Will Haaland and Mbappe reach the same level as Ronaldo and Messi?

[cyberman]

Have you seen Mbappe score many goals with his left foot? Towering headers? Goals from outside of the box? Actual laces through the ball type shots that gives the keeper no chance? Holding defenders off with his back to goal and leaving them in the dust?
There must be a lot of examples out there im sure..

 

[tjb]

I don't know why this is a question. Are they good? yes. However, Messi and Ronaldo are both top 5 players of all time. They will not be able to match them. It takes too much to do that. That's the equivalent of asking whether Zverev can match Djokovic, Federer or Nadal. Neither are better than the current Neymar, talk less of 2017 Neymar. For me, they would first have to prove they can match the levels of the Henry's, Suarez Totti's, Ronaldinho's....before then matching the Zidane's, R9's, Platini's, Cruyff's...before even being eligible to be in the same conversation. It's more than just ability, its mentality, consistency, hunger.

The idea already is that they have the skillset already to have great careers like the Eto'os, Raul's Drogba and Lewandowski's of the world if they continue to perform as they have. However, they will have to up improve drastically for the Henry tier. It takes way more than a few CL goals to be considered the greatest Premier League player of all time, talk less of getting into the Greatest of All time conversation.

 

[tjb]

I think it's unlikely they'll reach that level. I mean if you go back in time, when was the last time we had someone operating at that level? R9 for 2 seasons? Maradona in the 80s?

We could go 20-30 years before we see someone reach their level and sustain it for such a long period of time.

Being a world class youngster doesn't necessarily mean long term greatness either. Some young players peak at 22-23 because they're already experienced players by then if they've been in the first team at 17. Or you could end up like R9 or to a lesser extent a Michael Owen. Incredible for a 20 year old but no improvement with age for different reasons.

I think calling it unlikey is actually understating it. We're not even sure Haaland or Mbappe will be the best players in the world. I don't think either are better than the current level of both Messi and Ronaldo....before even talking about Neymar, Lewandowski, KDB. I'm not sure they are better than Kane, Salah, Bruno or Van Dijk either. For me, its a bunch of hype at this point, similar to Rooney at the same age. If you asked Arsenal fans in 1998, they would probably have told you that Anelka would have been one of the best strikers in Premier League history. TBH, who is to say Greenwood doesn't supercede either of them. Both play in teams and leagues that allow them the time and space to shine. Mbappe has somewhat shown his ability at the highest level, but at the end of the day, so did Owen at that age.

Messi and Ronaldo were at the highest attacking level that has ever been seen in the game. They weren't just scoring from certain spots or situations, their movement, drives, awareness created goals for themselves and their teams at the highest level. Their level of touch, balance, strength, use of accelelartion...there have never been player more complete than either of them...with both maximizing their abilities to the highest extent. These questions are what happen when people underestimate the level of greatness they are witnessing. Prior to them, there were no players who showcased this level of consistent performance for even one season. The closest anyone else came to that was R9 at the start of his career, where he did that at the top level for only 2 seasons. The Zidane's, Baggio's, Henry's, Romario's , Rivaldo's and Ronaldinho's were not providing insane performances consistently and even at that, the lacked the level of effectiveness to carry their teams to Champions Leagues and League Titles like Messi and Ronaldo have done. Haaland and Mbappe will likely never reach the level of Cruyff, Zidane, Platini...IMO the best they can hope for is to be at an Henry, Rivaldo, Sheva level....which may actually be too high for either as well.

 

[tidraKS]

Mpabbe yes. Haaland no.

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

Have you seen Mbappe score many goals with his left foot? Towering headers? Goals from outside of the box? Actual laces through the ball type shots that gives the keeper no chance? Holding defenders off with his back to goal and leaving them in the dust?
There must be a lot of examples out there im sure..

Describing Mbappé as a Gareth Bale without a shot and then thinking that this block of text substantiates that claim is a little ridiculous.

