Erling Haaland / signs for Dortmund

[BlueHaze]

I'd take him or Werner. Two very good optios for us that fit the profile of what we need.

 

[Cliche Guevara]

A sideways step? How could you ever come to that conclusion? Was João Félix leaving Benfica to Atletico a sideways step? They are reigning Portuguese champions afterall and won 5 of the last 6 league titles there.

Dortmund has built a massive reputation across Europe to give up and coming talent consistent fist team experience and they have accepted the niche status of being sort of a stepping stone for some of the highest tier talent around.

They always let those players gain first team experience while challenging in league and CL and allowed them to leave when they wanted to take the next step (Gündogan, Hummels, Dembélé, Aubameyang, Diallo, home grown talent like Götze and Pulisic as well, likely Sancho very soon...).

How could you call that club (that also got to a CL final 5 years ago with a very young squad) a sideway step compared to Salzburg who literally are in CL for the first time EVER this year?

Because aside from the fact that you’re massively overrating Dortmund, which occurs with tedious regularity around here, Haaland has already outgrown that step and has the interest of top clubs now, apparently.

 

[kdmaka]

I hope we are in for him, if the release clause is true really is a no brainer. After that we trade Pogba for Odengaad +20 M?

 

[Inigo Montoya]

I hope we are in for him, if the release clause is true really is a no brainer. After that we trade Pogba for Odengaad +20 M?

Who the feck is Odengaad?

Another name pulled out of nowhere by someone who’s never even seen him play no doubt

 

[jadajos]

Because aside from the fact that you’re massively overrating Dortmund, which occurs with tedious regularity around here, Haaland has already outgrown that step and has the interest of top clubs now, apparently.

Please quote the part in my post where I "massively overrate" Dortmund, thank you very much.

I'm from Germany, actually, and frankly I think you're belittling a very good football club. I didn't even compare Dortmund to Manchester United in my post, don't worry you're still the much bigger club.

You already moved the goal post anyway, now it's no longer a "sideways step" but he has supposedly outgrown Dortmund.

Why don't you just admit that "sideways step" was the wrong term to begin with, I never get why that's so hard for people to admit to a minor mistake in an online forum. People won't think less of you, on the contrary.

In German media there have actually been reports that Haaland dreams of playing for big teams in the Premier League but he is afraid the step up from Austria to the EPL might be to big. If those reports where true the player himself actually would not consider himself too big for Dortmund or Leipzig.

Examples like Dembélé and Felix who had already been chased by all of Europe's finest also show that there will always be talent that comes from smaller leagues that prefer another stepping stone before moving to the absolute biggest sides in Europe.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Get in, that's us in with a chance then!

For the first time ever, I’m happy being called 2nd tier FC development

 

[::sonny::]

According to DiMarzio Haaland prefers a transfer to a second tier team like Leipzig rather than a top team as he feels his chance of playing regular football would be less restricted.

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Red bull Salzburg and Red bull Liepzig are the same club

 

[::sonny::]

They need to sell before they buy anyone, so calling bs on this...

Absolutely and they are in a critical financial situation

 

[onetwo3oclock4oclockrock]

Leipzig, unsurprisingly keen on Haaland:
Nagelsmann to ZDF: "Of course I would take him. He is a very good striker, who has an exceptionally good odds in his age. He is physically very good, not only able to score goals, but also to prepare. Unfortunately, we have nothing to announce, not even today. "

When he announce his interest on TV, they mean business. I'm sure Haaland would see RBL as a very good option, and i'm sure there are many people in RBS advising him to stay on the Red Bull path. So let's hope there is no release clause, cause they can't compete if the transfer fee is £50 mill+.

 

[troylocker]

Who the feck is Odengaad?

