. However, Chelsea stood firm, as confirmed by the man himself on international duty.
"Chelsea were clear to me, I could not leave, and I accepted it," Hazard said to Telefoot. "Leaving or staying, I knew I was going to be happy. I do not regret it at all. I will never clash with a club. If I leave Chelsea, I will leave on good terms."
Relief, Chelsea fans, or maybe not.
What exactly does good terms mean? Probably not going AWOL, like a recently-departed goalkeeper. However, the Belgian forward's contract expires in 2020. So next summer his bargaining position becomes that much stronger.
Leaving Chelsea on good terms might just mean saying to the club that he'll not sign a new contract, or in other words, forcing the club to sell him.
Good terms, indeed.
Hell hath no fury like a Laurent Koscielny scorned
Laurent Koscielny - remember him? - has retired from international football in a blaze of acrimony.
The 34-year-old's statement to Canal+ began, well, surprisingly - declaring that France's win at the World Cup had caused him psychological damage:
France’s World Cup victory did me a lot more psychological damage than my injury did me.
On first inspection, that might seem a strange thing to say. However, to be fair, a World Cup is the pinnacle of a player's career and to have the opportunity to win it taken away by injury must be devastating.
Koscielny's media training then set in, with him reeling off some of the usual tried and tested soundbites associated with such situations.
"I think that I have given everything I can for France, I am 33, I have done two Euros, one World Cup. France has a great generation of great players now. My injury does not change my decision. For Les Bleus, it is finished."
All fairly pleasant.
But then, bosh, out came the sledgehammer, aimed squarely at the jaw of Didier Deschamps.
"He called me once for my birthday in September," the centre-back said of his (now-ex) boss. "Otherwise, no. Lots of people disappointed me. Not only the coach. It feels like a hit on the back of the head.
"When you are in good form, you have lots of friends. When you are injured… after a certain period of time, you are forgotten about."
Pow. Ouch.
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Didier Deschamps, Laurent Koscielny
Image credit: Getty Images
Gibraltar win their first competitive match
Gibraltar info:
- population: 32,194
- area: 6.2km
- world ranking: 198
The above information has led the Warm-Up to the following conclusion: Gibraltar are dog awful at football because they have a very limited number of people to choose from and no space to play football.
Yet they just beat Armenia, who are ranked 100th in the world, to win their first-ever competitive game. That's an Armenia team who were ranked as high as 30 in 2014; an Armenia team who fielded Arsenal's Henrikh Mkhitaryan for 90 minutes.
Put simply, Armenia are no mugs. A fine win, and a fine performance. And deserving of some serious coverage.
Next up Liechtenstein. Go get 'em.
HEROES AND ZEROES
Hero: Peter Brackley
A wonderful man and a wonderful commentator. Rest in peace.
Zero: Modern life
What have we come to when this represents entertainment? End times, people.
HAT TIP
This, on Juan Mata, by Miguel Delaney, is very much worth your time.
It is the story of how a career can be diverted by making the wrong move at the wrong time, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mata should be an all-time great, yet is currently on the periphery of a pretty stale United team. He has won the Champions League, the Europa League, the European Championships and the World Cup. Yet, undeniably, there remains a 'what if' aspect to his career. Remarkable.
RETRO CORNER
While England continue to toil for creativity, a reminder that Matt Le Tissier made eight measly appearances for England. EIGHT.
Here are ten of his best goals.
COMING UP
Engerland against Spain is the big one. Where England will, in all fairness, take a shoeing. Picking the bones out of that one will be the very optimistic Nick Miller, who, like Juan Mata has won every major honour the journalistic game has to offer.
Nick Miller is also ranked 198th in the world and deserving of some serious coverage. He goes for glory in Tuesday’s Warm-Up.
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