He'll probably slow down as the winter months truly kick in. Or not.
Nordic Ghost Yeti (Scandi Carroll) | Haaland at City
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Let's wait for the season to finish. Being more complete doesn't necessarily make you better...
Gets a nice break while everyone else is at the WC.
It is a combination of the EPL turning into a farmer's league (mixed with some abysmal defending and "headless" tactics at times) with in particular Pep's Man City being far superior to anyone else expect for the best Liverpool team in 30 + years for 1-2 seasons (2018-2020) that gave them a run for their money and beating them once during the corona season (2019-2020), otherwise Pep's Man City have won the league 4 out of the past 6 seasons. Similar dominance as PSG in France for the past 6 seasons. Man City is on course for their 5th league title in 7 seasons as well to further cement their total dominance if anyone was ever in doubt. The EPL, despite clever marketing, has turned into a one-horse league with Pep around and if he stays I predict that this will continue. Liverpool/Klopp had their run, they are finished. Man Utd is rebuilding for 10 years. Arsenal despite a purple start to this season are bound to disappoint like for the past almost 20 years. Chelsea are a headless chicken with the new American ownership. Tottenham are a joke. Nobody else is left to even remotely challenge this City team.
Man City = more money than anyone else until Newcastle emerged + best football infrastructure and structure (personal) around handpicked from Barça's hugely successful 2003-2010 board + clear long-term vision + more investment than anyone else + best manager in modern EPL history apart from SAF. More dominance/goals scored by the top teams in all leagues than previously too. Which is why the likes of Immobile are breaking records in Italy. Just 15-20 years ago that guy would be slightly above average talent wise in Serie A.
Of course Haaland is a freakish talent but his numbers should be put into some context and I am otherwise a huge fan of his as my posting history in this thread shows.
Man City = more money than anyone else until Newcastle emerged + best football infrastructure and structure (personal) around handpicked from Barça's hugely successful 2003-2010 board + clear long-term vision + more investment than anyone else + best manager in modern EPL history apart from SAF. More dominance/goals scored by the top teams in all leagues than previously too. Which is why the likes of Immobile are breaking records in Italy. Just 15-20 years ago that guy would be slightly above average talent wise in Serie A.
Of course Haaland is a freakish talent but his numbers should be put into some context and I am otherwise a huge fan of his as my posting history in this thread shows.
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This is another reason why comparisons across players of different generations are pointless because they miss the huge context of just how much more unbalanced teams are in terms of talent garnered, or even how to qualify for the CL compared to before (always a pet peeve of mine when people bring up R9's record in the CL with zero context).
There were still behemoths of football back in the days, but you had much more spread out talent across all the leagues and the teams.
Why would he?
The service he's receiving is of the highest quality in world football, between him and De Bruyne you have the perfect match.
He's was insanely good today, the two assists were top class as well.
Indeed. I personally laugh at the pre-injury Ronaldo (Barça, Inter and even PSV era) being worse or even comparable to Haaland of today. Similar to the Messi and Mbappé comparisons when the Mbappé hype was at its biggest post-2018 World Cup. Not everything is about numbers nor can eras be compared directly.
I don't care what the stats show, Immobile is not fit to even wear Batigol's shoes and yet statistics show that he is better! Let alone all the other amazing strikers that have played in Serie A for the past 30 years.
Clearly the disparity in football between top teams and everyone else has never been this great in history and the top talents of the current era take advantage of that to their fullest. Yes, both Messi and C. Ronaldo have taken advantage of that as well.
He is Upside down face from Family guy.
Why would he? He's Norwegian. The cold only makes him stronger.
I think some struggle with basic maths. Haaland needs 50+ a season for 15 years to beat Ronaldo’s record. To “obliterate” it he’ll 75+ every year for 15 years.
He’s been on fire but I’m still not sure he’ll get 50+ this season. The rate he’s going at is hard to sustain.
Longevity stats are ultimately about health, which is impossible to predict, but his numbers for Salzburg, Dortmund, City and Norway put him in the Messi/Ronaldo zone for goals. Only way he'll be comparable to Messi is if he smashes his scoring numbers for obvious reasons, which seems unlikely because he'd have to get 80 goals in a club season at his peak and hit 60 like 4 or 5 times to do that.
If he gets as many games as Cristiano, I do think he'll score more goals. Not sure that's more impressive though, when you're a 9 instead of a winger.
Either way, his mix of size, athleticism, desire to score and finishing is something the Prem has never seen. He's a monster.
