Nordic Ghost Yeti | Haaland at City

[stoinz]

He reminds me a bit like Lebron James, direct, fast and powerful. Hate to say it but I think he will do very well in that City team.
Now we just need a rival for him so we can potentially those crazy output like Ronaldo Messi rivalry.

 

[Sir Erik ten Hag]

We have fecking Martial and they got that beast. Its unreal how far behind we are. After WC he will be fully rested too and roaring to go while others are shattered

I blame Spurs and Levy though. If they accepted City's 100 millions bid last year for Harry Kane, they wouldn't have gotten Haaland.

 

[DoneDaDa]

He's scoring a goal every 44 mins. 12 shots on target 9 goals.

 

[little.triangles]

Does he have a buy-out clause in his city contract? Is that not the reason United did not get him a year or two ago?

I can only hope Real Madrid will pay it after a couple of seasons.

 

[giorno]

He’s a weird one. He offers the same kind of problems Ronaldo did for us but because he isn’t 37 it’s not viewed the same way

No, it's not viewed the same way because the guy has 9 goals in 5 games for the best attack in the league....there is simply no amouny of "problems" a player can create that he can't solve by averaging 2 goals per game....

 

[Bondi77]

The white Lukaku strikes again!

 

[jesperjaap]

He's an absolute menace in and around the box, and I don't doubt one second he'll smash the PL goal records if he stays fit. Ballons d'Or he'll win some. However I can't for the life of me understand how people find similarities with R9. They are completely different kind of strikers. R9 was a much better rounded striker and he still is to this day the best number 9 that ever graced a football pitch. If any, Haaland has the upper hand in terms of heading ability.

Agree, totally different players, but go outside of the box and any comparison is laughable with almost any striker to Ronaldo, that isnt a slight on Haaland. The only similarity is his power running from deep with the ball, Haaland is superb at that and it is something I think we wont see much of at City sadly with there possesion based football.

Around the box Haaland really is phenomenal for his age though, he could be an all time great in that sense.....again though...not a patch on ROmario

Will always be comparisons of top players with players from the past and in all honesty it is hard to compare as football in many facets is a totally different game now.

There are lots of very good players and we have lucky to be graced by Ronaldo and Messi for such a long time who are starting to fade.

Personally though, Brazilian Ronaldo in his prime and Maradona are the two best players I have seen in my lifetime the very best players from that era and from this era are always going to fall short

 

[Sir Erik ten Hag]

Haaland looks like Daemon Targaryen. And we know how much of a beast he is.

 

[MinGin]

I blame Spurs and Levy though. If they accepted City's 100 millions bid last year for Harry Kane, they wouldn't have gotten Haaland.

Then you should ble Woodward to refuse to add the release clause before he moved to Germany, he might not direct go to City at least

 

[MinGin]

He's scoring a goal every 44 mins. 12 shots on target 9 goals.

It is not difficult to predict it, He was already be a monster of goalscorer in Germany, and now behind him, there is a one of the best chance created team. There is only injury to stop him.

 

[Suv666]

Would be gobsmacked if City don't win at least one CL in the next 2-3 years

 

[JawZ]

Would be gobsmacked if City don't win at least one CL in the next 2-3 years

Let's hope they don't.

 

[FattyFooty]

Ok. Haaland is nowhere near Ronaldo and never will be. He is great poacher and will score shit load of goals in his career and will become (if not already) one of the best no9s in the world.
But Haaland depends on team (as you could see when he plays for Norway). Ronaldo was attack by himself. Just as Mbappe (not on Ronaldo's level) is.
Haaland doesn't have half of talent which Ronaldo or Mbappe or Messi have. It is complete blasphemy for me to put him in same sentence with R9

But yes, he is excellent goalscorer.

Eh?

On national team R9 had way better team around him, and Haaland is on a very limited national side. He still scores for fun there.

 

[FattyFooty]

This.

