Are City a better all round team without Haaland?

Gus Fring said:
Here’s my quick view on it

We’re different and that’s that I wouldn’t say we are better or worse.

Thierry Henry said it best when he talked about sometimes in the big games he has to adapt to maximise those around him, he knows KDB can drop it to him from anywhere but players like Gundo & Silva prefer one twos and more intricate stuff which is why personally in big games this season things aren’t seeming to click when a better quality of player sticks on Kev.

He’ll get there he’s 22 and he’s scored 26 already in his debut premiership season when 20 would have been a good return in my opinion.

All this bollocks is just driven by the media looking for more arrows to shoot at us.

CTID
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I think we're worse than previous seasons but that IMO has nothing to do with Haaland. It's because,

(a) Our back 4 has been badly interrupted with injuries and constant changes
(b) Key players have been underperforming compared to previous seasons, especially KDB and Foden. KDB still very good by normal standards, but not the "unbelievable" levels we've got used to.
(c) Letting Cancelo go (although (b) applied to him, big time) and likewise Zinny without replacement, leaves us unbalanced and has knocked our confidence a bit.
(d) Up until now, we've looked a bit stale. Maybe players lacking that bit of extra passion, having won it 4 times out of 5 already.
(e) Pep still likes to bugger about with things that work and try things that don't. e.g. fucking idiotic playing 3 at the back with Bernie being asked to drop into left back.
 
He starts every match he’s fit for here but it’s an interesting debate for sure. Having an alternative school of thought is a positive in most places.
 
We aint pressing like we did. Thats for sure. Is that a Haaland/no false 9 issue or something deeper? We play quite slow at times allowing teams to get set up for us. For me if we had 2 top class wingers of the like of (Salah/Mane/Sane/Vinicius) we’d be unstoppable with Erling up top. Teams would have to much to deal with. Grealish/Mahrez are great players in their own right but they take to much time on the ball and teams get back in shape… Foden not playing great either…
 
Indaparkside said:
Ball over the top and he will destroy defenders play to his strengths top top signing
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It doesn’t even have to be that, just balls into space anywhere on the pitch, he drags defenders out of position and bullies em, I’d much rather he ran the channels a bit (thought he did that really well last night) than dropping into midfield, it’s congested enough in there, he needs to be able to isolate defenders
 
It's an interesting question. I think The viking is brilliant at what he does, thats finishing. I reckon pep is trying a back 3 to give him one more player in midfield as Erling doesn't drop in. Personally Grealish and mahrez together are too slow with their build up so it leaves Erling isolated a lot. I like 3-5-2 (3-1-4-2) with Alvarez up front with him. I'd also like to see Jack in a more central role as he's great on the ball and rarely gives it away, whether he's a winger remains to be seen imo. So all in all, Pep is having to change because of Erling and it goes right back to the back 3.
 
Bluearmy said:
We aint pressing like we did. Thats for sure. Is that a Haaland/no false 9 issue or something deeper? We play quite slow at times allowing teams to get set up for us. For me if we had 2 top class wingers of the like of (Salah/Mane/Sane/Vinicius) we’d be unstoppable with Erling up top. Teams would have to much to deal with. Grealish/Mahrez are great players in their own right but they take to much time on the ball and teams get back in shape… Foden not playing great either…
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We pressed arsenal to death last night. That was the key to the victory. Haaland involved himself more than ever. He got in for his goal . Plus we are trying the occasional ball over the top to him.
Pep has hopefully now seen that 4 at the back can have its advantages.
 
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