Another name pulled out of nowhere by someone who’s never even seen him play no doubt

Not that this trade will ever happen, but Odegaard is not just a name pulled out of nowhere.
He is the player with most chances created per 90 minutes in LaLiga (even ahead of Messi), earned the player of the month in LaLiga in September, has a left foot out of this world, world class vision, fantastic technique and crazy workrate on top of that. He's 20 and looks destined to play a major role in RMs new golden generation. On whoscored he is ranked 4th this season (Behind Messi, Benzema and Casemiro) in LaLiga, playing for Real Sociedad and the next player 20 or younger on the list sits down at 48th place. If available he would be a great addition to any team with ambition, can play CM, CAM, RM and RAM and we would be fools if we passed an opportunity to get him here. He is currently valued at 50-60M, has a release clause of 350M, contracted to RM to 2023 and Flo has unfortunately made it pretty clear he's part of RMs future plans.

 

[nyanza]

Not that this trade will ever happen, but Odegaard is not just a name pulled out of nowhere.
He is the player with most chances created per 90 minutes in LaLiga (even ahead of Messi), earned the player of the month in LaLiga in September, has a left foot out of this world, world class vision, fantastic technique and crazy workrate on top of that. He's 20 and looks destined to play a major role in RMs new golden generation. On whoscored he is ranked 4th this season (Behind Messi, Benzema and Casemiro) in LaLiga, playing for Real Sociedad and the next player 20 or younger on the list sits down at 82nd place. If available he would be a great addition to any team with ambition, can play CM, CAM, RM and RAM and we would be fools if we passed an opportunity to get him here. He is currently valued at 50-60M, has a release clause of 350M, contracted to RM to 2023 and Flo has unfortunately made it pretty clear he's part of RMs future plans.

What are his PPMs?

 

[Cliche Guevara]

Please quote the part in my post where I "massively overrate" Dortmund, thank you very much.

I'm from Germany, actually, and frankly I think you're belittling a very good football club. I didn't even compare Dortmund to Manchester United in my post, don't worry you're still the much bigger club.

You already moved the goal post anyway, now it's no longer a "sideways step" but he has supposedly outgrown Dortmund.

Why don't you just admit that "sideways step" was the wrong term to begin with, I never get why that's so hard for people to admit to a minor mistake in an online forum. People won't think less of you, on the contrary.

In German media there have actually been reports that Haaland dreams of playing for big teams in the Premier League but he is afraid the step up from Austria to the EPL might be to big. If those reports where true the player himself actually would not consider himself too big for Dortmund or Leipzig.

Examples like Dembélé and Felix who had already been chased by all of Europe's finest also show that there will always be talent that comes from smaller leagues that prefer another stepping stone before moving to the absolute biggest sides in Europe.

Don’t need a lecture from you, thanks, I know exactly what I’m saying.

 

[troylocker]

What are his PPMs?

Hehe! I don't play FM.
He would would be a perfect #10 here though. In Sociedad (and Vitesse last season) everything goes through him and he allways wants the ball, often picking it up deep, very good at escaping pressure, is an elite dribbler and a master at unlocking defenses.

This is a thread about Haaland though, so this is my last post about Odegaard here.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Not that this trade will ever happen, but Odegaard is not just a name pulled out of nowhere.
He is the player with most chances created per 90 minutes in LaLiga (even ahead of Messi), earned the player of the month in LaLiga in September, has a left foot out of this world, world class vision, fantastic technique and crazy workrate on top of that. He's 20 and looks destined to play a major role in RMs new golden generation. On whoscored he is ranked 4th this season (Behind Messi, Benzema and Casemiro) in LaLiga, playing for Real Sociedad and the next player 20 or younger on the list sits down at 48th place. If available he would be a great addition to any team with ambition, can play CM, CAM, RM and RAM and we would be fools if we passed an opportunity to get him here. He is currently valued at 50-60M, has a release clause of 350M, contracted to RM to 2023 and Flo has unfortunately made it pretty clear he's part of RMs future plans.

Pretty sure he knows who he is, he was taking the piss out of the spelling of his name. Odengaad is a pretty poor attempt.

BTW I agree he would be awesome in this team. He'd be our version of KDB. The only player in football i'd actually want to trade with Pogba currently.

 

[Samid]

Hopefully he kicks the dippers out of the CL tomorrow, joins us when the window opens, derails their title challenge at Anfield and then knocks them out of Europa in the semis.