 

[VBI]

You'll need to wait 4-5 years to see if they both move to Spain or England, and establish direct competition with each other for regular honours as well as personal awards/top scorer awards and such, since that was was really drove the Messi Ronaldo thing. If Ronaldo never moves to Madrid I don't think that rivalry becomes anything like what it turned into.

 

[Cal?]

It would be nice, but no

 

[troylocker]

Are you only using numbers to rate players rainman?

Try actually watching them, R9 was the best player in the world at 20. Haaland isn't.

CR7 definitely didn't have the same impact as Haaland had at 20, as he was still getting his game together. Messi was injury prone in his early career but he was still scoring hattricks in El Classico and deciding CL ties when he was fit. You say end product wins you titles but at the moment Dortmund are 6th place in a league that is weaker than what R9, CR7 and Messi were playing in when they were 20 - you need more than just goals to win titles and other factors need to be accessed when evaluating a player - otherwise Gerd Muller would be rated higher than Cruyff.



Like what? I love Haaland and want him at United more than anyone but his game has way fewer dimensions than the other players you listed by a long long way.

Answer me this, do you honestly believe Haaland is ever going to perform to the level of Messi, R9 or CR7 reached at their peak?

You brought up the numbers to show how superior Messi was to Mbappe at 22, remember.

No I am not all about numbers, but when the numbers are this extreme they deserve to be highlighted. He is delivering prime GOAT numbers at 20 after all. His career CL goalratio per minute is better than CR7s record season for crying out loud. If Messi and Ronaldo didn't have their numbers they wouldn't have the status they have and be talked about like they are either. I watch a lot of football, I allways have. I watch matches, not just highlights. There is many ways to be a good footballer. Messi is one type, Cristiano is one type, Maradona another type and Haaland yet aonther type. They all have different skillsets and toolboxes and that makes football such a fantastic sport compared to other sports.

R9 is the footballer I have seen that have stood out the most. That season 96/97 for Barca was bananas, he was a force of nature and bullied defences and keepers in LaLiga then. He had periods and matches where he went missing too, which should be expected from a 20 year old, but when he was on.... He won the Ballon d'or without winning LaLiga or play CL football (Won the Cup winners cup, Copa del Rey and Copa America though). A tragedy that his knees couldn't take it.

Haaland also has this. I've seen almost every match he's played since he, as a 17 year old, scored 4 in the first 21 minutes for Molde against the unbeaten league leaders, Brann, 2,5 years ago. You could see it right away that there was something special about the kid. He has developed a lot faster than what I expected, and I didn't expect him to be in this conversation ever, he was Norwegian after all, and they don't produce footballers of that caliber. As I have followed him it has become more and more evident. I think he already is among the 3 best players in the world. It is not because he can carry the ball like a ballet dancer or dribble his way out of a telephonebooth, but because he has the ability to totally bully and shake defenders, has a unique physical presence on the pitch, shows up in big matches, gets the ball in the back of the net, has a football intelligence you cant be taught and a drive to allways want more and improve like no other. He has the best movement, determination and positional awareness I have ever seen on a football pitch and a combination of explosive pace, strenght and size that is totally unique, and he's 20.
Messi and CR7 will be hard to match or surpass, because they, in addition to being incredibly good footballer thet more or less managed to stay away from serious injuries, had fantastic teams around them. It would have been interesting to see the trophies and numbers they would have achieved without Xavi, Iniesta, Suarez, Benzema, Modric, Kroos, Ramos, Busquets, Bale, Abidal, Dani Alves, Villa, Puyol, Pique, Marcelo, Òzil etc. to support them. GOAT teams.

I can honestly say that I think there's a fair chance Haaland will be just as or more dominant in club football than Messi and CR7. He is way more impressive than they were at 20 and is a mental beast that believes he can conquer the world. If he avoids serious injury and keeps his head straight I think he can do it. Nothing is guaranteed of course.

