Guus Hiddink Questions Eden Hazard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Comparison

Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink believes comparisons between Blues star Eden Hazard and perennial Ballon d'Or contenders Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are unfair and "difficult" to make.

Per Liam Twomey of ESPN FC, the Dutchman said:

"He can cope with it, but I don't think it's not always fair to make comparisons. Of course he's a fantastic player, but he's a different player also. It's difficult to compare and say 'You are on their level.' I've experienced him now and he's a fine player."

Hazard won the PFA's player of the season award for his efforts in Chelsea's title-winning campaign last year and was famously described as being better than Ronaldo by then-manager Jose Mourinho in the summer.

Despite his good form last year, Mourinho's comments were largely—and somewhat fairly—met with derision, and Hazard has done little to change that perception this season.

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

The Belgian has been one of the Blues' most anonymous and disappointing performers with no goals and just four assists to his name in 26 outings. 

By contrast, Ronaldo—who himself has been somewhat poor by his own standards and frequently anonymous this season—has bagged 25 goals and seven assists while Messi has 13 and six, respectively, despite missing a large portion of the campaign through injury.

Football writer Liam Canning believes there is little comparison to be made now, and even when the 24-year-old was in top form:

"

What's happened to Eden Hazard? At one point he was being compared to Neymar, now a shadow of that player.

— Liam (@OffsideLiam) October 24, 2015"

Of course, as Hiddink noted, their styles and situations are vastly different, so how useful direct comparisons are is certainly matter for debate.

Though Ronaldo typically operates from the left wing, as Hazard normally does, his game these days typically involves bursting into the box to finish a delivery made by Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez or Karim Benzema from close range.

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

Meanwhile, Messi usually starts on the right, and he is all about cutting inside onto his lethal left foot. In recent times he has also formed a terrific partnership with Luis Suarez and Neymar and the three move about the front line with incredible dynamism and fluidity. 

As for Hazard, he usually features on the left of an attacking-midfield three behind a lone striker—one who has been similarly poor this season in the guise of Diego Costa.

The playmaker is an exceptional talent and sooner or later will surely rediscover the form that put him in the conversation in the first place, and to do that he'll need to start making more incisive contributions to games, even if they aren't Ronaldo or Messi-esque numbers.

In terms of comparison with the two, Hazard has a long way to go before his name will be mentioned alongside theirs in any real sense once again.