9 | Erling Haaland - 2023/24

[ChicagoBlue]

According to Pep he, Kev and Akanji all asked to come off, either knackered or injured, Haaland first touch is terrible, he doesn’t hold the ball up and gets bullied, trouble is Pep will never change his style to suit a counter attacking Haaland, Madrid might want him but with Mbappe going there I don’t see how he would fit in with what they already have.

Best striker in the world when he’s fed the way he needs to BE the best striker in the world.

 

[Paulmcfc2703]

No it isn't. My point is that you can pick holes in basically any player's performances over the course of a season. It's fair enough to criticise Haaland at the moment but acting like the most revered strikers in the club's history haven't also had under-par seasons is ludicrous.

The same thing will happen again in 5-10 years when Haaland's gone and the new striker we have isn't performing to the same level - we'll all basically pretend this season didn't happen because Haaland will have played about 300 games and scored over 200 goals for the club.

"Haaland had that slightly underwhelming second season, though, you remember?" someone will ask, and the response will be "Are you joking, he scored 35 goals in his second season, we'd kill for those kinds of numbers now", etc. It's like how people pretend Mahrez and Gundogan were always perfect.

All strikers have dips in form.

Haaland does not turn up against the top teams. He just doesn't. Scoring has not been an issue under Pep. Haaland was brought in to get us over the line in the big games against the top teams. For almost 18 months others have had to bail him out.

 

[donsmoke]

Haaland's best attributes are more athletic than footballing hence he'll never be an Aguero or the best footballer in the world, that does not mean that he's a Championship player like Keane said.
In the big games like yesterday, you need your big players to create a magic moment, the best players do, KDB done it against Madrid last year, Rodri done it in the final last year, Foden done it last week.

When will Haaland do it or is he not allowed to do it because of his goal scoring record for us?
You can't on one hand say, "he's the best striker in the world" but then not criticize him for not doing the things the "best strikers in the world" have been doing since the inception of football.

 

[MCFC Wirral]

Haaland is still leading scorer. He’s not been as prolific as he was last season but he’s certainly doing his job.

 

[youngbob]

All strikers have dips in form.

Haaland does not turn up against the top teams. He just doesn't. Scoring has not been an issue under Pep. Haaland was brought in to get us over the line in the big games against the top teams. For almost 18 months others have had to bail him out.

This is a complete lie so there's no point debating you if your head's that far in the sand.

 

[Bluewars II]

Are we ready to have a conversation???...

Me neither, but another season like this one and you'll hear me vent.

 

[dancity19]

All strikers have dips in form.

Haaland does not turn up against the top teams. He just doesn't. Scoring has not been an issue under Pep. Haaland was brought in to get us over the line in the big games against the top teams. For almost 18 months others have had to bail him out.

You’re dicing with death here mate.
I actually think he played OK last night, so in isolation it was fine, but it’s another game to add to the list of big games he hasn’t scored in. That’s my question mark.

His performance was good - that’s fine.
But that is now 4 games against RM he hasn’t scored in. I’m not having in a million years people would have said “yeah I wouldn’t have expected him too anyway”.

 

[christened at st marks]

Every body has a dip in goals he is still at the top in the EPL
The fact that he kills our press is the problem for me prefer the false 9

 

[Saddleworth2]

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

 

[donsmoke]

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

That sounds nice, but it's not true, Haaland has the most amount of big chances missed in the PL (30), more than even Nunez, who's utter shite.

Last season we created more chances, which made him look more clinical than he actually was.