 

[Redplane]

Hopefully he kicks the dippers out of the CL tomorrow, joins us when the window opens, derails their title challenge at Anfield and then knocks them out of Europa in the semis.

I'll have some of what you re having.

 

[Suedesi]

Why?

Dortmund offer a bigger stage, an actual football club with a big atmosphere, they offer more salary, they have one of the best track records in Europe when it comes to making the transition from highly rated youngster to top5 club material and they have better title chances (or at least bigger ambitions) with the accompanying moderate amount of pressure.

Leipzig have Nagelsmann. Perhaps they will sell Werner next summer, which on one hand reduces competition, but on the other he's also a major reason why they are doing well at the moment.

Nagelsmann can be a big factor if the player is a fan of his, so I wouldn't be shocked should Haaland sign for them, but as I've listed above there are plenty of reasons to prefer Dortmund as well.

Really? Seems like most transfers from BVB to other teams represent poor value. Nuri Sahin was super rated at the time, flopped at Real and Liverpool. Shinji at United. Gotze was money wasted at Munich ( hormone issues aside). Mkhitariyan was another busted flush and Gundogan has not really lived up to the hype with City. Dembele for that money is Other highly rated players like Emre Mor or Ginter have been meh. Season prior you robbed Chelsea for Pulisic, and Arsenal for Sokratis. Last season you sold Diallo to PSG, which admittedly I haven't really seen how he's doing.

Lewandowski, Aubameyang and Hummels aside have there been any other players that have done well post Dortmund in the last decade?

 

[Swarm]

Really? Seems like most transfers from BVB to other teams represent poor value. Nuri Sahin was super rated at the time, flopped at Real and Liverpool. Shinji at United. Gotze was money wasted at Munich ( hormone issues aside). Mkhitariyan was another busted flush and Gundogan has not really lived up to the hype with City. Dembele for that money is Other highly rated players like Emre Mor or Ginter have been meh. Season prior you robbed Chelsea for Pulisic, and Arsenal for Sokratis. Last season you sold Diallo to PSG, which admittedly I haven't really seen how he's doing.

Lewandowski, Aubameyang and Hummels aside have there been any other players that have done well post Dortmund in the last decade?

Aside from rating the performances of some of these players a bit unfairly I think you are looking at this from the wrong angle. Right now I feel like you describe the players not being good value for the bigger clubs but I would look at it from the players perspective. Almost all of the players you mention were very successful with Dortmund and then subsequently got a big money move to one of the european giants. From a players perspective that should be exactly what they may have been looking for coming to Dortmund. That it did not work out well for some of them can be due to a multitude of reasons, I'll pitch in my two cents:

• Sahin was rated very well, unfortunately he struggled with injuries when he got to Real. He was not a big money/marquee signing for them (€6m at the time I believe) and it was difficult for him to get into the team after the injuries. Has genereally remained injury prone subsequently and I believe if you were to ask him he would be very grateful having had the chance to play in the Bernabeu.
• Shinji always had the dream of playing in the PL and he got his dream. His first Dortmund stint was fantastic and he got to move to United when he wanted to. I guess you guys will know best, why he did not work out with you guys but I believe he was being used out of position quite a bit.
• Götze is difficult to judge because it is unclear how much his health issues influenced his performances. He did do okay for Bayern in his first two seasons. From the players perspective, he got to play for Bayern for three years as he apparently wanted to and got to win some titles.
• Mkhitaryan was a move I was quite sure would not work out well for him nor for United before it happened. Mkhitaryan was a player that needed to be comfortable and feel the trust of his coach to perform at his best. It was only in his third season at Dortmund that he exploded and I thought it was really stupid on his part to give that up straight away. Don't feel to bad for him that it did not work out but in the end he as well got his dream move.
• Gündogan is another injury prone player. I have not really seen a lot from him at City recently but I guess when he was healthy he is doing quite well and I would actually love to have him back at Dortmund, he is exactly the player we are lacking (except maybe for Haaland )
• The footballing ability of Dembele is worth every penny of the fee Dortmund got for him. Unfortunately the guy is an immature cnut and Barca got what they deserved for having a player go on strike to get his move. Also has been injured a lot, a bit sad to see his amazing talent being wasted but I can't help but take some enjoyment from it, his move definitely left me a bit bitter.
• Sokratis was pretty much past it when Arsenal went for him, not unhappy to see him go (performance wise, I like the hustle of the dude).

