Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Eden Hazard may well have joined Real Madrid at the wrong time after their heavy 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
It was a nightmare start to their Champions League campaign, as the French giants were missing Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani and still ran out comfortable winners.
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Madrid have been decimated by injuries and suspensions too, but ultimately it was not the start that Zinedine Zidane was looking for.
As per his comments below though, Ferdinand focused on Hazard’s performance and has questioned whether or not the Belgian international may have timed his switch to the Bernabeu wrong as they could be on their way down rather than competing for major trophies in the coming years.
“When you go to a new club, especially the size of Real Madrid, you have to earn the right to be the man who gets all the ball,” he told BT Sport, as quoted by The Sun. “He’s got to do something in the training games, in the actual games that he plays.
“I’m fearful for him that he’s gone there at the wrong time. This is a team that’s ageing, they’re not on their way up, they’ve not got much spark about them at the moment.
“That is going to affect him and reflect badly on him in the long term.”
What certainly hasn’t helped Hazard is the hamstring injury that he picked up prior to the campaign starting, as that would have disrupted the process of settling in the Spanish capital on and off the pitch.
In turn, while Ferdinand arguably does make valid points about the concerns facing Real Madrid and Zidane in the more immediate future, it may take some time for Hazard to find his feet, get back to full fitness and display his best form which in turn could change Madrid’s fortunes too.
What is clear right now though is that they haven’t had a great start to the season, having also collected just eight points from their opening four La Liga games, having dropped points against Real Valladolid and Villarreal.
