He’s not got some poor stats, he’s got terrible stats in those games, even when they’re not against elite opposition. And isn’t every talismanic striker the main target for opposition markers? They all have to deal with it and loads of them still manage to do the business. Why should Haaland be above criticism? He’s won cup finals where he’s played poorly, so if anything he should be grateful to his team mates in those moments.
Haaland at City
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In the latest edition of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) chats to author, Dan Williamson, about his new book 'If I Hadnt Seen Such Riches' which chronicles our 1990/91 European Cup Winners Cup victory, which is a trip down memory lane for those old enough to remember it and a vital history lesson for those who don't.
The point that was being made was that he has a questionable big game mentality, not if they were big game players. Not scoring in a particular game doesn't mean you have a weak big game mentality. I never claimed he was a big game player, but his mentality is obviously elite, as was Henry's.
His mentality is elite, but he is obviously lacking in big games, those two can both be right. When people talk about Henry they aren't talking about pure goalscorer, when people talk about Haaland they rate him mostly because of goalscoring abilities.
Club or country he breaks records. He’s simply an outright goal scorer and doesn’t pretend to be otherwise.
Weirdly, it appears the more he scores, the more he’s slated
Weirdly, it appears the more he scores, the more he’s slated
On the other hand, if he goes three games without scoring, he's the worst striker the league has ever seen, and contributes zero. His job is to score goals, he is breaking records. But he doesn't escape criticism unless he scores a hattrick every game.Club or country he breaks records. He’s simply an outright goal scorer and doesn’t pretend to be otherwise.
Weirdly, it appears the more he scores, the more he’s slated
I think you’re leaving out that important of context bit where he’s being criticised for not scoring in semi finals and cup finals. No goals in 15 of those games is a pretty poor record for a guy that’s so prolific elsewhere. Strikers being criticised for failing to score in a lot of the biggest games isn’t a new thing, guys like Higuain have been slagged rotten for it for years. Even Henry’s getting it as some sort of defence of Haaland despite Henry not being a goal poaching number 9 who’s entire game is based around his goals.Club or country he breaks records. He’s simply an outright goal scorer and doesn’t pretend to be otherwise.
Weirdly, it appears the more he scores, the more he’s slated
With regards to finals he plays his part by knowingly dragging defenders with him wherever he goes.
Rest assured since he’s been at City they would not have won what they have won without him.
He would do well to become more like Firmino
Yeah same with Higuain. He actually really did his bit in these huge games just by being there. Of course in reality Haaland has just been poor in a lot of these games.
Haaland in a counterattacking system would break every record out there. If we had him, under Carrick we'd have a few more points than we currently do.
As a pure goalscorer, he is the best out there. So long as they stop throwing around hyperbole comparing him favourably to some of the greatest ever like during his first season, im totally ok with him being praised.
As a pure goalscorer, he is the best out there. So long as they stop throwing around hyperbole comparing him favourably to some of the greatest ever like during his first season, im totally ok with him being praised.
You are defending him too much. No player is exempt from criticism, no matter how great they are. There are people in this thread who are claiming that he is not world class. I disagree. He absolutely is world class. He's one of the most prolific goalscorers in the history of the sport.
But he absolutely has an issue with ghosting in big games. Everyone can see it except for those who want to defend him at all costs.
No one is saying he is a big game player. I'm saying he doesn't have a questionable big game mentality. He is ghosting occasionally against shit teams too, that's what those type of strikers do when they're not getting service or when they don't happen to score goals.. does that mean he struggle with his mentality against teams like Nottingham or Fulham too? He isn't a David Villa or Harry Kane type of striker, so obviously "ghosting" is going to be part of his game, doesn't say anything about his mentality. It's about his playstyle and his footballing weaknesses.
Ghosting is something a 195cm/94 kg striker does a bit more often than normal and smaller attacking players for understandable reasons, though. We do not put players into height and weight classes in football, but it still sets certain limitations that increase the chance of ghosting. The amount of potential involvement/favourable involvement for a 70kg Striker/winger and a 95kg striker in many games is wildly different.
You're not seeing any 94 kg players in football today running up and down the wing and creating chaos for 90 minutes. There is a reason why it was Lukaku that had 7 touches in a game he played 90minutes and not Chicharito.
Even the massive strikers with great ball control, like Zlatan, ghosted a lot in the knockout stages of the Champions League. I do not think Lucas Moura was better than Zlatan, but I have seen the ghost of Zlatan much more often when I saw them together.
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Isn't this just semantics, though? You want the great players to be big game players. I understand that he is someone who is reliant on service as opposed to one of those guys who can just conjure something out of nothing. But 15 games without a goal in semi final and final scenarios is a crazy stat. He's like the complete opposite of Drogba. He has all of the numbers and none of the clutch and Drogba has all of the clutch and none of the numbers.