You need to start seeing matches and not just highlights, mate.

 

[izec]

Maybe, i wouldn't dismiss it

 

[cyberman]

Describing Mbappé as a Gareth Bale without a shot and then thinking that this block of text substantiates that claim is a little ridiculous.

Whats thw difference between the two? Did you see prime Bale?

 

[VanKenny]

Messi's 08/09 is a top 5 of all time season, and he was 21-22. Cristiano's 07/08 is probably a top 15-20 of all time season. The performances they put week in week out for an elite club, winning everything and being clearly the best player of their respective clubs is something that hasnt been seen often.


Mbappe and Haaland are great players, but so far they havent shown anything that tells us they are even anything close to that level, while playing for less competitive clubs on less competitive leagues.

They would need to seriously raise their performance levels and keep that level for a LONG time to even be considered close to Messi or CR7.

 

[troylocker]

Yes but Owen at 20 has more impact than Messi and Ronaldo at 20 too. Its long career ahead, anything could happen.

What does it prove that other players good at a young age fails to become greats?

That is such a lazy comparison. You have to be a scouser to claim Owen had more impact at 20. One great goal against Argentina in the world cup doesn't make you better than Messi. Owen never scored 20 goals in a PL season or 30 in all comps in a season his entire career. He ended his career with 11 CL goals, just 9 behind Haaland after 14 games. Owen startet out as an exciting young striker with great potential.....that he never realized. Thats it. He was good but never world class.

 

[troylocker]

IMO the best they can hope for is to be at an Henry, Rivaldo, Sheva level....which may actually be too high for either as well.

Hahaha! The crazyness on this forum. Do you seriously think what Mbappe and Haaland are doing now, at 22 and 20, are on similar level to what Henry, Rivaldo and Sheva was doing at that age? Have you watched them play and seen their output?

 

[tjb]

Hahaha! The crazyness on this forum. Do you seriously think what Mbappe and Haaland are doing now, at 22 and 20, are on similar level to what Henry, Rivaldo and Sheva was doing at that age? Have you watched them play and seen their output?

Does that matter? Did you actually watch the aforementioned players?

 

[Ecstatic]

Hahaha! The crazyness on this forum. Do you seriously think what Mbappe and Haaland are doing now, at 22 and 20, are on similar level to what Henry, Rivaldo and Sheva was doing at that age? Have you watched them play and seen their output?

I am really a big fan of all the players you mentioned.

Mbappe Vs Henry is an interesting debate. Mbappe is likely to have a better CV, better stats over his career etc. However, Henry is much more exciting to watch and talented .

 

[passing-wind]

Haaland is just the flavour of the month given this period of time. He needs to show more and perhaps in his overall contribution to the team as given what we have seen he's a very clinical finisher and it stands out more given the game lacks this criteria of players at the moment.

Considering the consistency that Ronaldo / Messi have shown it will be some time until any upcoming player can merit a realistic comparison. I feel Mbappe is certainly the closest in terms of such discussion, he's a champions League away from achieving what both Ronaldo / Messi have been unable to capitalise on given the world cup but it's going to take almost a decade of brilliance to even be entertained.

 

[davidmichael]

Mbappe, Haaland, Sancho, Fati, Camavinga, Greenwood and Szoboszlai are the next group of players you expect to be in the running for the individual awards over the next decade but none will hit the levels of Messi and Ronaldo or even original Ronaldo, Zidane or Ronaldinho in my opinion although they’ll no doubt be the best around.

 

[Champagne Football]

Haaland and Mbappe for me can be up there with the likes of Lewandowki, Robben, Shearer, Giggs, Kaka, Van Basten, Zidane etc

But Cristiano and Messi are all time GOATS. Only Pele can be mentioned in that breath for me. Possibly Ronaldinho and Maradona also.

 

[troylocker]

Does that matter? Did you actually watch the aforementioned players?

