Nordic Ghost Yeti | Haaland at City

Gehrman

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He's going to be the greatest goal poacher of all time.
 

Rossa

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It is strange how everyone is praising Haaland for scoring two goals and being prolific, but there are posters in the Rashford thread saying Rashford was rubbish apart from two goals and one assist (!!!) against Arsenal.

Haaland had 5 (FIVE) passes and four shots in the first half against Sevilla. He's certainly not contributing much apart form the goals, but then again, goals are the most important part of football. And wasn't it Guardiola who said that you can get away with a lot when you score that many goals?
 

ForeverRed1

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I’m not so sure. What kept those other 2 at the top was their incredible record of not getting injured for 15 years at the top level.

For example for Haaland to beat Ronaldo’s all time goals record he has to score 45 goals a season for 16 straight years. That’s not going to be easy and who knows if he declined by 33-34-35.

He’s at a good pace but still very far off, it’s a long shot.
is that number including the goals haaland has scored already in his career?
 

ForeverRed1

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It is strange how everyone is praising Haaland for scoring two goals and being prolific, but there are posters in the Rashford thread saying Rashford was rubbish apart from two goals and one assist (!!!) against Arsenal.

Haaland had 5 (FIVE) passes and four shots in the first half against Sevilla. He's certainly not contributing much apart form the goals, but then again, goals are the most important part of football. And wasn't it Guardiola who said that you can get away with a lot when you score that many goals?
It’s laughable when people say haaland is a better footballer than Ronaldo, forgetting Ronaldo at his age was something entirely different altogether. Ronaldo is 37 now sure.. but at his peak he was a different beast.
 

tenpoless

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If you stop the ball from coming to him he will essentially turn into a statue. So it seems like the solution to stop this City team is to overcrowd midfield and do them dirty with tactical fouls. Keep in mind I cant even play football manager, the UI design is shit and gave me vertigo.
 

Gehrman

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It’s laughable when people say haaland is a better footballer than Ronaldo, forgetting Ronaldo at his age was something entirely different altogether. Ronaldo is 37 now sure.. but at his peak he was a different beast.
I don't think you will get many who thinks Haaland is an overall better footballer than Ronaldo in his prime years.
 

Champ

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Why does every player have to be compared to another.

Why can't Haaland just be like Haaland, much like there wasn't another player like Ronaldo during his reign?
 

V.O.

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It is strange how everyone is praising Haaland for scoring two goals and being prolific, but there are posters in the Rashford thread saying Rashford was rubbish apart from two goals and one assist (!!!) against Arsenal.

Haaland had 5 (FIVE) passes and four shots in the first half against Sevilla. He's certainly not contributing much apart form the goals, but then again, goals are the most important part of football. And wasn't it Guardiola who said that you can get away with a lot when you score that many goals?
I could very easily be proven wrong, and if he's what pushes them over the line in big games and ends up being what wins them a CL then fair enough, but so far all he's been is the difference between City winning 3-0 (Mahrez, Gundogan, De Bruyne) and City winning 3-0 (Haaland, Haaland, Haaland).
 

Rossa

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It’s laughable when people say haaland is a better footballer than Ronaldo, forgetting Ronaldo at his age was something entirely different altogether. Ronaldo is 37 now sure.. but at his peak he was a different beast.
Haaland is a brilliant finisher - one of the best around, but his allround game isn't close to what Ronaldo used to do, and I would argue is still better than Haaland. Haaland isn't a player to pick the ball up and go past players for fun. He has all the speed in the world, but he uses that to run onto balls, not carrying it over distance. He's not a dribbler, and he's not a great passer. His technical abilities are definitely good enough, but comparing him to Ronaldo is just plain wrong - might as well compare him to Messi - completely different styles.
 

Rossa

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Why does every player have to be compared to another.

Why can't Haaland just be like Haaland, much like there wasn't another player like Ronaldo during his reign?
Completely agreed. You can compare their goal scoring outputs, but as players they are nothing alike.
 

Rossa

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I could very easily be proven wrong, and if he's what pushes them over the line in big games and ends up being what wins them a CL then fair enough, but so far all he's been is the difference between City winning 3-0 (Mahrez, Gundogan, De Bruyne) and City winning 3-0 (Haaland, Haaland, Haaland).
It will be interesting to see, for sure. He's not one to improve their overall play, but his abilities in and around the box are absolutely first class. Also, his speed and strength adds a new dimension to City who had become very loaded with similar types of players in attack.
 

Gehrman

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Why does every player have to be compared to another.

Why can't Haaland just be like Haaland, much like there wasn't another player like Ronaldo during his reign?
You seem to have missed out on the Messi vs Ronaldo thread
 

Champ

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Completely agreed. You can compare their goal scoring outputs, but as players they are nothing alike.
Yeah that's definitely true, by all means compare stats like goals, but as you say they are nothing like one another in terms of players.
 

RedCurry

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Just out of interest - why is it happened in City’s 2 draws in the PL?
His performance against Newcastle wasn’t too bad but wasn’t special either.

