9 | Erling Haaland - 2024/25

[.db.]

Wish he’d come to the near post more often.

And one thing he needs to improve is his first time finishing when the ball is crossed low. He completely missed the ball in the first half from a Savinho cross which wasn’t at all hammered in.

He does that a lot.

At times you shake your head at how incredibly lethal he is. At others you wonder how on Earth he scores so many goals because he looks like a new born giraffe.

 

[Jonas.shaffer]

Some of our crossing and passing was very poor today. However, four times, he was stood still, picking his Y-fronts out of his arse crack thinking about what he’s having for tea, while a decent ball was played to the near post.

 

[iTyler]

Nobody will ever convince me that Harry Kane wouldn't have given us more overall. We don't even really play to Haaland's strengths.

 

[Gorbachev]

Nobody will ever convince me that Harry Kane wouldn't have given us more overall. We don't even really play to Haaland's strengths.

We would have got Kane if Spurs weren't so stubborn over what they wanted.

Levy wanted upwards of £150m for him from a Premier League team, add in Kane likely wanting £350k-£400k a week his contract would have been worth in and around £230m-£250m for 5 years with zero sell on value because he was 29 at the time.

 

[hertsblue]

Most of the issues with him is we have 2 wingers who just have zero final ball ability to find him (and chip in with goals) and no creativity at all in the side and with the rest of the team lacking also in goals, teams just know nullify Halland= nullify City.

 

[Gigant]

If he had played in Sane & Sterling era , he would have 70+ goals season

 

[Sk@mcfc]

If he had played in Sane & Sterling era , he would have 70+ goals season

Agree I just don’t think savinho and doku are the same quality also the creativity behind him has dried up

 

[Damien10]

If he had played in Sane & Sterling era , he would have 70+ goals season

That era had David Silva, Toure and Kevin in his prime.

And they was all feeding Sergio Aguero who would also do his own magic!

Don’t ever compare eras because it’s never that straight forward.

 

[ello_jo]

Agree I just don’t think savinho and doku are the same quality also the creativity behind him has dried up

Surely there’s got to be legs for trying them both on the opposite wing.

If Doku had the instruction of, receive the ball, beat your man and then cross I think we’d see a lot more productivity from him. It would take out that element of him not knowing what to do once past a man.

 

[manimanc]

Can't understand why Pep didn't play him today.

 

[B\connellblue]

Agree I just don’t think savinho and doku are the same quality also the creativity behind him has dried up

There's no need for the uncertainty, they're nowhere near the quality of those 2 and never will be.

 

[ninjamonkey]

I'd be livid with that kind of service.

Does anyone know why he always peels off to the back post, and never attacks the front post?

I suspect it's a combination of 3 things. Firstly there's nobody else that's going to be in on the back post for a header if not Haaland. There's others playing behind him who can get across the front post if we ever decide to have more than 2 man in the box.

Secondly, given that we have extremely unpredictable wingers and no patterns to act as cue's for haaland to know when to go, going to the back post gives him a bit of time if a ball does come in to prepare for it and attack it and it gives the winger some knowledge that he will be around the back post more often than not if you stick it there. And thirdly the space. If he drags to the back post it draws at least 1 cb away from the ball giving either the player on the ball or an extra man space to potentially work with. Its also an easier movement for Haaland to do and free himself , the front post run needs to be perfectly in sync with the attack and as in point 2, nobody can read the intentions of the wingers most of the time.

 

[come-on-barney]

Wish he found a goal out of nowhere in games like these

Sergio likes this

 

[come-on-barney]

Nobody will ever convince me that Harry Kane wouldn't have given us more overall. We don't even really play to Haaland's strengths.

He was apparently Pep’s first choice.

 

[stan bowles]

Not involved except for one air shot in the first half. Disappeared after that.

 

[LTW]

He was apparently Pep’s first choice.

I’d bring him in as KDB’s replacement as the #10.

 

[sarcastico]

Needs to do more like the Chelsea game.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Not involved except for one air shot in the first half. Disappeared after that.

Whilst he was not involved much, he also had that shot that hit the defender and just went wide. We didn’t get the corner. Second half he was completely invisible.

If we don’t change the way we play then this is what we will get.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

What the fuck happened to his movement?

People can complain about the service as much as they want but when the ball arrives in the box he's just static at the far post. Wouldn't mind but he can barely fucking head the ball anyway.

 

[falcon117]

He is world class player and unfortunately we dont have many world class players left in the team, if he is having difficult time the whole team is struggling .
When a team lacks in creativity or talent, especially in key areas, it can be challenging to maintain consistency, especially if the star player is going through a rough patch.
The manager might need to tweak the team's tactics to better suit the strengths of the available players.Finally we can not afford to loose such a world class player .