Are City a better all round team without Haaland?

Ridiculous conversation this given that Haalands on 23 already but at the same time we haven't played well this season compared to last season without a rec striker.
 
It’s reductive to say the differences season to season are down to a single player. We have a different back four, more rotation, a World Cup in winter, different style of play (not just down to Haaland but a lack of pace on the wings), and we’ve lost players too.

We could just as easily put the stats down to “losing Zinchenko” (another reductive and wrong argument).

The fact we have scored the same number of goals as last season at this point means nothing. Yes it shows a higher reliance on Haaland that they’re all through him, but has anyone looked at chance creation stats? I’d assume we are more lethal with chances going through him so maybe that means fewer created chances. Foden has dropped off but at the start of the season he was scoring too, so that could be a reason. Mahrez has started scoring again so that could help. Grealish not yet fully off the ground
 
Agueroooo9320 said:
harry kane and work rate don't make me laugh. kane probably makes us a worse team than before. we have no wingers for him to play in and he is too slow now to get back into the box. we will be a worse team with kane in it and probably have a few less points than now.
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Sorry but I just can’t agree with that. Kane is a great player. He’s not just about scoring goals - although he does that pretty well - he‘s the kind of player that makes things happen. He comes deep to look for the ball and always looks to use it well. I was saying to my neighbour at the ground when we played them last week that if Kane wasn’t a striker he’d make a brilliant midfield player. I would have loved to have seen him at City - just not for £150m.
 
There is actually some good debate in this thread. My view is that many of our players are performing at a lower standard this season than last and that Pep's tactics to introduce Haaland whilst retaining the control he craves have, in some games, hindered us.
Many players take time to adapt to Pep's style of play and I think this applies to Haaland too despite the outrageous number of goals he has scored.
I will not be surprised if we start getting goals from other players and Haaland's scoring rate decreases in the second half of the season. I think we will comfortably top the goalscoring charts so, if the defence gets more settled, we should take Arsenal to the wire.
 
Our woes this season have been based around (i) form of individuals, and, (ii) our inability to pick a consistent back 4

I dread to think where we'd be without Haaland

He defo needs to adapt his game though, and am sure he will
 
Gaz in Zurich said:
I think we need to be more direct with him..just get the ball and launch it like Utd do with Rashford. That'll give the opposition something else to think about, as they know we try to play the perfect pass and fill the space.
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We will never consistently do that with Pep as it surrenders possession too much for his liking. The v quick ball on the counter is an option though that we could use a bit more, more especially as we lack raw pace on the flanks.
 
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