I watched some of Henry at Juve and Monaco, but I didn’t follow Ukrainian 2nd division or regional comps i Brazil in the early 90s, no.
Henry was good, but he was nothing like Mbappe or Haaland. I remember well how we talked about Henry and Trezeguet when they paired up at Monaco as interesting talents back then.
What makes you put Haaland and Mbappe in that bracket when are clearly head and shoulders above these guys at the same age? Both will lead the line for a top club in England or Spain within next summer. What logic are you using?

 

[NasirTimothy]

Mbappe, Haaland, Sancho, Fati, Camavinga, Greenwood and Szoboszlai are the next group of players you expect to be in the running for the individual awards over the next decade but none will hit the levels of Messi and Ronaldo or even original Ronaldo, Zidane or Ronaldinho in my opinion although they’ll no doubt be the best around.

It’s interesting to speculate. That’s the fun of it, we have no idea yet how Mbappe and Haaland’s careers will turn out. Hopefully they will avoid serious injury at the very least. But so much of their futures hinges on where they play, who they play with, whether they retain their drive and hunger over a 15 year period etc.

We’re all fortunate enough to have seen Messi and Ronaldo’s younger years and I have to say that I cannot see either Mbappe or Haaland reaching the heights they reached, especially Messi (who I think is a true challenger to Pele and Maradona, though I don’t think he has surpassed them necessarily). Ronaldo is less talented, but insanely disciplined. I can’t see two players that good being immediately replaced by two more players of the same level, that wouldn’t be realistic.

 

[RedRonaldo]

What does it prove that other players good at a young age fails to become greats?

That is such a lazy comparison. You have to be a scouser to claim Owen had more impact at 20. One great goal against Argentina in the world cup doesn't make you better than Messi. Owen never scored 20 goals in a PL season or 30 in all comps in a season his entire career. He ended his career with 11 CL goals, just 9 behind Haaland after 14 games. Owen startet out as an exciting young striker with great potential.....that he never realized. Thats it. He was good but never world class.

By the time he reached 20, he has already scored 47 goals for Liverpool, and was a star in 98 WC too.

In comparison, Messi has 26 goals for Barca when he reached 20, and wasn’t a star in international level yet.

Ronaldo only has 20 goals, he was a star in 94 Euro though.

Owen definitely has more impact at age 20 than Messi and Ronaldo in terms of overall goals and impact on biggest stage. He wasn’t as talented, but definitely has made more impact.

Also, Owen did win Ballon D’or once, he was one of the only 2 player from PL who ever achieved that feat throughout PL history. So by saying he was never world class was very odd view.

 

[tjb]

I watched some of Henry at Juve and Monaco, but I didn’t follow Ukrainian 2nd division or regional comps i Brazil in the early 90s, no.
Henry was good, but he was nothing like Mbappe or Haaland. I remember well how we talked about Henry and Trezeguet when they paired up at Monaco as interesting talents back then.
What makes you put Haaland and Mbappe in that bracket when are clearly head and shoulders above these guys at the same age? Both will lead the line for a top club in England or Spain within next summer. What logic are you using?

I'm not talking about what they were at that age. I'm talking about what Henry became. It takes a lot of talent mentality and consistent quality to be as good as Henry was. Mbappe and Haaland have to improve to get to that level and will have to prove they can get there and do it for more than one season. There are few players in history that were able to consistently showcase the level of quality the Henrys and Rivaldo's achieved. Expecting anything greater than that for any young player would be unfair, talk less of 2 of the top players of all time, regardless of initial statistics. It took almost 20 years for us to see players at the level of a Maradona, expecting that from players who haven't really shown anything different to rooney, Neymar or Totti at that age is unreasonable and almost downplays the level of greatness messi and ronaldo achieved. For me to believe a player can become a ronaldo or messi, they need to have the strong start r9 had(for that expectation to be even conceived).

