Are City a better all round team without Haaland?

[meltonblue]

Think it’s only natural that it takes time for new patterns to bed in when you have someone as different as Haaland is in the set up - it’s clicked in some aspects a lot quicker than I thought it would.

I think it’s more around KBD, whether he’s on it or not and how we use others when he plays. Big difference for me yesterday was how we deployed the midfield, Bernardo and Rodri were both at their best and had the space to run the game despite Chelsea flooding the centre.

 

[svennis pennis]

Absolutely not.

What we do need is a high energy press though and it’s no coincidence that in the 6.3 against the rags we had Foden and Bernie running their arses off. I think for Haaland to be at his most effective we need at least two of Bernie, Foden or Alvarez in the side.

There is also a common misconception that Haaland doesn’t press, he does, but he is clearly learning how to do it the way we do. He’s 22 and fast as fuck.

We also need to play fullbacks that overlap, the difference yesterday… we looked balanced. Ake has been brilliant, but he is not a left back. When we have him at LB and Rico dropping into midfield the team slows right down, couple that with Grealish and Mahrez and the pace in our play falls dramatically.

I much prefer seeing a balanced side even though there were numerous occasions when we gave the ball away. The issue is, Pep doesn’t enjoy that, Gomez was guilty of it on a fair few occasions but the benefits he added to the team far outweighed it.

Haaland is the best finisher in the world, dare I say it, we need to be braver to get the best of him.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

You've got to laugh.

Lots of City fans last season saying we needed a striker, despite us scoring more goals than anyone else without one.

This season, sign the best striker in the world, fans complain we were better before.

FWIW I'm absolutely delighted we've got him in the side.

 

[Charlesfarsbar]

Yes we are, however it was always going to take time to transition Haaland into the team

At the moment we are playing like a team with 10 men, the amount of runs Haaland makes per game is scary but generally he’s making them when we have the ball deeper, which means he’s never found due to the way we are conditioned to play

i only think we‘ll start to see it clicking next season

 

[Cambijao]

Holy fucking shit guys.....

Man City played against a horrible Chelsea team under Graham Potter and Haaland-haters are quickly coming out from the woodstocks to downplay him.

Have people already forgotten Man City scored 6 goals against Ten Hag's Man United, a far better team compared to Potters Chelsea...

Erling Haaland is easily the best striker in Man City's history already & is doing his job more than well. Madness to put any blame on him.

 

[richards30]

Holy fucking shit guys.....

Man City played against a horrible Chelsea team under Graham Potter and Haaland-haters are quickly coming out from the woodstocks to downplay him.

Have people already forgotten Man City scored 6 goals against Ten Hag's Man United, a far better team compared to Potters Chelsea...

Erling Haaland is easily the best striker in Man City's history already & is doing his job more than well. Madness to put any blame on him.

that last part is bollocks by the way! Haaland is without question amazing but has a LONG way to go before getting to Sergio Aguero status at City!

 

[skillman]

I keep going back to that first half against the rags. The most scintillating football I’ve ever seen live. We can play with Haaland and still be thrilling - it’ll click consistently soon enough.

He’s the best 9 in world football right now IMO so if Alvarez makes us more fluid, you find a way to play both. Simple as that really.

What’s frightening is that he’s still in his first season without much playing time with his teammates and still has 27 goals. He’s a phenom and he’s ours!

 

[BlueBanger]

We just haven't produced a system that incorporates Haaland properly...bafflingly given our manager. I don't see a difference in how we setup this year with Haaland vs last year with a false 9. The only real difference is last years false 9 dropped deeper and a bit more often.

That he's still a scoring machine with such a miniscule involvement is testament to his unreal talent.

 

[buckshot]

City are all around a better team because they can play one style with Haaland and another one with the false-9. Pep needs to utilize both styles and even change it up mid-match every now and then. Teams won't know what hit them.

 

[Cambijao]

that last part is bollocks by the way! Haaland is without question amazing but has a LONG way to go before getting to Sergio Aguero status at City!

Nobody said anything about Haaland's Man City legacy is on par with Aguero lol.

I said Haaland is far superior striker than Aguero and nothing else.