9 | Erling Haaland - 2024/25

[jacko74]

How do you play more direct if the default game-plan by 99% of any opposition is do defend deep?

Well they already defend deep in response to our usual possession based game anyway, so we've got nothing to lose in that respect.

 

[applejuice]

Who's seriously got the cash to sign Haaland?

Bayern or Barca from what I heard. Sir Harry wants to go home and Lewandowski will be 37 next season. Bayern has plenty of cash in the bank. Barca does not but you know they always find some miracle at the end of the summer

I don't want to lose Erling though.

 

[sir baconface]

For a quick fix, Pep should switch to a false nine system that our other winning players are familiar with, bench him to reignite his desire, or sign another striker to pressure him, like when we had Alvarez.

Quick fix, you say?

How long do you think he’d hang around in a team that gives him no service, then humiliates him by dropping him?

Or maybe you’d be happy to lose one of the world’s best strikers.

 

[mosssideblue]

Quick fix, you say?

How long do you think he’d hang around in a team that gives him no service, then humiliates him by dropping him?

Or maybe you’d be happy to lose one of the world’s best strikers.

The conundrum for me is, if we don't currently have the wherewithal to provide the service that Erling needs, do we continue to play him, or do we try something different

 

[Tricky_Trev]

Be interesting to see what alternative striker we bring in...i personally hope its Isak fgom Newcastle

Haaland needs actual elite competition for his place, and so does the squad

The ‘striker’ we buy needs to not actually be a striker first and foremost. It needs to be a position they are comfortable/good in, but they mainly need to be able to play elsewhere, either on the wing or deeper. If people want to sign an out and out number 9, then they also need to accept that player won’t actually be good enough for us.

 

[Sibierskii]

Bayern or Barca from what I heard. Sir Harry wants to go home and Lewandowski will be 37 next season. Bayern has plenty of cash in the bank. Barca does not but you know they always find some miracle at the end of the summer

I don't want to lose Erling though.

Used to feel the same but meh, why not?

 

[sir baconface]

The conundrum for me is, if we don't currently have the wherewithal to provide the service that Erling needs, do we continue to play him, or do we try something different

It certainly is a conundrum. We are limited with what we have but the coaches surely need to work towards quicker, more incisive forward passing. Easier said than done, of course, when so many players are out of form and accustomed to playing like crabs. I’d hope Doku and Savinho in particular would respond to focused coaching. We might also possibly bring in someone who could give better service.

I guess an alternative is to sell him at the end of the season and play the way the coaches want and can deliver.

I really don’t think Haaland will put up with this for ever, though. He’d get in any side in the world and, if dropped, it would be a sad indictment of both our coaching abilities and resource management. The “cheque book manager” brigade would cream themselves.

No easy answers with the massed defences we encounter most weeks. Glad I’m not the boss.

 

[mosssideblue]

It certainly is a conundrum. We are limited with what we have but the coaches surely need to work towards quicker, more incisive forward passing. Easier said than done, of course, when so many players are out of form and accustomed to playing like crabs. I’d hope Doku and Savinho in particular would respond to focused coaching. We might also possibly bring in someone who could give better service.

I guess an alternative is to sell him at the end of the season and play the way the coaches want and can deliver.

I really don’t think Haaland will put up with this for ever, though. He’d get in any side in the world and, if dropped, it would be a sad indictment of both our coaching abilities and resource management. The “cheque book manager” brigade would cream themselves.

No easy answers here. Glad I’m not the boss.

Agreed. Haaland is no fool and knows Kev is his best route to goals so, it would be interesting to know what discussions he has had with Pep regarding signing players with a first insticct (and ability) to supply him

 

[bennyboy]

Who's seriously got the cash to sign Haaland?

I think he has a release clause.

 

[RayCTID]

Not a chance Haaland will leave immediately if we didn't qualify for the Champions League. Another season like we are currently having then no doubt about it he would move on.