 

[tjb]

It’s interesting to speculate. That’s the fun of it, we have no idea yet how Mbappe and Haaland’s careers will turn out. Hopefully they will avoid serious injury at the very least. But so much of their futures hinges on where they play, who they play with, whether they retain their drive and hunger over a 15 year period etc.

We’re all fortunate enough to have seen Messi and Ronaldo’s younger years and I have to say that I cannot see either Mbappe or Haaland reaching the heights they reached, especially Messi (who I think is a true challenger to Pele and Maradona, though I don’t think he has surpassed them necessarily). Ronaldo is less talented, but insanely disciplined. I can’t see two players that good being immediately replaced by two more players of the same level, that wouldn’t be realistic.

My feeling is we are so fortunate to see the level of impact of messi and ronald that we are expecting to see a next so quickly. Chances are noone may ever come close to achieving and performing as well as either at club level for many years.

 

[KingKoki]

I rate prime Gareth bale as good as Mbappe right now.

What is scary about Haaland is his hunger, he is improving rapidly in every part of his game. At 17 he actually said his goal was to be the best player in the world, Mbappe is incredible but I don't think he has the same passion and comitment in the long run. I can only compare this to Cristiano Ronaldo, that without his passion and willingness to do whatever it takes to be the best version of himself would just be a great player at best. I will always rate Ronaldo over Messi because of this.

If you looked at Haalands game at Molde he was dribling past players all the time, this seems to come back as he gets more and more confident at this level. The most underrated part of Haalands game is how he stretches the defence on purpose all the time to create the right space for his teammates, and then finds free space again to be there for the goal. His movement is masterclass.

 

[Daysleeper]

None of that really matters. It's what they actually do that does. But fair enough, Messi was indeed the better player in the respective age 22 seasons. Yet. They're also not that far apart, and Mbappé's season isn't over yet

Same story with their age 21 season, etc, really. For the record, no, i don't think Mbappé is as naturally talented as Messi. But neither was Cristiano, and yet here we are, still arguing about who's the better of the two. Why can't Mbappé reach that level exactly? Emphasis on can't. Whether he does remains to be seen...

I imagine you’d take Ronaldo over Messi?

 

[giorno]

I imagine you’d take Ronaldo over Messi?

No, but it's much much closer than 6 years ago

 

[RooneyLegend]

I get that they are both phenomenal talents, but i'd like to see them move to more competitive leagues. I find it hard to gauge where they actually are in their development based on weekly ratings in the French and German leagues.

At the very least they are looking like two phenomenal forwards, but where they are in comparison with Ronaldo and Messi at the same age, I have no clue at the moment.

What was so competitive about la liga in the past decade or so.

 

[troylocker]

I'm not talking about what they were at that age. I'm talking about what Henry became. It takes a lot of talent mentality and consistent quality to be as good as Henry was. Mbappe and Haaland have to improve to get to that level and will have to prove they can get there and do it for more than one season. There are few players in history that were able to consistently showcase the level of quality the Henrys and Rivaldo's achieved. Expecting anything greater than that for any young player would be unfair, talk less of 2 of the top players of all time, regardless of initial statistics. It took almost 20 years for us to see players at the level of a Maradona, expecting that from players who haven't really shown anything different to rooney, Neymar or Totti at that age is unreasonable and almost downplays the level of greatness messi and ronaldo achieved. For me to believe a player can become a ronaldo or messi, they need to have the strong start r9 had(for that expectation to be even conceived).

I agree that we can't expect Haaland to get up there or past, but we can't rule it out.

The point is that what Haaland has done the last 20 months is on par with R9's start of career, as I pointed out in an earlier post. His numbers are in fact better than R9's Barca and PSV numbers.

Henry
In Henry's career best season he scored 39 goals in 51 games, or even more accurate at a rate of 114 minutes per goal. He never scored more than 7 goals in a season in the CL player for much better teams, while Haaland scored at a rate of 54 minutes per goal in his first 2 seasons in that competition.

