What is it about Haaland that makes him seem so freakishly good? Something about his height, speed and ruthless efficiency. I feel like he’d make it pro in most sports.
Haaland vs Mbappe - Heirs Apparent
- Thread starter Pexbo
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It's his reading of the game as a striker and excellent finishing. On these aspects he is Lewandowski-like.
Haaland is far better.
If not for his teammates decision-making he'd have way more goals than "just" 9. Imagine if he played alongside the likes of Neymar and Messi instead of Foden.
If not for his teammates decision-making he'd have way more goals than "just" 9. Imagine if he played alongside the likes of Neymar and Messi instead of Foden.
I don’t think he could be in a better team..
Yeah. Lewandowski is way better on the ball though. Watch his all round game for Barca. At a different level to anything Haaland attempts.
Their similarities start and end with the instincts of being in the right place at the right time and hunger for scoring more.
Very very different players otherwise, aren't they? A bit weird how players from the same position can be so different yet effective at their job.
Its true. The amount of times he ignores/fails to set up players that are in better positions in favor of going for glory is shocking. I have seen him trip over his own feet when attempting to dribble past players. The flaws are plenty, to miss them you have to either not watch him for 90 minutes or just downright refuse to acknowledge it.
No it's not. Like every player he makes mistakes but Mbappé is a creative player and creates a lot for his teammates. The only thing shocking is your bad attempt at painting a picture that is far removed from reality.
He tore city up in the CL while playing in France. He has 33 goals and 23 assists in 53 CL appearances. Veratti and Marquinos plays in France. Can we not tell their quality?
And my point was limited to the two characteristics that I mentioned, Haaland doesn't have the all round game of the very best strikers of the last decades but some important aspects of his game are genuinely great and make him a constant threat.
I don't have any need to paint a picture and gain nothing from doing so.
He is "creative" in transition when there is time to make choices however I have been unimpressed with him against low blocks more than once and I have cited examples. You are not adding anything substantial to the conversation. Feel free to give some examples like I have done.
You are arguing with people that believe a random bloke playing for Brentford or Burnley is better than someone playing for Bilbao or Betis simply by virtue of playing in the almighty EPL.
As if Neymar in Brazil wasn't better than 99.9 % of all players in Europe. As if Hulk in Zenit or Oscar in China wasn't capable of playing for any UCL semifinal team. As if Mohamed Aboutrika wouldn't have a statue outside White Hart Lane or Emirates today if he had gone to Tottenham or Arsenal instead of staying in Egypt. As if Romario when he went back to Brazil wouldn't have been an automatic starter for every nation on earth.
He is creative in all scenarios. And I don't need to give you an example, you only have to actually look at his assists in 21/22 or watch games. I don't need to do more.
Im not sure "lads, just play the ball to Haaland so we score one" is any less "fear factor" than Mbappe doing stepovers and dribbling past defenders. Mbappe has had one season where he delivered a good number of assists: The last one. Prior to that, Him and Haaland had equal assist stats. On that note: Why are we giving so much credit to production in the French league for Mbappe while discounting what Haaland did in the Bundesliga as "He needs to do it in PL first".
Haaland shits all over Mbappes scoring goal statistics while playing for worse teams.
Mbappe is a way, way more technically gifted and versitaile player, no one in their right mind is denying that. Haaland is the best goalscorer in football next to Lewandowski.
You can ignore Ligue 1 if you think that it's so bad. He has the same stats in the CL, in fact both of them have which is why I will always question anyone that used it against both of these players. Statistcally or visually they are both very good and their outputs are consistents over multiple level of competitions.
2-2 on the first CL night.
Mbappe is clearly the better player to me.
The new Messi vs CR7… They are not as good as them, at least so far.
Eh? As far as CR7 goes, Haaland’s way more lethal at 22 than he was. Ronaldo was more fun to watch but as far as impact goes I don’t think you can claim he was better.
Mbappe needs to cut out the greediness.
Haaland the better finisher but Mbappe looks like he has that certain something.
Haaland though has looked good everywhere he's gone and it's only now he's playing in a luxury team
Haaland the better finisher but Mbappe looks like he has that certain something.
Haaland though has looked good everywhere he's gone and it's only now he's playing in a luxury team
He's a better goalscorer yes, but he's not a better player.
This is gonna be the new Ronaldo vs Messi, isn't it? They're both in their early 20's as well, so I guess we're in for a treat 
I'm Team Haaland, by the way.
I'm Team Haaland, by the way.
I'll always prefer players that can create something out of nothing if both are insanely productive, so it's Mbappe for me.
But Haaland is one of the most freakishly lethal goalscorers we've seen in history this early into his career. I don't really think that's debatable either. He continues on this trajectory and he'll be an all-timer
But Haaland is one of the most freakishly lethal goalscorers we've seen in history this early into his career. I don't really think that's debatable either. He continues on this trajectory and he'll be an all-timer
Haaland at 22 is far more the finished article than Ronaldo. How effective they are in their roles dictate that, and Haaland is definitely more effective in his role than Ronaldo was in his at that age.
Feel free to disagree, but I think that’s merely being blinded by style and the fact that Haaland naturally won’t be as involved in his role.
Neveminding that Haaland has been freakishly effective as a nr 9 for a few years already.