20-25 years ago the UCL wasn't as imbalanced as it is now, there were less teams playing the competition, the gap in quality between the top teams and medium teams was smaller, and high quality players didn't move to rich teams as soon as they turned 18-19.

For example, Shevchenko played for Dynamo Kiev until he was 23 years old, no way someone of that quality would be playing till that age for a ukrainian team nowadays...he would be signed by a rich team as soon as he turns 18-19, and that would totally weaken Dynamo Kiev performances in Europe (if they quality for european tournaments).

Same thing with Hristo Stoichkov, who played for CSKA Sofia till he was 24 years old.

Imagine nowadays players with the quality of Stoichkov,Nedved, Shevchenko,Figo, etc playing for their home team till they are 23-24 years old... impossible.

Or example with Haaland he played half hes games for Salzburg and rest for Dortmund.

And he scores for fun against way better teams.

 

[nickyboy1981]

He is on fire at the min. As always though, Peps teams dominate against weaker opposition. They did this without Haaland.

City's start has been insanely easy. They have played struggling teams so far and only had one test, which they drew. It will be interesting to see how he/they fair against elite opposition.

 

[Oluwaplumpie]

I don't get what we're arguing about. Man's just a fantastic finisher. Simple as. He does a striker's job extremely well.

 

[RedCurry]

I don't get what we're arguing about. Man's just a fantastic finisher. Simple as. He does a striker's job extremely well.

I don’t think anyone is arguing that he’s a good player? Although, tapping into an empty net for two out of three goals aren’t great finishes, just a poacher’s instincts, which are ever so rare these days.

 

[Reij]

Halland is a striker through and through, depends very much on the team for feeding.

Even if he would go on to score for fun in his career, less than 1% of goals would be because of him creating his own chances or bail the team out when they play bad, I've seen this at Dortmund.

There is a reason Mbappe is in a higher pecking order, he has more to his game for now at least.

As for comparing him to R9, he doesn't have the range of abilities.

Ronaldo(R9) since '95 - '96 (age 19-20) was already carrying the expectations of the football world to be the next monumental player next to Pele.

He was the best player in the world for at least 3 seasons (96/'97 - '97'98/ - '98-'99) and nobody is contesting that, before his knees giving up on him.

The same thing with Messi, very early on fans and media were going on and on about the second coming of Maradona and expecting him to dominate the game above all others, which he did.

I haven't seen Pele and Maradona so I won't comment on them.

In '70 and early '90 the best players were around the same quality so no monumental player appeared or was talked about in the same vein as the above 2.

The difference between those 4 and the rest is that they could decide games by their own ability almost on a routine basis, effortlessly dominate and impose themselves on the game.

Where as for others it was an on an off thing. Sometime a good run of form for a while and disappearing or have what people call 'moments of brilliance' for example Zidane, Kaka, Papin, Matthaus or Lewandowski, Benzema, Baggio, Xavi, Nedved.

Nobody is contesting that other players aren't greats. I for one would put CR7 and Ronaldinho just below the other 4 into an independent tier, above the rest of 'best's', because their brilliance was pretty much equal with the other 4 for a time.

 

[Zen]

Messi scored 39 goals at age 21, and 47 goals at age 22 while playing as a playmaker/ wide player. Similar numbers to R9. So its not only Haaland and Ronaldo9 boasting big numbers upto age 22. Before age 21 he had injury issues but when match fit was prolific. Messi only started playing as a false 9 later around 2011/12.

Ronaldo's (Portuguese) birth as a prolific goalscorer came in 07/08 at age 22/23 when he scored 42 that season. He has since played as an inside/second forward/wide forward feeding of his strike partner. And has been a supreme goalscorer. You can say his goalscoring came later.

Ronaldo9 and Haaland are centre forwards. R9 was ALOT better technically than Haaland. But both have been prolific from an early age. I think that Haaland is a fantastic goalscorer and can break alot of records but, for me, what separates a R9 from a Haaland is the allround game. Simple.