Against Aston Villa they had a good plan against him. He had 0 dribbles, 0 aerials won, 0 touches inside the opposition penalty box until 50th minute. He had total 27 touches of the ball for the entire game, which is the lowest from a City player having played 90 mins including the keeper. As a comparison Watkins had 25 touches even though Villa only had 28% possession. So they definitely found a way to cut his supply and made him drop deeper. But also, he was virtually non-existent in the build up play. But they allowed one great cross to get into the six yard box and he scored.

I would imagine that you want to try and force him to do things he doesn’t like doing.
 
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Manchester Dan

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Just out of interest - why is it happened in City’s 2 draws in the PL?
Didn’t he score in both of them? You can’t put every result on his head but what is clear to me is that he has two outstanding qualities which suit the two types of games we encounter on a weekly basis.

1. Movement in the box and ability to get in front of the defender. Perfect for teams who come and sit deep all game against us. Since Aguero left we’ve really struggling in these types of games at times to break teams down and Haaland offers us something completely different to be able to do that.

2. Running in behind against a high line. Pace, Power, Composure. And with KDB the one feeding the balls through, the teams that try to go toe to toe with us in the middle of the park leave lots of space in behind for him to find. Madrid at home last year is a perfect example. We won 4-3 but with Haaland that tie would have been over.

I think what his game has enough about it to be a constant threat in both types.
 

SilentWitness

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I don’t think he gets any total goalscoring records this season but that’s not because of his talent. I just think at some point he’s going to get injured during a run of games.
 

Noot

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People were calling me a troll for saying this, but guess I'm not the only one. Anyone with a pair of working eyes should already be able to come to this conclusion. It's just that people don't even watch football anymore. They judge players based on Sofascore and Whoscored.com. Either way, Alvarez is taking over very soon!



https://www.marca.com/en/football/manchester-city/2022/09/06/63172c1b46163f9b6f8b4596.html
Having another person share your ridiculous opinion doesn't make it not ridiculous.
 

Gehrman

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I don’t think he gets any total goalscoring records this season but that’s not because of his talent. I just think at some point he’s going to get injured during a run of games.
It's very possible. If he stays fit he'll get the highest tally in a PL season ever.
 

Noot

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For all we were told that Haaland can't pass, can't dribble, won't press, won't link up play and won't help out defensively- so far he's looked perfectly good at all of those things.
 

SilentWitness

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It's very possible. If he stays fit he'll get the highest tally in a PL season ever.
I think if he stays fit he will, yes. I just don't think he will. History says he will get at least one lengthy injury.
 

Heinzesight

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Would never wish injury on a player, but an awful case of the shits the morning of the derby would certainly be a boost.
 

SilentWitness

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History isn't a guarantee though. Norway aren't in the world cup so that will be a mini break for him so maybe it will help him stay fresh for the entire season ?
It isn't but I wouldn't be surprised if clubs tactic to deal with him would be to try and start being a bit dirty in their tackles with him. It just depends when he gets injured.
 

The holy trinity 68

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They are more predictable with Haaland in the team, they aren't as good a team as a couple of seasons ago. He will score so many goals but they don't have as much variety now.
 

captaincantona

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The Premiere League is a different animal to Football on the continent if you like. PL Teams happily set up their entire game plan to get a nil nil and have become quite effective at anti football against top sides. They haven’t gotten to grips with Haaland yet…but it’s only a matter of time before they do. That may not effect the net result which is that City will just have more space for Foden/Bernardo/Gundogan etc to start scoring more but I don’t expect Haaland to continue to score at this rate. He will score 30 goals no doubt but he won’t have it all his own way.
 

Samid

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History isn't a guarantee though. Norway aren't in the world cup so that will be a mini break for him so maybe it will help him stay fresh for the entire season ?
Yes those 6 weeks are key in terms of conditioning. Also in previous seasons he looked like a kid in a gigantic body which potentially made him prone to injuries.

Not to mention City don't do lengthy injuries. Dr. Cugat makes sure of that.
 

Chief123

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He hasn't even come up against a top defence/CB in the PL yet.

Jeez.
To be fair in the community shield he played Liverpool who had their best defence out. Despite not scoring, he could easily have had a hat trick that day. It wasn’t because of their defence he didn’t. It’s because he didn’t quite have the match sharpness.
 

Escobar

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They are more predictable with Haaland in the team, they aren't as good a team as a couple of seasons ago. He will score so many goals but they don't have as much variety now.
I doubt that will matter in the big picture. They win their games, he scores, that all that matters.
 

TsuWave

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So much panic. A player scoring for City isn’t exactly groundbreaking stuff. Get a hold of yourselves
 

Bebestation

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So he's *really* the next Cristiano then .p
Haaland is going to perform in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and his national team. 4 leagues and 1 national team where he might be even viewed as their best ever one day.

That’s when people realize that Messi couldn’t really do it France & isn’t even viewed the best in his country ;)
 

SilentWitness

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They are more predictable with Haaland in the team, they aren't as good a team as a couple of seasons ago. He will score so many goals but they don't have as much variety now.
Don't you think they were predictable without Haaland? They play the same all the time but it's rarely stoppable.