So all of the above players may not have been as good as they or their new club had hoped (yet) but all of them succeeded in Dortmund and subsequently got the move to a bigger club that they were looking for. For some of the it did not work out due to injury issues and some probably would have done better simply staying in Dortmund. I don't think any of them would regret their stint with us, most of them actually came back.

• Emre Mor is an idiot, he just does not seem to have the mental capabilities to be a professional footballer (yet). Did get a move to Vigo, has been struggling because of his lack of professionalism.
• Yarmolenko did not really work out in Dortmund, also due to injuries, got a move to West Ham.
• Maxi Philipp did not get the game time he would have liked and moved to Russia in the summer.
• Ciro Immobile flopped, he found it hard to settle in in Dortmund. Is doing great since he went back to Italy.
• Matthias Ginter was used out of position a lot in Dortmund and never quite made it into the first team. He has been doing very well for Gladbach since his move and made it into the national team.
• Kevin Kampl, Ivan Perisic, Alex Isak, Mikel Merino, Milos Jojic, Sebastian Rode, Marius Wolf have not really worked out in Dortmund and have continued their careers elsewhere, some more some less successfully.

These players could justifiably be unhappy with their stay at Dortmund, some of them have been doing quite well afterwards, some of them may simply not have been good enough.

• Lewandowski is the perfect mercenary for Bayern. Incredible player, I am not bitter over his departure.
• Hummels has done very well for Bayern as well and will hopefully continue to do well for us.
• Aubameyang is still scoring goals for Arsenal I believe

Admittedly a shorter list but these players have definitely been doing great at their new clubs.

• Pulisic can't really be judged yet, I think he will be able to adjust to the PL eventually, he is a great kid and a talented footballer. I hope he will do well, we will have to see what his ceiling is. That being said, Chelsea did pay a lot but I guess their circumstances helped us there.
• I can't really judge Diallo at PSG but he does seem to get game time and he got the move that he wanted.

Okay, all of this got way out of hand and I guess nobody gives a crap about all of this here I guess to sum it all up: I think a lot of these players have been doing well at Dortmund and their performances here brought them new opportunities in their careers. Most of them got the moves and deals they were looking for. Dortmund can hardly be faulted that it did not work out for all of them.

 

[Judas]

Wins like Saturday won't do us any harm in getting these type of players, big performances in big games get a lot of attention. That is of course if we're actually going to do any business in the window...

 

[do.ob]

Really? Seems like most transfers from BVB to other teams represent poor value. Nuri Sahin was super rated at the time, flopped at Real and Liverpool. Shinji at United. Gotze was money wasted at Munich ( hormone issues aside). Mkhitariyan was another busted flush and Gundogan has not really lived up to the hype with City. Dembele for that money is Other highly rated players like Emre Mor or Ginter have been meh. Season prior you robbed Chelsea for Pulisic, and Arsenal for Sokratis. Last season you sold Diallo to PSG, which admittedly I haven't really seen how he's doing.

Lewandowski, Aubameyang and Hummels aside have there been any other players that have done well post Dortmund in the last decade?

I don't really get your point in regard to Haaland. If you were his agent you'd tell him "look, better dodge Dortmund, they've helped less talented players than yourself to Real&co"?

 

[Swarm]

I don't really get your point in regard to Haaland. If you were his agent you'd tell him "look, better dodge Dortmund, they've helped less talented players than yourself to Real&co"?

That's what I was blabbering on about for half an hour in a nutshell

 

[Bilbo]

I find myself hoping for a Liverpool win tonight - a unique situation.

Lose and they join us in the Europa League, and a January Haaland transfer becomes impossible with Salzburg remaining in the CL.