I think he might eclipse Ronaldo in CL goals honestly, frightening how good Haaland is
Mbappé's first goal showed what makes these two special. They're pretty much the only 2 players in the world who can score that goal, nobody else has the combination of pace, timing, skill and IQ for it. Maybe Mane, but that's about it
With anyone else Neymar doesn't even try that pass, defence would shut it down
With anyone else Neymar doesn't even try that pass, defence would shut it down
It's an absolute shame both of them play for those plastic Oil Clubs
Says a lot about where football is in this modern era
Says a lot about where football is in this modern era
Ronaldo at 22 was the best player in the world.
Lethal, sure. Ronaldo in 2007 wasn't lethal CR9 but CR7, who could tear up a rival all by himself in a way Haaland can't and probably never will. Nothing wrong with that, mind, it's a team sport and lethal is rather useful.
I think Haaland is better really, even though he is born in 2000 and Mbappe in 1998. Haaland will only get better as the season progresses and will get to know the team better.
Exactly. Ronaldo by that time you could just give the ball and he could go beat 2 players and create a goal on his own (and he got pretty consistent at it during this time and especially the next year). Haaland isn't going to touch the ball all that often outside of the penalty box. Which is fine, but I'm always going to value the all around game when we are talking about all time great players and splitting hairs between them.
Mbappe is just a freak. Still choose him.
Mbappe is a better football player and more fun to watch from a technical perspective. Haaland compensate with his brutal physics, mentality and positioning (goal machine)
Talking about impact, I think they are pretty equal, so I guess it’s a difficult choice from a managerial perspective. The choice all depends which players you have and what player you need.
Most clubs are in deeper need for a pure striker theses days, and the selection is low. The quality gap from Kane, Benzema, Lew and Haaland to the next tier is big. The selection of attacking midfielders and offensive more wide players is much better, and I think the gap to the next tier isn’t that big.
Thats why I think most clubs would’ve preferred Haaland, but example RM and Barca would’ve preferred Mbappe.
Talking about impact, I think they are pretty equal, so I guess it’s a difficult choice from a managerial perspective. The choice all depends which players you have and what player you need.
Most clubs are in deeper need for a pure striker theses days, and the selection is low. The quality gap from Kane, Benzema, Lew and Haaland to the next tier is big. The selection of attacking midfielders and offensive more wide players is much better, and I think the gap to the next tier isn’t that big.
Thats why I think most clubs would’ve preferred Haaland, but example RM and Barca would’ve preferred Mbappe.
A year later he was, yeah. He took a hell of a leap up after the 06/07 season. Haaland‘s been smashing it in that kind of way for seasons.
Weirdly, I consider football a team sport.
Anyway, clearly there are different modes of thinking about this, but there’s a real argument to be had for Haaland having had the better career to date compared to Ronaldo at the same age.
Yeah during the majority of 07/08 season he was 22. Turned 23 in the Feb of 08. He was the best player in the world that season. It wasn't just the goals. He was on a different planet to Haaland in terms of all round performance.
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They're not as good as Messi. I'm not sure how it can reasonably be argued that Mbappe is not as good as Ronaldo at that age (or younger). Haaland is a bit different because he's a purer goal getter than the rest, but if he breaks all Ronaldo's records then he will be comparable to Ronaldo as well.
Fair. For a CF like Erling it wouldn’t make sense to even try to do the things Ronaldo was doing, though. He is at his best when he concentrates on what happens inside that box. Narrower range, but as impressive IMO. If his team wins the CL and Haaland has chipped in with goals like he has so far, he’ll quite likely have his own Balon D’or.
Haaland is the player Ronaldo became later in his career. A singleminded, force of nature, goalscoring machine.
He'll never be the mesmerising genius Ronaldo was earlier in his career, but he'll end up with better stats because he's developed into this impossible to defend against animal earlier.
He could honestly break every record there is to break. If Mbappe wants to be remembered on his level a la Messi vs Ronaldo, he needs to join a club in a proper league soon.
He'll never be the mesmerising genius Ronaldo was earlier in his career, but he'll end up with better stats because he's developed into this impossible to defend against animal earlier.
He could honestly break every record there is to break. If Mbappe wants to be remembered on his level a la Messi vs Ronaldo, he needs to join a club in a proper league soon.
Agreed. He's an incredibly prolific goalscorer. There are no young players out there that compare to a 22 year old Ronaldo or Messi in terms of all round game and natural talent, therefore it is only logical that there will be such a heavy weighting attached to pure productivity. Right now, very few will better Haaland‘s numbers and with that comes the Balon D'or.
Aged 22 Cristiano had played a Euro final, narrowly lost a World Cup semifinal and was instrumental in us reclaiming the Premier League from a Chelsea side that had set all sorts of league records.
Aged 23 he repeated that feat and won the Champions League, scored in the final, top scored in the competition and got his first Ballon d'Or.
Methinks Haaland still has some way to go to match him.
Agreed. If you ask me who I’d rather watch I’d be taking Messi or Ronaldo, so I’ll agree they’re a cut above in a number of ways.
Now that’s some twisted arguing. So Haaland should be reaching Euro finals with Norway? It’s in no way comparable. The same way you can’t say that Pogba’s better than Ronaldo because he scored in and won a WC.
And Ronaldo was also part of an absolutely incredible United team, unlike anything Haaland has been a part of, under fecking Fergie. You’re either arguing in bad faith or blinkered.
Pardon the blunt phrasing. Xoxo.