9 | Erling Haaland - 2023/24

[TrentGrisham]

Tbf I said this before we signed him after watching dortmund. So I’m not getting on a bandwagon. Haaland strengths don’t mesh with our strengths as teams sit deep and we can’t use his elite pace and power effectively. Instead we play in tight spaces and players need to be world class technicians to be effective in our side (again haaland isn’t this).

As I mentioned haaland will still score many goals for us because he has elite attributes and we create a whole plethora of chances. Imo a striker like Kane would have been a better fit for us

I said as much as well, and believe me, he's exceeded my expectations in many, many regards, but I will die on the hill that we were a stronger team top to bottom in seasons before we won the treble. From the outside, he seems a great person, and it's clear the players love him as well, and that's important as well. But part of me thinks counter-pressing is so essential in this day and age of football, and he's just not physically built to do that over 90 minutes like Jesus or Alvarez was. When he's not as prolific in front of goal as last year, or even average, he becomes a net negative for the team. *Ducks for cover.*

 

[nellyonthewing]

We needed an F type Jag and bought a Ford F-150.

 

[Legal Alien]

But part of me thinks counter-pressing is so essential in this day and age of football, and he's just not physically built to do that over 90 minutes like Jesus or Alvarez was. When he's not as prolific in front of goal as last year, or even average, he becomes a net negative for the team. *Ducks for cover.*

He's a 6'5" goal machine.
He's only 23 and he's already the most dangerous player on the pitch when he plays.

Even though he hasn't hit the heights of last season, he still leads the league in goals scored and he's been injured for the last two months!!...and he's got over 3 months to go aswell.

Some of those misses against Chelsea were bad and costly but he was dealing with some sad news last week and that affects people.

But every good team had a prolific goalscorer; Messi, Ronaldo, Benzema, Lewandowski, Kane etc just to name some recent ones and guess what, they all missed chances too, so it's not going to be the last match it happens in.

You're right though, that he's not going to press like those players, but that's not his game, yet, but he scores more than they do and that's what we were missing before. (even though it never affected the team at the end of each season, we were always lamenting the chances we missed pretty much every game)

But he's playing under Pep, so he should keep learning and i'm confident his overall game will continue to get better and better.

Looking around, i'm not sure who you'd want to replace him with, but i wouldn't swap Erling for anyone!

 

[nellyonthewing]

Just watching some of his goals in the period 8/22 till 11/22 . He was on fire ,his movement in the box so much better than now. What is apparent is the speed of our play was significantly better than now. Maybe the plodding slow way we build up from the back is self defeating with a weapon like Haaland.

 

[r.soleofsalford]

Just watching some of his goals in the period 8/22 till 11/22 . He was on fire ,his movement in the box so much better than now. What is apparent is the speed of our play was significantly better than now. Maybe the plodding slow way we build up from the back is self defeating with a weapon like Haaland.

Yes I don`t think it helps Haaland

 

[TrentGrisham]

He's a 6'5" goal machine.
He's only 23 and he's already the most dangerous player on the pitch when he plays.

Even though he hasn't hit the heights of last season, he still leads the league in goals scored and he's been injured for the last two months!!...and he's got over 3 months to go aswell.

Some of those misses against Chelsea were bad and costly but he was dealing with some sad news last week and that affects people.

But every good team had a prolific goalscorer; Messi, Ronaldo, Benzema, Lewandowski, Kane etc just to name some recent ones and guess what, they all missed chances too, so it's not going to be the last match it happens in.

You're right though, that he's not going to press like those players, but that's not his game, yet, but he scores more than they do and that's what we were missing before. (even though it never affected the team at the end of each season, we were always lamenting the chances we missed pretty much every game)

But he's playing under Pep, so he should keep learning and i'm confident his overall game will continue to get better and better.

Looking around, i'm not sure who you'd want to replace him with, but i wouldn't swap Erling for anyone!

I'm not basing what I'm saying on just the Chelsea match. I mean, cmon... Refrain from considering that those are all fair points, and I could live with his not being a proficient presser or not even working hard at it if he weren't statistically the worst finisher in the team thus far.

Adding context to Kane's 23.2 xG, he is +5.8, while Aguero never underperformed his xG at City and came closest at +0.1.

Haaland is currently the one of highest-paid players in the league and is expected to score goals for his team. Although it is a fact that he has scored the most goals in the league, this should not excuse his lackluster performance this season. As the highest-paid player, he should be held to a higher standard than anyone else on the team in my eyes, and unfortunately, he has not met those expectations this season.

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

The best number 9 in the World. it will be a sad day when he leaves, no matter what some bluemoon idiot's think.

And don't give me that, we were a better team before the treble bullshit.

 

[wolviedinho]

Only a matter of time before the goals go in again. Even if he is struggling at the min, so what! All players dip and if last season was a fluke, he will still get over 20 so whats the problem?

Trust the big man. His dissatisfaction was evident against the chavs. It’s all a learning process.

 

[Indaparkside]

Hat trick tonight can feel it in my bones

 

[bluethai]

Last time, he tried to be too clever with shots and headers, aiming for the near post or top corner, but often ended up wide or ballooning the ball into the stands. Let's hope he focuses on hitting the target first and scores some goals today.