 

[Samid]

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Get it done Woody

 

[Lentwood]

I've got to say I'm as much concerned as I am excited about the prospect of signing Haaland.

Clearly Haaland is a huge talent, you just don't score that volume of goals (including CL goals) at 19 without having something about you.

I've a couple of issues though;

1) Does he have pace....can he press/play counter-attacking football? I don't know because I haven't seen enough but looks more of a big man/goal-poacher to me?

2) Where does he play and how does that impact Martial? Don't get me wrong, Martial frustrates the life out of me but I can see a problem coming down the line if we sign Haaland and that forces Martial out of the #9 spot. It's a sad sign of the times but Martial would likely sulk and we'd have unrest in the squad again. Could we foresee a situation where we play two forwards, especially at home? Could Martial, James and Rashford play as a fluid 3 behind Haaland?

 

[Lash]

I've got to say I'm as much concerned as I am excited about the prospect of signing Haaland.

Clearly Haaland is a huge talent, you just don't score that volume of goals (including CL goals) at 19 without having something about you.

I've a couple of issues though;

1) Does he have pace....can he press/play counter-attacking football? I don't know because I haven't seen enough but looks more of a big man/goal-poacher to me?

2) Where does he play and how does that impact Martial? Don't get me wrong, Martial frustrates the life out of me but I can see a problem coming down the line if we sign Haaland and that forces Martial out of the #9 spot. It's a sad sign of the times but Martial would likely sulk and we'd have unrest in the squad again. Could we foresee a situation where we play two forwards, especially at home? Could Martial, James and Rashford play as a fluid 3 behind Haaland?

Bro, watch him tonight against VVD. Man has pace.

 

[Adam-Utd]

I've got to say I'm as much concerned as I am excited about the prospect of signing Haaland.

Clearly Haaland is a huge talent, you just don't score that volume of goals (including CL goals) at 19 without having something about you.

I've a couple of issues though;

1) Does he have pace....can he press/play counter-attacking football? I don't know because I haven't seen enough but looks more of a big man/goal-poacher to me?

2) Where does he play and how does that impact Martial? Don't get me wrong, Martial frustrates the life out of me but I can see a problem coming down the line if we sign Haaland and that forces Martial out of the #9 spot. It's a sad sign of the times but Martial would likely sulk and we'd have unrest in the squad again. Could we foresee a situation where we play two forwards, especially at home? Could Martial, James and Rashford play as a fluid 3 behind Haaland?

Yes very fast and presses well.

He's a poacher/line leading striker. Will drop in and get the ball to feet, then spin and dribble or pass it wide if required.

He's a born goalscorer, will score the tap ins we usually miss. Martial can drop deeper and be the playmaker.

 

[Adcuth]

He was first to get into the box

Good at tucking it away

 

[ayushreddevil9]

I find myself hoping for a Liverpool win tonight - a unique situation.

Lose and they join us in the Europa League, and a January Haaland transfer becomes impossible with Salzburg remaining in the CL.

You wanna watch them lift another UCL?

 

[RedSky]

1) Does he have pace....can he press/play counter-attacking football? I don't know because I haven't seen enough but looks more of a big man/goal-poacher to me?

2) Where does he play and how does that impact Martial? Don't get me wrong, Martial frustrates the life out of me but I can see a problem coming down the line if we sign Haaland and that forces Martial out of the #9 spot. It's a sad sign of the times but Martial would likely sulk and we'd have unrest in the squad again. Could we foresee a situation where we play two forwards, especially at home? Could Martial, James and Rashford play as a fluid 3 behind Haaland?

1) He's one of the fastest players in Europe.
2) We have no natural goalscorer right now and if we get an injury to Rashford or Martial our goalscoring nose dives. I posted the stats somewhere but our goalscoring when Martial was injured was abysmal, all of our attacking intent dropped on the shoulders of Rashford.

Now the real question is whether we should buy someone like Haaland (I think its a no brainer personally) or get someone happy to be on the bench. I think we'd rotate more if we had Haaland in the team and I think it would help all our attackers share the burdon as currently it's falling on Rashford and Martial to be our main attackers. We have no depth.