Although, unfortunately, mordern football has been reduced to the numbers game principally the goal stats and it is not inconceivable that with time Haaland will be proclaimed a GOAT candidate purely on numbers similar to our own Cristiano (who while also boasting a better allround game than Haaland, doesn't reach elite levels).

My opinion is that the player considered the best attacker in the world should be the one who is able to influence the outcome without necessarily scoring. He should be able to unbalance the opponent, create chances for himself and others and regularly create danger for the opponent. He can be a striker, a winger, an attacking midfielder, or a no 10.

Messi and Ronaldo didn’t become excellent scorers, the only point here, position is irrelevant until their age 22 seasons. On a per 90 minute basis, basically at or near 1 per 90. Don’t over complicate things…. because no one is direct comparing the players as wholes, mainly them as SCORERS. This isn’t a modern stat thing either…. were talking the goal, a stat as old as football.

 

[Arthur Pewty]

Eh?

On national team R9 had way better team around him, and Haaland is on a very limited national side. He still scores for fun there.

Indeed. I think you could say that when he scored 9 himself in one Norway game.

 

[Arthur Pewty]

City's start has been insanely easy. They have played struggling teams so far and only had one test, which they drew. It will be interesting to see how he/they fair against elite opposition.

Yes because City have really struggled against the top sides over the past 5 seasons, haven't they. Winning only 4 PL titles not 5. And now City are much weaker with the arrival of Haaland, it will be interesting to see how much more they will struggle.

????? W. T. F. ????

 

[Arthur Pewty]

He's got a release clause at city hes blatantly going in 2/3 years,

I remember people wishfully saying similar about Pep nearly 6 years ago.

 

[justsomebloke]

The thing that’s surprised me the most about him is the ‘right place right time’ aspect. He’s been phenomenal at that. But I do think it’s too early to be sure that he’ll continue in this vein. Not enough games, and none at all (I think) against the big boys.

On the other hand, his career didn't start five games ago. He's had plenty of games against the big boys.

But he can hardly be expected to continue in this vein - if he does, he'll score more than 60 PL goals, which would be absurd. Even if he stays healthy you have to expect that there'll be dry spells (or at least drier spells). But it does seem extremely likely he'll be top scorer this season, and the PL single season scoring record looks like a very real possibility.

 

[justsomebloke]

These are all once in a lifetime type players. Every young player who emerges to score lots of goals early on is not likely to wind up in that category - certainly not in the Ronaldo - Messi pantheon where they dominate world football for an entire decade, win 4/5 CLs and score 700-800 goals in a career playing in a major European league.

Yes, but you're missing the obvious point, which is that there is no "every young player who" aspect here. No one has ever done what Haaland has done in the CL at a similar age. Not Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi either. The level of dominance he achieved as a teenager and in his early 20s is simply unique.

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

He has 9 goals in his first 5 matches, which is the most anyone has scored in their first 5 matches in the Premier League. Given that he's almost at double digits after 5 matches, he must be a real threat to shatter the all time Premier League record for most goals in a season (34, by Shearer and Cole/ 32 by Salah in the the 38 match format).

Here are the strikers with the top 10 goals per game averages in the Premier League era:

1. Thierry Henry – 0.68 goals-per-game
2. Sergio Aguero – 0.67 goals-per-game
3. Harry Kane – 0.65 goals-per-game
4. Mohamed Salah – 0.64 goals-per-game
5. Ruud van Nistelrooy – 0.63 goals-per-game
6. Luis Suarez – 0.63 goals-per-game
7. Diego Costa – 0.58 goals-per-game
8. Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang – 0.53 goals-per-game
9. Robin van Persie – 0.51 goals-per-game

The likes of Ronaldo and Demba Ba are at 0.44 goals/game, for comparison. I don't think 0.7 goals/game is unattainable for someone this good. He has a good chance to break the all time Premier League mark for most goals, and to set the record for the highest goals per game average in the Premier League era.

 

[Kostov]

They have this beast, probably made somewhere in a lab in Norway, and we have a Martial made of glass.

