9 | Erling Haaland - 2023/24

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cyan said:
I'm amazed at those questioning Haalands contribution to the side in general and to the win over United in particular. United set up to stop the ball coming to Haaland with Evans/Varone tight to him and Casemiro/Mainoo covering in front of him. He was never going to get the chance to to turn anyone the way he did at Luton - and when the ball came into him the Midfielders were there to tidy up. But that meant there were often 2/3 players on him - and that creates space for our midfelders to get in and around him. On the occasions when he did manage to find a bit space the pass to him wasn't accurate enough and so he was left with very little - the snatched header (I thought at the the time he could have brought it down, but looking again - he would have been closed down) and the sitter - which yes we all expected him to score - but just proves he is human. The wonderful thing about Haaland is that he doesnt dwell on these things just gets ready for the next chance.

In the second half - he was being found as a target man a bit more and that created a couple of opportunities - the big role he plays is to create fear and that creates space for others
Foden's first goal - look at the way his position draws Varane away from a blocking position and leaves a route to goal.
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Second goal - this time Dalot is marking him and Varane has been dragged away to cover Alvarez - that creates a gap for Foden and Dalot hesitates a moment unsure whether to go to Foden or stay with Haaland - that hesitation gives Foden the time to get into the gap and score the goal.View attachment 109094

Good centre forward play is not just about goals, or even playing passes to create assists - sometimes the assist is in creating space for others - and that is what Haaland is now doing as well as scoring goals.
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You have got to be kidding me. The second goal, even if it was Bony the defender would still stay with the CF, because if not it's a super easy tap in.

And for the first goal, it's completely standard for any team to have a bunch of players deep against us. Of course plenty will be close to the CF!! In the first goal the most important movement is Rodri because with that run he actually moves one defender away and creates a tiny gap for Foden. Literally Haaland could disappear and United defenders would have the same position.

Haaland is incredible, but posts like this don't make him any favors. What's next? KDB doing a 40m goal and people saying that it was thanks to Haaland pushing the defenders deeper and giving KDB that space?
 
Phil1 said:
People have to accept he’s not the finished article yet even though his numbers suggest he is. He will miss chances, all strikers do but his self belief to keep going is why he’s special.
Imagine how many he will score once he irons out his issues.
We should embrace the journey.
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Can't be said enough.

He broke the single season record last year and he isn't anywhere near his prime.
 
Phenomenal goal scorer who can improve parts of his game like any other player.

Henry showed 2 clips where he could hold the ball up better and also knowing when to come deep and turn the defender to create attacking space.

We all love big Erling and his contribution is already off the scale. However, if he wants to get even better then he has areas to work on. I don’t care if he does or doesn’t tbh but don’t get sucked into to this how much does he touch the ball crap.

He does more than the other outfield players by scoring goals. It’s media insanity to attack him and tarnish his achievements. If he was at the rags or dips this would not be an issue.
 
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wolviedinho said:
Phenomenal goal scorer who can improve parts of his game like any other player.

Henry showed 2 clips where he could hold the ball up better and also knowing when to come deep and turn the defender to create attacking space.

We all love big Erling and his contribution is already off the scale. However, if he wants to get even better then he has areas to work on. I don’t care if he does or doesn’t tbh but don’t get sucked into to this how much does he touch the ball crap.

He does more than the other outfield player by scoring goals. It’s media insanity to attack him and tarnish his achievements. If he was at the rags or dips this would not be an issue.
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He has a hell of a lot to improve to be fair , which shows just how special this guy is.

His heading is appalling for a big unit, first touch inconsistent and he often goes missing.

For a player of his age and if he continues to work and keep his hunger he will be the best striker football has seen.
 
greek citizen said:
He is the only player in a pep team who doesn't contribute to the build up play of the team at all, so his numbers are a certainty to happen, when all he does is wait in the six yard box waiting for a pass or a rebound to score. The other top strikers in guardiolas teams were contributing in the general play a lot more meaning the goals came from different players as his teams didn't have a focal point (an old school number 9). Pep for some reason changed his mind in his approach to the game with haaland. The treble is our biggest achievement but i don't think haaland contributed to that as a lot of other players. In the big games in my opinion he ghosted badly. You can call him a world class number 9, all i see is an inconsistent finisher of the ball, helped immensely by a superb team creating loads of chances for him, with him doing next to nothing when he has an off day in front of goal.
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Contributes loads in my opinion. His movement creates panic in defences that leaves space for others to do their stuff. His link play is improving all the time. His performance at Luton was a perfect centre forward display.
Missing a few more chances this season but he's nearly always there to miss them. Easily got 20 plus league goals a season in him when he plays for us.
 
Fordyboy46 said:
I thought besides his goal that he was very poor against the rags. It wouldn't have surprised me if he had come off for Alvarez. But you always leave him on because of our 3rd goal
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Would have been total madness to sub Haaland for Alvarez when we still needed a winning goal. Varane probably had his best ever game for utd (admittedly that's a low bar). Evans practically crawled off the pitch when he was subbed.
 
Keeper! said:
He has a hell of a lot to improve to be fair , which shows just how special this guy is.

His heading is appalling for a big unit, first touch inconsistent and he often goes missing.

For a player of his age and if he continues to work and keep his hunger he will be the best striker football has seen.
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Thats a dreadful analysis, Keeper
 
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