July 17, 2023 — We took Eden Hazard for granted. The little shifts of weight. The small changes of direction to deceive a defender. This being one of those moments.

This clip from the match against Tottenham in 2016 that secured Leicester City their title popped up in my feed.

This is the point to watch closely. The magician is at work.

He was a master at manipulating his body to make the defender do what he wanted.

That move to shift his right foot back, to make the defender think he was going to try to pivot off it, to his right, down the wing.

Then the touch and scan to his left once he has the defender behind him sold that he was going to the wing.

That’s the difference.

Hazard has both defenders at this point. It’s done. They’re both sold.

He used the movement of his feet and hips to create the space, and then his low center of gravity got him out of the attempted tackle.

These little moments that go by in a flash, within a couple of seconds, are what we take for granted. It was routine then. Expected. It’s not routine for most.