 

[NicolaSacco]

On the other hand, his career didn't start five games ago. He's had plenty of games against the big boys.

But he can hardly be expected to continue in this vein - if he does, he'll score more than 60 PL goals, which would be absurd. Even if he stays healthy you have to expect that there'll be dry spells (or at least drier spells). But it does seem extremely likely he'll be top scorer this season, and the PL single season scoring record looks like a very real possibility.

True- At 1.8 goals per game he’s currently on track for 68 goals this season! Absolutely absurd.
I understand what you mean about his career not starting this season. To be clear I think he’ll be a huge success in the PL, but great strikers have come here and not lived up to expectations so I’m just saying it’s a bit early to be certain he’ll be a success.

 

[B20]

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[Anderson_7_]

This thread is nauseating to read. So many of our fans gleefully counting goals of a player who openly hates our club.

All this hype and hysteria around Haaland is what happens when you let stats rule your way of thinking. Haaland is an average, one-dimensional player and most of his goals are either simple tap-ins or 1-1 with the keeper. I think everyone who has actually watched him play should come to this same conclusion. He's not a game changer or anything special. He's not even the best youngster in that City team (Alvarez is) and yet you have people comparing him to prime Ronaldo and Messi. He shouldn't even be compared to Mbappe, let alone legends. Please get serious!

 

[nickyboy1981]

Yes because City have really struggled against the top sides over the past 5 seasons, haven't they. Winning only 4 PL titles not 5. And now City are much weaker with the arrival of Haaland, it will be interesting to see how much more they will struggle.

????? W. T. F. ????

You think City havent struggled against the top sides who can actually get more than 20% of the ball and have a go at their shoddy defense?

How many champs leagues have they won?

 

[JustAGuest]

He has 9 goals in his first matches, which is the most anyone has scored in their first 5 matches in the Premier League. Given that he's almost at double digits after 5 matches, he must be a real threat to shatter the all time Premier League record for most goals in a season (34, by Shearer and Cole; 32 by Salah with the 38 match format).

Here are the strikers with the top 10 goals per game averages in the Premier League era:

1. Thierry Henry – 0.68 goals-per-game
2. Sergio Aguero – 0.67 goals-per-game
3. Harry Kane – 0.65 goals-per-game
4. Mohamed Salah – 0.64 goals-per-game
5. Ruud van Nistelrooy – 0.63 goals-per-game
6. Luis Suarez – 0.63 goals-per-game
7. Diego Costa – 0.58 goals-per-game
8. Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang – 0.53 goals-per-game
9. Robin van Persie – 0.51 goals-per-game

The likes of Ronaldo and Demba Ba are at 0.44 goals/game, for comparison. I don't think 0.7 goals/game is unattainable for someone this good. He has a good chance to break the all time Premier League mark for most goals, and to set the recor

He also plays in the most dominant side of the Premier League era. If he stays fit and is not rotated I think he breaks the record this season...

 

[altodevil]

He has 9 goals in his first matches, which is the most anyone has scored in their first 5 matches in the Premier League. Given that he's almost at double digits after 5 matches, he must be a real threat to shatter the all time Premier League record for most goals in a season (34, by Shearer and Cole; 32 by Salah with the 38 match format).

Here are the strikers with the top 10 goals per game averages in the Premier League era:

1. Thierry Henry – 0.68 goals-per-game
2. Sergio Aguero – 0.67 goals-per-game
3. Harry Kane – 0.65 goals-per-game
4. Mohamed Salah – 0.64 goals-per-game
5. Ruud van Nistelrooy – 0.63 goals-per-game
6. Luis Suarez – 0.63 goals-per-game
7. Diego Costa – 0.58 goals-per-game
8. Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang – 0.53 goals-per-game
9. Robin van Persie – 0.51 goals-per-game

The likes of Ronaldo and Demba Ba are at 0.44 goals/game, for comparison. I don't think 0.7 goals/game is unattainable for someone this good. He has a good chance to break the all time Premier League mark for most goals, and to set the recor

Christ just shows you goal inflation is real.