 

[rampo]

I've got to say I'm as much concerned as I am excited about the prospect of signing Haaland.

Clearly Haaland is a huge talent, you just don't score that volume of goals (including CL goals) at 19 without having something about you.

I've a couple of issues though;

1) Does he have pace....can he press/play counter-attacking football? I don't know because I haven't seen enough but looks more of a big man/goal-poacher to me?

2) Where does he play and how does that impact Martial? Don't get me wrong, Martial frustrates the life out of me but I can see a problem coming down the line if we sign Haaland and that forces Martial out of the #9 spot. It's a sad sign of the times but Martial would likely sulk and we'd have unrest in the squad again. Could we foresee a situation where we play two forwards, especially at home? Could Martial, James and Rashford play as a fluid 3 behind Haaland?

I have seen a bit of him during live matches (on TV) and loads of highlights. I think his biggest attributes are ability to run off the last man, ability to hold the ball, and being a poacher in the box. I think we need all those 3 attributes, especially the last one, desperately in the attacking player we sign - currently that is our biggest problem. I am not sure of his pressing, but other people might throw some light on it. Also, he is a left footer and I have noticed he often drifts to the inside RW position

On the 2nd point, just a thought, don't you guys think we can play Martial as #10, in the hole, behind Haaland? He is good with dribbling and can hold the ball. We can play that against weaker teams with Pogba and McT in a midfield 2. Against stronger opponents, we can probably push Pogba into #10 (with Fred, McT in the MF behind him) with one of Martial/Haaland rested

 

[SteveW]

I've got to say I'm as much concerned as I am excited about the prospect of signing Haaland.

Clearly Haaland is a huge talent, you just don't score that volume of goals (including CL goals) at 19 without having something about you.

I've a couple of issues though;

1) Does he have pace....can he press/play counter-attacking football? I don't know because I haven't seen enough but looks more of a big man/goal-poacher to me?

2) Where does he play and how does that impact Martial? Don't get me wrong, Martial frustrates the life out of me but I can see a problem coming down the line if we sign Haaland and that forces Martial out of the #9 spot. It's a sad sign of the times but Martial would likely sulk and we'd have unrest in the squad again. Could we foresee a situation where we play two forwards, especially at home? Could Martial, James and Rashford play as a fluid 3 behind Haaland?

We play over 50 games in a good season. Martial usually misses at least 10 through injury and can also play on the left when Rashford is injured or rested. I see no reason why both can't play more than enough football to be satisfied.

We can't not buy a backup striker just because the current one might get annoyed. We need 2 strikers.

 

[Holters]

I've a couple of issues though;

1) Does he have pace....can he press/play counter-attacking football? I don't know because I haven't seen enough but looks more of a big man/goal-poacher to me?

What? It's well documented that Haaland isn't slow. F.ex. he has been recorded running 36km/h in a match against Rapid Wien before. Cristiano Ronaldo was the fastest in the world cup 2018 at 34 km/h. As a comparison Robben, Bale and Mbappè has been measured at 37km/h. Haaland would fit well in a counter attacking system.

 

[Handré1990]

What? It's well documented that Haaland isn't slow. F.ex. he has been recorded running 36km/h in a match against Rapid Wien before. Cristiano Ronaldo was the fastest in the world cup 2018 at 34 km/h. As a comparison Robben, Bale and Mbappè has been measured at 37km/h. Haaland would fit well in a counter attacking system.

But what about Keane and his father?!

 

[Lentwood]

What? It's well documented that Haaland isn't slow. F.ex. he has been recorded running 36km/h in a match against Rapid Wien before. Cristiano Ronaldo was the fastest in the world cup 2018 at 34 km/h. As a comparison Robben, Bale and Mbappè has been measured at 37km/h. Haaland would fit well in a counter attacking system.

I was simply asking the question....looking forward to watching the Liverpool game tonight will be the first time I've seen him play 90-minutes

 

[podurban2]

What? It's well documented that Haaland isn't slow. F.ex. he has been recorded running 36km/h in a match against Rapid Wien before. Cristiano Ronaldo was the fastest in the world cup 2018 at 34 km/h. As a comparison Robben, Bale and Mbappè has been measured at 37km/h. Haaland would fit well in a counter attacking system.