Rivaldo, Henry and Sheva got a ballon d'or and had great careers, but I expect Haaland to outshine all these with quite some distance and will be very surprised if he doesn't win multiple ballon d'ors in his career....if he avoids major injury and keeps his head straight.

Haaland at 20 is so much more formidable than Rooney, Totti and Neymar at the same age. Yes, Rooney scored that hattrick on his CL-debut too, but then it took him 2,5 years to score his next CL-goal. He scored some beauts and was a truly impressive young player, but still comes up very short when you compare them. Totti had done nothing out of this world at this stage of his career (5 goals and 4 assists in 30 matches in the 96/97 season) and had not yet made his Italy debut or played a single CL minute. Neymar stood out at this age though, just not with as much impact and end product as the Norwegian. He was still playing for Santos when he was at that age and scored 24 goals and assisted 10 in 33 games there in his last season before moving to Europe. Haalands record so far in the Bundesliga, CL and for Norway is sensationally good. Not even in Cristiano's record season in the CL (17 goals in 11 games, 58 minutes per goal) did he score at the rate Haaland has done since he started playing CL football (54 minutes per goal). Haaland has over the last two seasons scored at a prime Messi/Ronaldo rate, and he is 20 years old. And he is getting better every time we see him....

 

[troylocker]

I'm not talking about what they were at that age. I'm talking about what Henry became. It takes a lot of talent mentality and consistent quality to be as good as Henry was. Mbappe and Haaland have to improve to get to that level and will have to prove they can get there and do it for more than one season. There are few players in history that were able to consistently showcase the level of quality the Henrys and Rivaldo's achieved. Expecting anything greater than that for any young player would be unfair, talk less of 2 of the top players of all time, regardless of initial statistics. It took almost 20 years for us to see players at the level of a Maradona, expecting that from players who haven't really shown anything different to rooney, Neymar or Totti at that age is unreasonable and almost downplays the level of greatness messi and ronaldo achieved. For me to believe a player can become a ronaldo or messi, they need to have the strong start r9 had(for that expectation to be even conceived).

Since May 2019 Haaland has scored 90 goals and assisted 19 in 6029 minutes of football (equivalent of 67 matches) for clubs and country.
Do some "google"-ing and see if you can understand the hype.

 

[Raven]

You brought up the numbers to show how superior Messi was to Mbappe at 22, remember.

No I am not all about numbers, but when the numbers are this extreme they deserve to be highlighted. He is delivering prime GOAT numbers at 20 after all. His career CL goalratio per minute is better than CR7s record season for crying out loud. If Messi and Ronaldo didn't have their numbers they wouldn't have the status they have and be talked about like they are either. I watch a lot of football, I allways have. I watch matches, not just highlights. There is many ways to be a good footballer. Messi is one type, Cristiano is one type, Maradona another type and Haaland yet aonther type. They all have different skillsets and toolboxes and that makes football such a fantastic sport compared to other sports.

R9 is the footballer I have seen that have stood out the most. That season 96/97 for Barca was bananas, he was a force of nature and bullied defences and keepers in LaLiga then. He had periods and matches where he went missing too, which should be expected from a 20 year old, but when he was on.... He won the Ballon d'or without winning LaLiga or play CL football (Won the Cup winners cup, Copa del Rey and Copa America though). A tragedy that his knees couldn't take it.