 

[AbusementPark]

He seems to be the missing piece for City, they could run away with everything this season, if he stays as injury free as possible. The chances they create are unreal and this guy is always in the right place to finish them off.

 

[balaks]

Gotta say I badly misjudged his impact and had expected him to struggle this season. Clearly he is the real deal and an incredible striker.

 

[troylocker]

If you compare at the same age, Ronaldo hadn't played in the CL yet. But he had been scoring at an even more prolific rate in the UEFA Cup and Cup Winners cup than Haaland has been doing in the CL.

This is wrong though. As good as Ronaldo's goalratio in the UEFA and Cup Winners cup was it wasn't even close to Haaland's record in the CL:

Ronaldo in the UEFA Cup (Europa League equivalent) from 1994-1998 for PSV and Inter (3 campaigns): 15 goals and 4 assists in 18 games (1585 minutes)
0,85 goals/90 and 1,08 goals+assists/90
....in the Cup winners cup 96/97 (starts with round of 32 - Barca met Larnaca, Red Star, AIK, Fiorentina and PSG (final) to win it) - 5 goals and 1 assist in 7 games (600 minutes)
0,75 goals/90 and 0,90 goals+assists/90

Haaland in the CL: 23 goals and 3 assists in 19 games (1463 minutes)
1,41 goals/90 and 1,60 goals+assists/90

It's hard to compare players from different eras with so different skillsets. Haaland is unique in his way and Ronaldo was unique in his way. They both make/made grown men look like boys on a football pitch. Ronaldo pre injury is my favourite player of all time and I was lucky enough to see a lot of games from his Barca and Inter periods. He was special, he created a magical atmosphear in the arenas were you expected something special every time he received the ball. It wasn't like watching a highlight reel on youtube though. He was invisible for long periods each game and sometimes for entire games as well, he lost the ball a lot (trying to do difficult things) and he did those extraordinary things that made him the phenom he was. On his best days he was the best I have ever seen a footballer. He was a far better dribbler, nutmeg machine and one man army than Haaland, but Haaland is better than R9 was (even the peak version) at some very important things in football, like off the ball movement, spacial and positional awareness, pure goalscoring etc. These talents are not as spectacular, but they are key if you want to enter the conversation when it comes to greatest goal scorers in football. If Haaland aviods serious injuries he is on course to break a lot of records and fill up his trophy cabinet with silverware and Ballon d'ors, so the aftermath will tell us where he ends up in any GOAT discussions. What is 100% certain is that he envokes similar enthusiasm among the audience and similar fear in his opponents as the old R9 did.

 

[Danimancer]

This thread is nauseating to read. So many of our fans gleefully counting goals of a player who openly hates our club.

All this hype and hysteria around Haaland is what happens when you let stats rule your way of thinking. Haaland is an average, one-dimensional player and most of his goals are either simple tap-ins or 1-1 with the keeper. I think everyone who has actually watched him play should come to this same conclusion. He's not a game changer or anything special. He's not even the best youngster in that City team (Alvarez is) and yet you have people comparing him to prime Ronaldo and Messi. He shouldn't even be compared to Mbappe, let alone legends. Please get serious!

Not sure what's nauseating, it's a football forum, it's ok to celebrate football players outside your team. I disagree with you re him being an average player. Ability to score is up there amongst the most important attributes a footballer can have. He is anything but average or one dimensional. And even if he was one dimensional, it would be the scoring goal dimension, the most important one

 

[justsomebloke]

This is wrong though. As good as Ronaldo's goalratio in the UEFA and Cup Winners cup was it wasn't even close to Haaland's record in the CL:

Ronaldo in the UEFA Cup (Europa League equivalent) from 1994-1998 for PSV and Inter (3 campaigns): 15 goals and 4 assists in 18 games (1585 minutes)
0,85 goals/90 and 1,08 goals+assists/90
....in the Cup winners cup 96/97 (starts with round of 32 - Barca met Larnaca, Red Star, AIK, Fiorentina and PSG (final) to win it) - 5 goals and 1 assist in 7 games (600 minutes)
0,75 goals/90 and 0,90 goals+assists/90