He was just asking a question. But thanks for the info.

 

[DoomSlayer]

But what about Keane and his father?!

So that same Alf Inge Haaland is this lad's father?!? I'm sure he must hate Keane and will never join our club.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Halaad is definitely top young talent in Europe right now, so I'd definitely want him at United.
But to be honest, with limited budget and far bigger problems from our midfield, plus the impressive trio of Rashford-Martial-James up front, I'd rather spend money on 2 more midfielders first.

 

[Johan07]

What? It's well documented that Haaland isn't slow. F.ex. he has been recorded running 36km/h in a match against Rapid Wien before. Cristiano Ronaldo was the fastest in the world cup 2018 at 34 km/h. As a comparison Robben, Bale and Mbappè has been measured at 37km/h. Haaland would fit well in a counter attacking system.

He is definitely not slow, but using top speed as a measure of football applicable relevant pace is just plain wrong. It means practically nothing. There are very few moments in the modern game where any player runs 50-70 meters in a straight line which is what it takes to even reach your top speed.
In 2018-19 the player reaching the highest top speed in the PL was Fosu-Mensah for christ sake, not who you would classify as a high-pace merchant:
https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/premier-league-fastest-players-from-the-2018-19-season-revealed
Haaland has a very similar type of pace that Lukaku had when he burst on the scene and hadnt put on muscle yet. Haaland has physically matured already and if he is going to keep his pace he needs to not bulk up much more in the next couple of years.
To say that Haaland beats players like Salah or James, or even Rashford for pace over a 15-20 meter sprint, which is football-relevant pace, is ridicilous.

 

[troylocker]

I've got to say I'm as much concerned as I am excited about the prospect of signing Haaland.

Clearly Haaland is a huge talent, you just don't score that volume of goals (including CL goals) at 19 without having something about you.

I've a couple of issues though;

1) Does he have pace....can he press/play counter-attacking football? I don't know because I haven't seen enough but looks more of a big man/goal-poacher to me?

2) Where does he play and how does that impact Martial? Don't get me wrong, Martial frustrates the life out of me but I can see a problem coming down the line if we sign Haaland and that forces Martial out of the #9 spot. It's a sad sign of the times but Martial would likely sulk and we'd have unrest in the squad again. Could we foresee a situation where we play two forwards, especially at home? Could Martial, James and Rashford play as a fluid 3 behind Haaland?

He is as fast as they get, perfect for a counterattacking and high pressing team.

Check out the last goal in this one (88 minute counter where he does a 100 yards in just over 10 seconds)

I have seen a bit of him during live matches (on TV) and loads of highlights. I think his biggest attributes are ability to run off the last man, ability to hold the ball, and being a poacher in the box. I think we need all those 3 attributes, especially the last one, desperately in the attacking player we sign - currently that is our biggest problem. I am not sure of his pressing, but other people might throw some light on it. Also, he is a left footer and I have noticed he often drifts to the inside RW position

On the 2nd point, just a thought, don't you guys think we can play Martial as #10, in the hole, behind Haaland? He is good with dribbling and can hold the ball. We can play that against weaker teams with Pogba and McT in a midfield 2. Against stronger opponents, we can probably push Pogba into #10 (with Fred, McT in the MF behind him) with one of Martial/Haaland rested

Against weaker opposition I can definitely see us playing 4-2-2-2/4-4-2, with Pogba-McTom/Fred in the midfield and both Martial and Haaland up top, or the 4-3-3 you mentioned with great success.
Lovren and VVD will have their hands full tonight.

 

[Bobcat]

I find myself hoping for a Liverpool win tonight - a unique situation.

Lose and they join us in the Europa League, and a January Haaland transfer becomes impossible with Salzburg remaining in the CL.

Or....

Haaland knocks them out of the CL, Liverpool goes down to the EL, Haaland joins us in January either way and then knocks Liverpool out of the EL