Are City a better all round team without Haaland?

[Keeper!]

He made some brilliant runs yesterday,there were at least half a dozen situations wher the early ball into him would have caused havoc.....yet he was completely ignored in favour of the safe sideways pass elsewhere.

100% is that on the manager or players?

Are there people that are upset with the attention/success the Viking has got?

 

[FantasyIreland]

100% is that on the manager or players?

Are there people that are upset with the attention/success the Viking has got?

The instruction to keep possession must surely come from the boss.Whether one or two are refusing to pass to him.....i guess it isn't an impossible thought.

One thing is clear,we are totally disjointed with him in the 11 at present.

 

[cheekybids]

Pure drivel.

Drivel that he annoys me?

 

[cheekybids]

He made some brilliant runs yesterday,there were at least half a dozen situations wher the early ball into him would have caused havoc.....yet he was completely ignored in favour of the safe sideways pass elsewhere.

I didn’t see those runs, I wasn’t at the game so I could miss them. I was watching on my phone which could be unfair on him.

 

[DTKOAG]

We have lost our zip our menace.
Is that down to Haaland ? Possibly .

 

[cheekybids]

Foden was struggling long before the WC and stories coming out of the club suggested Pep was pissed with his aptitude, something is very amiss with Mr Foden.

I can imagine Foden thinking he’s arrived & Pep will be thinking you should be trying to be better than Messi.
I thought he was very good first 2 months then was dropped which I didn’t read into it.

 

[bluesmith]

Pep needs to change the syatem to suit him. Not fit him in to a system that doesnt suit him. Evolve - it starts by telling the wingers to beat their man and hit the byline.

 

[chisnall_blue]

Maybe I’m going mad but didn’t Bernardo mostly play ahead of Sane on the right when Kev was out injured in the 18/19 season? Pretty sure that’s what made Sane throw his toys out.

This revision of De Bruyne’s style of play might also be the worst thing I’ve ever seen on bluemoon. This is a thread where we’ve got people wanting Kev and Haaland out of the side - our only world class players and who would get into a world XI.

Couldn’t disagree more with some of the opinions on here and I reckon anyone who works in football would look at you like a complete idiot for thinking De Bruyne (or Haaland) makes our team worse.

He made some brilliant runs yesterday,there were at least half a dozen situations wher the early ball into him would have caused havoc.....yet he was completely ignored in favour of the safe sideways pass elsewhere.

This - all day long. Was screaming at the tv ro release him on at least 4 occasions; nothing! And this sideways passing shit is doing my head in, it’s like we’re trying to send the opposition to sleep before we try something

 

[nellyonthewing]

Opposition managers have figured out that if you sit deep and crowd him as he has nowhere to run into.
Kdb is the main provider of balls into him. Close mark Kev and bingo Haaland is static and poses little threat.
We then play into that with our slow ponderous build up .
Opponents have sussed it , Pep needs to figure it out .

 

[johncity]

Opposition managers have figured out that if you sit deep and crowd him as he has nowhere to run into.
Kdb is the main provider of balls into him. Close mark Kev and bingo Haaland is static and poses little threat.
We then play into that with our slow ponderous build up .
Opponents have sussed it , Pep needs to figure it out .

So then other players have to step up he keeps making runs but we past the ball back so frustrating at moment but no there is no better striker in world football than haaland

 

[Cricket Blue]

Next season you watch us
Pep will sort this

 

[Oddchild]

Opposition managers have figured out that if you sit deep and crowd him as he has nowhere to run into.
Kdb is the main provider of balls into him. Close mark Kev and bingo Haaland is static and poses little threat.
We then play into that with our slow ponderous build up .
Opponents have sussed it , Pep needs to figure it out .

That’s how it looks to an outsider. But I’d give anything to only have your problems compared to the pile of shit on Klopp’s plate right now!

 

[melrose40yarder]

Blaming the guy who’s scored 27 goals when the rest of the team has been shite. We created enough chances for wasters for Sterling and Jesus to score 50 each and then give Haaland fuck all. He is not a false 9 and isn’t the striker to drop off and link up and guess what Pep and the board knew that so the question is why did we sign him then?. Maybe blame those around him who have been fucking shite all season moaning about not wanting to be here

You are spot on its the teams fault not his.

 

[Blue back home]

First time I’ve seen him really frustrated yesterday. He was waving his arms, shaking his head as was Foden. Our two best players outside of Kev hardly touched the ball.

 

[This CITY is OURS 14]

With or without Haaland, it is our snailpaced attacking build up play that is our biggest achilles heel, we need to fix it, the opposition could pitch a tent in the 6 yard box by the time it takes us to get there.

 

[alexmcity]

You are just wrong here. If we had Sterling and Jesus instead of Haaland this season we would be 6th now, as they would have scored only half as many goals. Haalands efficiency has papered over some average performances this season. He has had one good chance the last 3 league games and scored (Everton).

Citys first 9 league games: 33 goals

Last 9 league games: 13 goals. Haaland scored 6 of our goals in this period. This is a collective problem, and Haaland is not to blame at all.

Who said Haaland was to blame?

I wrote that we have created enough chances for Haaland as his record shows. He is likely to break Aguero's record of 33 goals in all compets in January or early February, i.e.with nearly half a season to go. He should have scored 5 vs Leeds recently and could have been on 30 goals in all compets in December, i.e. before the 2nd half of the season.

However, we can't create clear chances for him every single game. Yesterday, we had 23 crosses, but only 1-2 of them found Haaland, and not in a good position to score. That's normal to happen in football, especially when several attacking players are not in top form.

Obviously, our current problems in attack are related to the weeks before and after the WC. Over the next weeks, we are likely to rediscover our goalscoring form.

Why didn't we have that 'collective' problem last season when we scored 150 goals in all compets, the most in Europe? We played better without Haaland? Why did that happen? We were more versatile and didn't rely on one pure goalscorer? Or, which is more likely, KDB, Bernardo, Mahrez, Foden, Cancelo...were better last season? Probably bit of both plus the WC.

I have little doubt that Haaland will have other periods with many goals. But even when he was scoring for fun we dropped points, and he also was part of the problem, for he had several good chances at Newcastle and Anfield and scored only once from them.

And again: Haaland plays for City, not City for Haaland. He should be more involved outside the box to help with the attacks and free spaces for other forwards. He's only 22 and can learn a lot from Pep. He's not the finished article, not for a Pep team anyway.

 

[East Level 2]

Haaland is a natural goalscorer and keeps breaking records. If we're better without him the fault lies with the rest of them and the coaching staff.

 

[vincent]

Opposition managers have figured out that if you sit deep and crowd him as he has nowhere to run into.
Kdb is the main provider of balls into him. Close mark Kev and bingo Haaland is static and poses little threat.
We then play into that with our slow ponderous build up .
Opponents have sussed it , Pep needs to figure it out .

True to an extent but as shown on MOTD, there were plenty of opportunities to play him in yesterday but for some reason our players didn’t.

 

[Bluemoon has risen]

True to an extent but as shown on MOTD, there were plenty of opportunities to play him in yesterday but for some reason our players didn’t.

Too many of our players play side to side passes and the easy ball. If it isn't KDB, nobody will play the risky killer ball. It won't always work but if you've got a killer up front you have to feed him.

 

[FantasyIreland]

True to an extent but as shown on MOTD, there were plenty of opportunities to play him in yesterday but for some reason our players didn’t.

Many of our players are safe and lack leadership,they are content to stay in a comfort zone and go through the motions,we lack personality on the pitch IMO.

We need to recruit some more aggression and directness,find players who will take agame by the scruff and inspire those around them.

This is down to management.