Not saying he should win Premier League player of the year or any non-Golden Boot individual award, but is it not strange that a player with 7 more goal contributions than the closest player is not even in the conversation?
Yes, there are more factors to consider than goal contributions, but to me it seems like this is 60% about the actual performance and 40% about expectations based on club level and previous individual performance level.
Viktor G and Ekitike combined have 4 fewer goal contributions. And they are both in the top 10 for G+A
Yes, there are more factors to consider than goal contributions, but to me it seems like this is 60% about the actual performance and 40% about expectations based on club level and previous individual performance level.
Viktor G and Ekitike combined have 4 fewer goal contributions. And they are both in the top 10 for G+A
There is a perception that he contributes nothing when not scoring goals, which I think is a bit overstated. Or at least it gets a lot more attention, when he has a poor overall game. But I think he deserves to be in the discussion with the likes of Bruno, Cherki, and one or two Arsenal players.
26 goals
8 assists
34 games …34 goal contributions
8 assists
34 games …34 goal contributions
That's a poor season by his standards, though. He's usually banging in a goal a game, or a goal every 70 minutes. This season he's down to a goal every 110 minutes.
Gabriel made a goal-line clearance towards the end of the West Ham game.
I wonder if Haaland will come to regret not at least signalling to the ref that Gabriel had made contact with his headbutt?...
I wonder if Haaland will come to regret not at least signalling to the ref that Gabriel had made contact with his headbutt?...
Why would he? It was a failure by the officials not Haaland.
Had he made it clear that he felt contact it would have been less easy for the officials to ignore it in the manner in which they did.
The officials should have sent off Gabriel anyway, but Haaland not reacting whatsoever gave them an easy excuse to dodge making the decision.
But we want diving out of the game right. Players shouldn't have to feign injury to make up for incompetent refs. I don't think Haaland will feel bad. He might feel let down by the officials but I don't think he'll feel "I should have went down".
He didn't need to dive or go down - just put his hand to his face to indicate that he'd felt contact.
Will never fault a player for acting like a proper man. Refreshing to see honestly. The refs blew that incident. Like they have so many times in Arsenal’s favor this season.
His long run of failing to score in finals continues
I think with Haaland it's the visual aspect.
Brilliant brilliant goalscorer. Assist today but he goes through long spells in big games barely touching the ball.
When you go back 25 years you'd see an Henry picking up ball on halfway line and potentially about to have an amazing run. Or Shearer or Van Nistelrooy constantly getting on the end of crosses.
For Haaland to be seriously considered for Balon D'or he needs a top end CL season.
When Man. City won it in 22/23 he didn't score in SF or final. Same for the next season when he was scoreless in the quarters.
Other option is Norway have amazing run and make World Cup final and he scores 8-10 goals.
Brilliant brilliant goalscorer. Assist today but he goes through long spells in big games barely touching the ball.
When you go back 25 years you'd see an Henry picking up ball on halfway line and potentially about to have an amazing run. Or Shearer or Van Nistelrooy constantly getting on the end of crosses.
For Haaland to be seriously considered for Balon D'or he needs a top end CL season.
When Man. City won it in 22/23 he didn't score in SF or final. Same for the next season when he was scoreless in the quarters.
Other option is Norway have amazing run and make World Cup final and he scores 8-10 goals.
Felt for him today though. He was where he needed to be and put the ball in the back of the net once, and he was also placed perfectly to get two very big chances that Cherki decided not to give him.
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No doubting Cherki talent, though often a selfish/greedy fecker
Perez's Real Madrid presidential election rival has made signing Haaland and Rodri a part of the agenda. There seems to be a bit of a meltdown at City.
The levels of literal transfer muppetry to hold up a Haaland 9 jersey next to two fecking purple worm things, absolute cinema
Like anyone other than Perez is going to get elected anyway.
But it's still great to see Madrid deliberately trying to unsettle City players for a change.
But it's still great to see Madrid deliberately trying to unsettle City players for a change.
I wonder how many goals he'd notch if they did get banished to the Championship...
They've never had to deal with bigger clubs trying to poach their players in their prime.
With Pep & Silva gone, the likes of Haaland and Rodri might think about a move away.
Shades of Ronaldo to Madrid
You can tell it’s been ages since someone challenged Perez at Real Madrid when these shenanigans resurface.
And with City’s Scientology levels of litigiousness, it’ll be fun viewing.
And with City’s Scientology levels of litigiousness, it’ll be fun viewing.
I very much doubt he would stay if they were relegated, surely that big new contract he signed will have some kind of clause that allows him to leave the club if they are found guilty
Haaland Mbappe and Vini, will fun to watch the implosion
Pity the other guy didn't get elected.
Would have been nice to see them annoy City the same way they did to us back in 2008.
Would have been nice to see them annoy City the same way they did to us back in 2008.