Haaland also has this. I've seen almost every match he's played since he, as a 17 year old, scored 4 in the first 21 minutes for Molde against the unbeaten league leaders, Brann, 2,5 years ago. You could see it right away that there was something special about the kid. He has developed a lot faster than what I expected, and I didn't expect him to be in this conversation ever, he was Norwegian after all, and they don't produce footballers of that caliber. As I have followed him it has become more and more evident. I think he already is among the 3 best players in the world. It is not because he can carry the ball like a ballet dancer or dribble his way out of a telephonebooth, but because he has the ability to totally bully and shake defenders, has a unique physical presence on the pitch, shows up in big matches, gets the ball in the back of the net, has a football intelligence you cant be taught and a drive to allways want more and improve like no other. He has the best movement, determination and positional awareness I have ever seen on a football pitch and a combination of explosive pace, strenght and size that is totally unique, and he's 20.
Messi and CR7 will be hard to match or surpass, because they, in addition to being incredibly good footballer thet more or less managed to stay away from serious injuries, had fantastic teams around them. It would have been interesting to see the trophies and numbers they would have achieved without Xavi, Iniesta, Suarez, Benzema, Modric, Kroos, Ramos, Busquets, Bale, Abidal, Dani Alves, Villa, Puyol, Pique, Marcelo, Òzil etc. to support them. GOAT teams.

I can honestly say that I think there's a fair chance Haaland will be just as or more dominant in club football than Messi and CR7. He is way more impressive than they were at 20 and is a mental beast that believes he can conquer the world. If he avoids serious injury and keeps his head straight I think he can do it. Nothing is guaranteed of course.

You need to start seeing matches and not just highlights, mate.

Haaland already a top 3 player in the world... good one.

 

[Eire Red United]

They’re still kids, but what they’re doing is absolutely unreal. Lets see if they can get even better, then keep that up for 15 years. Then we’ll talk.
Good luck to them- records are there to be broken.

 

[NasirTimothy]

I agree that we can't expect Haaland to get up there or past, but we can't rule it out.

The point is that what Haaland has done the last 20 months is on par with R9's start of career, as I pointed out in an earlier post. His numbers are in fact better than R9's Barca and PSV numbers.

Henry
In Henry's career best season he scored 39 goals in 51 games, or even more accurate at a rate of 114 minutes per goal. He never scored more than 7 goals in a season in the CL player for much better teams, while Haaland scored at a rate of 54 minutes per goal in his first 2 seasons in that competition.

Rivaldo, Henry and Sheva got a ballon d'or and had great careers, but I expect Haaland to outshine all these with quite some distance and will be very surprised if he doesn't win multiple ballon d'ors in his career....if he avoids major injury and keeps his head straight.

Haaland at 20 is so much more formidable than Rooney, Totti and Neymar at the same age. Yes, Rooney scored that hattrick on his CL-debut too, but then it took him 2,5 years to score his next CL-goal. He scored some beauts and was a truly impressive young player, but still comes up very short when you compare them. Totti had done nothing out of this world at this stage of his career (5 goals and 4 assists in 30 matches in the 96/97 season) and had not yet made his Italy debut or played a single CL minute. Neymar stood out at this age though, just not with as much impact and end product as the Norwegian. He was still playing for Santos when he was at that age and scored 24 goals and assisted 10 in 33 games there in his last season before moving to Europe. Haalands record so far in the Bundesliga, CL and for Norway is sensationally good. Not even in Cristiano's record season in the CL (17 goals in 11 games, 58 minutes per goal) did he score at the rate Haaland has done since he started playing CL football (54 minutes per goal). Haaland has over the last two seasons scored at a prime Messi/Ronaldo rate, and he is 20 years old. And he is getting better every time we see him....

It is not at all, except for in raw goalscoring numbers. The levels of skill and ability displayed by the the two players are oceans apart. And that’s no disrespect to Haaland, who is a kind of ‘phenomenon’ himself. But he just doesn’t have the touch that R9 did

 

[troylocker]

Haaland already a top 3 player in the world... good one.

No joke though. How many do you think he'd score if you put him in 2012/13 Barca? Ask Kounde, Carlos or Fernando how they thought it was playing against him, or Kimmich, Alaba, Boateng, Upamecano etc.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

If they stay injury free. Yes

 

[NasirTimothy]

No joke though. How many do you think he'd score if you put him in 2012/13 Barca? Ask Kounde, Carlos or Fernando how they thought it was playing against him, or Kimmich, Alaba, Boateng, Upamecano etc.

