Are City a better all round team without Haaland?

When the opposition see our starting line up, Would they prefer Haaland's name on it or not.?
I think that will give you the answer.
 
blueinsa said:
It’s stupid in that we are second in the league, still in all comps and the lad has scored 27 goals so far.

It is stupid in that it came about because we drew a game of football.

Take a look at this first page and some of the threads, it’s a fucking joke it really is.
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It’s not Haaland that’s the problem when Haaland plays. Haaland is great, barely does anything wrong… it’s everyone else.

Many of our attempted passes to him are utterly shit: overhit, underhit, mishit, rushed or not even attempted. Sometimes, he makes a run when the opposition’s defence is playing up high near the half way line and we pass it backwards instead of trying to find him over the top.

Once we click with Haaland we’ll be immense. He’s scored 27 goals so far and we haven’t even clicked with him yet, our players don’t quite know how play with him yet, making too many wrong choices.

This is frightening for everyone else!
 
Psychedelic Casual said:
It’s not Haaland that’s the problem when Haaland plays. Haaland is great, barely does anything wrong… it’s everyone else.

Some of our attempted passes to him are utterly shit: overhit, underhit, mishit, rushed or not even attempted. Sometimes, he makes a run when the opposition’s defence is playing up high near the half way line and we pass it backwards instead of trying to find him over the top.

Once we click with Haaland we’ll be immense. He’s scored 27 goals so far and we haven’t even clicked with him yet!
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I'll also add we've been playing without proper fullbacks for a month which is like playing with one arm tied behind your back.
 
No idea but yesterday was the first time in what seemed like ages the real Manchester City turned up. On the front foot, pressing hard, moving the ball more quickly and forward, not sideways and back and totally controlling the game. Forget Chelsea's so called injuries that was still a top side they put out and they couldn't live with us.
 
BringBackSwales said:
I reckon there were a lot of disappointed kids who were there yesterday to see the big lad, he seems a genuinely nice and decent bloke. So many kids that the average age in the Colin Bell stand was probably half of that for a league game (indeed if Eccles Blue wasn’t there then it was halved!)
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Never mind lot of kids, the number of tourists who got their phones out to film him when he went for a trot down the sideline was hilarious.
 
It might have been said as not read whole thread, but the difference isn't just about City with/without Haaland, it’s that the opposition also play completely differently if he’s in the team. Chelsea for example were far more open and relaxed because they thought it was going to be easier at the back yesterday, more fool them.
 
The thing that was noticeable yesterday was the amount of off the ball running Mahrez did and tracking back when Chelsea won the ball.

We need that high energy pressing in the team and more so when Haaland is playing. Our lacklustre performances are nearly always when our wingers and at least one of the midfield three don’t put in a shift and aggressively chase down the ball.
 
if City can adapt instantly (game to game, even within game) between having him in and not having him in, then that is hugely beneficial, and a whole world of headaches for the opposition.

(at the moment i dont think we've adapted to changing between systems, plus we've not quite learnt how to play with him properly yet, but we've got seasons of experience with yesterday's setup so we looked a bit more 'natural')
 
Kane plays for one of the biggest team of divers susequently he getmore penalties
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
Cambijao said:
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.
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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!
 
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!
 
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.
 
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.
 
richards30 said:
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!
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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.
 
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