Are City a better all round team without Haaland?

[FantasyIreland]

think Haaland and City's performances against Villa and then Arsenal were quite interesting - Haaland looked way more integrated into the front 3 in those 2 games, as opposed to being the out and out target man. Could be a tactical shift in the way he is used? thought he was a threat and a bully at Arsenal, great game from him.

First half,he was very isolated again last night and looked frustrated.

As soon as Pep switched to a more conventional and solid formation,he looked a part of the team as the the evidence of his goal and all round play proved.

There is no way on earth we are a worse team with him in it,but that is only as long as we use his strengths properly.

 

[Axel Freed]

So far, measured both in terms of average performance and peak performance, last year’s team beats this one hands down.

Whether that’s down to playing a different system or the fact that key players in last year’s team are on the slide slightly we can’t be sure.

As always the definitive answer will come in May when we find out which trophies we do or don’t collect

 

[Maine Rd]

Felt like Haaland was more involved than in previous big away games. He instigated a lot of that himself by just being a menace & trying to bully their defenders. Loved his finish too.
I struggle with Mahrez. He’s been with us 5 seasons & he rarely plays well away from home. There is a reason he’s not been picked for the big PL games away from home during his time with us. I much preferred it when Sterling or Jesus were picked in the wide areas. 85 starts in 175 PL games for someone that’s never injured tells a story.

 

[Moss Side's Finest]

Felt like Haaland was more involved than in previous big away games. He instigated a lot of that himself by just being a menace & trying to bully their defenders. Loved his finish too.
I struggle with Mahrez. He’s been with us 5 seasons & he rarely plays well away from home. There is a reason he’s not been picked for the big PL games away from home during his time with us. I much preferred it when Sterling or Jesus were picked in the wide areas. 85 starts in 175 PL games for someone that’s never injured tells a story.

That's a point, he's virtually never injured, would be interested to see just how many injuries he has had with us, might take a look

 

[ali benarbia's studs]

That finish last night was exquisite from Haaland, pure genius and hammered the game and team with a quick shuffle of the ball to switch shooting feet. Brilliant, Love the guy!

 

[Maine Rd]

That's a point, he's virtually never injured, would be interested to see just how many injuries he has had with us, might take a look

Well he’s made around 50 sub appearances so that would leave 40 games where he’s either not come off the bench or unavailable. I just don’t think he offers much away from home & there is a reason he isn’t picked in the big games (especially away, I know he played most games in CL away the season we got to the final but there were no crowds). He was great v spurs 2nd half in the league recently and a number of home games since World Cup but away I think he’s a weak link, just my opinion but the stats back it up. Much prefer Foden to be in the team

 

[wolviedinho]

The ball from Bernie to Haaland is what we have all wanted to see. Let him run into space and cause havoc with the wingers coming in behind. You can sense the team is shifting. Love the bite we have now and can dish out abit of shit. Resilience is the word.

 

[Crooked_rain]

So far, measured both in terms of average performance and peak performance, last year’s team beats this one hands down.

Whether that’s down to playing a different system or the fact that key players in last year’s team are on the slide slightly we can’t be sure.

As always the definitive answer will come in May when we find out which trophies we do or don’t collect

There’s so many factors involved though it’s hard to make a true comparison between two seasons

We’ve barely been able to get a proper defence together all season

If you look after 23 games last season to this season right now, we’ve scored more this season at the same point, so in terms of attack, we haven’t dropped off at all, we’ve improved in that respect.

So I think the obvious problem is we are letting more goals in than last season and committing stupid errors at the back, like passing the ball straight to the opposition to score goals recently which has cost us points. And I think that comes from a lack of confidence at the back because we’re chopping and changing, playing midfielders as inverted full backs etc. I don’t think this has much to do with Haaland in the side or not. I just don’t think we’ve recruited well enough at the back and had bad luck with injuries too.

We just need to sort out that side of the game because the attacking ability is still there and statistically We are scoring more goals than last year.

 

[Pollocks OG]

No.

 

[meeesh]

No