Football doesn’t really work like that. If he had to play Messi’s role, then he probably wouldn’t score very many at all. I can’t see Haaland playing tiki-taka as a false 9 or number 10. If he had a Messi behind him so he could play up top a’la Suarez/Villa then he would have a better shot at bagging numbers. But we’ve no idea if he could actually play in that system, which was predicated mostly on small men playing intricate keep-away and pressing relentlessly when they didn’t have the ball

 

[troylocker]

Football doesn’t really work like that. If he had to play Messi’s role, then he probably wouldn’t score very many at all. I can’t see Haaland playing tiki-taka as a false 9 or number 10. If he had a Messi behind him so he could play up top a’la Suarez/Villa then he would have a better shot at bagging numbers. But we’ve no idea if he could actually play in that system, which was predicated mostly on small men playing intricate keep-away and pressing relentlessly when they didn’t have the ball

I think he would have enough service from that team, without Messi, to break some records. They would of course have to adopt their style to him, not the opposite.

 

[LoneStar]

Ronaldo and Messi are the goats not because they had a world class season or two, but they delivered consistently top levels for more than a decade. So only time well tell.

Salah had a freak season and everyone was comparing him to Messi, doesn't work that way.

 

[RoyH1]

I don't think so.

While their peaks and highlight reels might be similar, what sets Messi and Cristiano apart was the astonishing consistency in performing at supreme world class level year after year. For more than a decade it was them and only them at the top. This requires not only talent but a monstrous ambition and dedication that I'm not sure Haaland and Mbappé can match for such a long time.

 

[NasirTimothy]

I think he would have enough service from that team, without Messi, to break some records. They would of course have to adopt their style to him, not the opposite.

That team basically had a midfield diamond with Messi at the apex and Busquets at the bottom. If you take Messi out, you need someone similar in that role. The point is, Haaland wouldn’t necessarily score more goals in that team than he is scoring in this team which plays more to his strengths

 

[Gio]

I agree that we can't expect Haaland to get up there or past, but we can't rule it out.

The point is that what Haaland has done the last 20 months is on par with R9's start of career, as I pointed out in an earlier post. His numbers are in fact better than R9's Barca and PSV numbers.

Henry
In Henry's career best season he scored 39 goals in 51 games, or even more accurate at a rate of 114 minutes per goal. He never scored more than 7 goals in a season in the CL player for much better teams, while Haaland scored at a rate of 54 minutes per goal in his first 2 seasons in that competition.

Rivaldo, Henry and Sheva got a ballon d'or and had great careers, but I expect Haaland to outshine all these with quite some distance and will be very surprised if he doesn't win multiple ballon d'ors in his career....if he avoids major injury and keeps his head straight.

There's a context about these figures though. All the elite strikers are hitting numbers that haven't been possible in the game in half a century. In the last few years goalscoring records that had stood for several decades have been smashed in Germany, France, Spain and Italy. It's not because we have a uniquely talented generation of attackers, because some of these records have been broken by Higauin, Aubameyang, Cavani as well as the likes of Lewandowski and Ibrahimovic. And despite their superior statistics, I don't think anyone will claim these guys are clearly better than Van Basten, Batistuta, Rummenigge and even Papin for example. It's more because the top clubs have gotten richer, more able to steamroller opposition, and the game has become far more attacking and friendly to forwards. If we are going to make the cross-generational comparisons we have to acknowledge that we aren't comparing like with like.

All of that said, Haaland is still pulling up ridiculous figures within his own era. He's a phenomenal athlete who could be a game changer in the same way that Weah and Ronaldo transformed the role of strikers in the 1990s. It's really difficult to predict how his career will unfold because so much will depend on how defences respond to such a singular threat. There's little to suggest they can at this point.