Haaland in the CL: 23 goals and 3 assists in 19 games (1463 minutes)
1,41 goals/90 and 1,60 goals+assists/90

It's hard to compare players from different eras with so different skillsets. Haaland is unique in his way and Ronaldo was unique in his way. They both make/made grown men look like boys on a football pitch. Ronaldo pre injury is my favourite player of all time and I was lucky enough to see a lot of games from his Barca and Inter periods. He was special, he created a magical atmosphear in the arenas were you expected something special every time he received the ball. It wasn't like watching a highlight reel on youtube though. He was invisible for long periods each game and sometimes for entire games as well, he lost the ball a lot (trying to do difficult things) and he did those extraordinary things that made him the phenom he was. On his best days he was the best I have ever seen a footballer. He was a far better dribbler, nutmeg machine and one man army than Haaland, but Haaland is better than R9 was (even the peak version) at some very important things in football, like off the ball movement, spacial and positional awareness, pure goalscoring etc. These talents are not as spectacular, but they are key if you want to enter the conversation when it comes to greatest goal scorers in football. If Haaland aviods serious injuries he is on course to break a lot of records and fill up his trophy cabinet with silverware and Ballon d'ors, so the only aftermath will tell us where he ends up in any GOAT discussions. What is 100% certain is that he envokes similar enthusiasm among the audience and similar fear in his opponents as the old R9 did.

Sorry, you're right - I mistakenly included Haaland's EL appearances in his games total. So, his CL scoring record is significantly better than R9s scoring record in the lesser European competitions by the same age.

And I think you make important points in your last paragraph. When it comes to determining who's the greater among the great, we tend to value not just the spectacular, but particular kinds of spectacular - running really fast or shooting really hard doesn't stack up against that gold standard mix of extraordinary technique, vision and agility you'd get from a Maradona or a Messi. That still feels like the true measure of the greatest greatness. But, it's fun to have that notion challenged and reminded that ultimately greatness comes down to dominance, and that there are more than one way to dominate. And I think domination is what we're looking at here, with a player who has proven so consistently able to score at this rate for all kinds of teams and in all kinds and levels of competition, at such a young age.

 

[justsomebloke]

This thread is nauseating to read. So many of our fans gleefully counting goals of a player who openly hates our club.

All this hype and hysteria around Haaland is what happens when you let stats rule your way of thinking. Haaland is an average, one-dimensional player and most of his goals are either simple tap-ins or 1-1 with the keeper. I think everyone who has actually watched him play should come to this same conclusion. He's not a game changer or anything special. He's not even the best youngster in that City team (Alvarez is) and yet you have people comparing him to prime Ronaldo and Messi. He shouldn't even be compared to Mbappe, let alone legends. Please get serious!

This from the guy who was certain Haaland would struggle to score 10 goals in the PL. You're not really in a position to tell anyone to get serious here.

 

[horsechoker]

His goals yesterday were nothing special. Merely a goal poacher excelling in a team that creates dozens of chances.

More Gerd Müller than R9

 

[Brwned]

Gotta say I badly misjudged his impact and had expected him to struggle this season. Clearly he is the real deal and an incredible striker.

Do you think it suggests that your impression of how easy the Bundesliga is was a little off-base? People talked about the PL as if it was in a different category altogether, and yet Haaland doesn’t notice the difference at all…

His goals yesterday were nothing special. Merely a goal poacher excelling in a team that creates dozens of chances.

More Gerd Müller than R9

Gerd Muller was amazing though!

If Haaland can do what Muller did in the latter stages of the European Cup in the early 70s, then he’ll turn City into one of the all time great teams. Muller absolutely did that for Bayern. That is one of the greatest teams ever and it would have been impossible to replicate without Muller.