9 | Erling Haaland - 2023/24

[lasereyes]

I am nowhere near the "playing with 10 men" camp but I do feel Haaland is doing less than last year. I remember more off the ball movement and some very good assists (1st goal vs Arsenal and a rifled cross to Gundo vs I think Everton spring to mind). Not sure why we havent seen that. Too much adoration after last season? Also his hold-up play is not really commensurate with his big size which is a factor when (say) Ederson pings one out to him over a high press.

Easy to forget he is only 23. But he needs to work on his all round game the way Kane did to realize his full potential IMO.

 

[mancityscot]

we don't create enough chances for him. He will continue to play like this and score at his current rate until we do.

he's also spurned many many chances this season.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Obvious he's playing injured. Don't see why we dont just let him get back right and play Alvarez. We need Erling to be a physical monster, if hes just going to limp around and hope for tap ins then its like playing with 10 men. I think its that simple as he was playing really well before his foot injury in my opinion.

I think the fact that Pep confirmed Haaland asked to be taken off last night confirms Erling is probably not 100% and has been trying to play through it.

I think a lot of the criticism of him is very harsh (if not downright stupid, at times).

 

[ChicagoBlue]

My premise is that its easier to unlock defenses when half the opposition is behind you rather than when it is camped in its on own box but thats fair neither does Pep.

The counterattack relies on players who can break at speed and give a defence no time to organize.

Most of the time, we lack the personnel to do that, as we lack speed, but the ball into open space behind for Haaland to run into is our best option there. Even that is about a 1 in 3 proposition, at best, when he gets behind the last defender.

We simply do not possess the rabbits employed by most clubs to do that.

 

[Iassel]

I am nowhere near the "playing with 10 men" camp but I do feel Haaland is doing less than last year. I remember more off the ball movement and some very good assists (1st goal vs Arsenal and a rifled cross to Gundo vs I think Everton spring to mind). Not sure why we havent seen that.

Because as I’ve been telling people for months, he’s been taking injections to get through games since Xmas, hence him moving like his legs are tied together with breezeblocks.

Needed 6-8 weeks off back then but the team had dropped far too many points trying to make the 3-2-4-1 formation happen to be able to afford to do so

 

[Jung the foreman]

Our system makes him look bad. Play the ball direct now and again for him to run on to.

 

[Legal Alien]

Unfortunately, we all can't be Haaland apologists mate

hahaha, oh Trent, you've never had a nice word to say about the lad!

 

[nellyonthewing]

We’ve got according to most the best number 6 in the world in Rodri, the most creative player the PL has ever seen in KDB and one of the most gifted young players in the world in Foden trying to create those chances
Do you not think it’s simply because playing top professional footballers who can set up to defend and be brilliantly organised rather than a failure on those looking to create
Maybe rather than someone doing nothing other than waiting to finish the move off if the others manage to carve one out for him, that we could do with someone who can join in and link up with those players against the parked bus and god forbid maybe even create a chance for himself

Valid points. By the time we arrive and camp outside their box there are something like 16 or so players in that congested space .

 

[Gorbachev]

Best thing going forward for him now is a free Summer with Norway not at the Euros.

Rest for 2 months, evaluate and tweak his game and hit it next season from the off, hopefully.

 

[skillman]

Frustratingly, as soon as he came off last night we fashioned a chance which he would've been on the end of.

But that seems to happen a lot which always leaves me wondering whether we're better in the build-up without him and thus he wouldn't get that service regardless - a bit of a double-edged sword.

Simply put, we need to find a way to stretch the pitch. If he's on, we can't just be forcing teams deep anymore because he's useless when there's no space. If we pull teams onto us then it'll create gaps - or at least space - for him to operate in.

Pep has always said that the team needed to change to accommodate Haaland but it's been pretty evident this season that's not the case and it's been a matter of him feeding off scraps to try and score goals. Certainly in recent weeks anyway.

That doesn't excuse shit like being consistently beaten in the air no matter which defender he is up against or constantly being bullied off it when the ball comes to his feet, though. Just areas to improve on. We had Aguero essentially at his peak from the moment we bought him so it's a bit of an adjustment to now have a striker who isn't the finished article other than goalscoring.