Probably, but with the ball at his feet he looks very sloppy. As a finisher he is scary.
This kid is relentless. It's like he's a cyborg programmed to score in the most direct manner possible and nothing will deter him from carrying out his objective.
19 more goals in 30 matches will set a new scoring record for a 38 match season.
19 more goals in 30 matches will set a new scoring record for a 38 match season.
I don’t doubt Haaland is going to get a hell of a lot of goals but the reason I don’t think he’ll get close to Ronaldo/Messi records is because I don’t think he’ll play as long as Ronaldo has. I can’t see Haaland playing until he’s 38+ like Ronaldo. It’s not common for such big units like Haaland to play so late into their career simply because of the toll it would take on someone’s body that big. His game is based on explosive and intense bursts of speed. With his injury record to date at such a young age I don’t think his body will be able to maintain the physical exertions he has done so far. Long time to go and we’ll have to see.
There’s also no guarantee he’ll end up in teams who create as many chances as City do either.
I am not even sure it is the finishing that is most impressive. His movement is the killer, once he makes the move there is really very little the defenders can do to recover if the ball is right. Other strikers they can get back to, go shoulder to shoulder, knock them off balance slightly, influencing the finish. Not with this guy, the move is so decisive , puts huge pressure on defenders to be seeing the game ahead of him.
City tend to score a ton of goals in the first and last few months of a season, but in the winter we mostly grind out wins by one or two goals and focus on conserving energy. Who knows what impact the world cup will have on that.
I doubt that will be the case with the world's best striker on the end of their world class supply.
Ronaldo and Messi never stopped scoring and Haaland is defo on that level in my opinion, he's on the top level in his position.
So Norway didn't qualify for the world cup and he can just train and train during November and December and be fresh for the new Year
Yikes
Absolutely nuts how good he is. And he's gonna have better years too
Hes breaking all records and winning a lot of trophies. unless he gets a big injury
Yikes
Absolutely nuts how good he is. And he's gonna have better years too
Hes breaking all records and winning a lot of trophies. unless he gets a big injury
£500k a week Ronaldo sulking on our bench today while Haaland was tearing us apart for City is how badly we're run compared to them in a nutshell.
The hate I have for whichever clown in Utd's recruitment/scouting turned him down is reaching boiling point levels today
Well, on course for 60+ is what he is currently, actually
Not happening ever, but 30, without a long term injury, would be surprisingly few.
The Dixie Dean record is on the line here. Insane!
Absolutely.
30-40 years ago top talent used to be way more wide spread between many teams, including mid table teams, which made leagues more packed with quality down the table.
Right now top teams concentrate most of the best talent out there, letting scraps for the rest.
Platini and Maradona only won 2 Serie A titles, while Dybala has won 5, not because Dybala had a better performance than the former, but because he played in a much weaker Serie A where the difference between Juventus and the rest of italian teams was massive.
I can see Haaland scoring more than CR7 and Messi in the UCL, if UEFA give more slots to teams from smaller leagues, he is gonna stadpad the shit out of the UCL with City.
His injury history is one of the biggest myths in football. Last year was literally the only season he’s ever missed more than 5 games in a season. And it was in a season where he knew he was out the door.
Yeh fair point, not easy at all to read back to goal, especially with the size and reach the guy has.
I was just watching his interview with Gary Neville, and he was talking about that pass De Bryune does behind the defender and right in front of the goalkeeper and how it's unstoppable no matter who's defending it, and it showed again today. Those two are so much fun to watch, it's a mesmerizing duo.
I'd still only rank him as City's second best player too. For me KDB is now the best footballer on the planet.
He might be a better player than Haaland, but KDB isn't the best footballer on the planet. He might be its best playmaker though I think it's a toss up between him and Messi/Neymar in that regard. Besides those two, Mbappe, Benzema, and Lewandowski are better overall players IMO. De Bruyne for Belgium isn't quite the same thing as those players for their respective international teams. I think that context matters when talking about best on the planet, especially when we're talking about the playmaker for possibly the most stacked Pep team of his managerial career.
Can't think of a midfielder in world football that touches him tbf.
Also....you have PSG blinkers on if you think the current version of Messi and bleeding Neymar are on the same level as KDB. Hahahaha.
Messi of 3-4 years ago was definitely better for sure but he's past his best now sadly. You lot didn't sign the World's greatest player in his pomp.
Neymar? I'm sorry but that's simply ridiculous to even suggest. He's not in the same league. Good at rolling around and when your team is cruising 2-0 I will grant you but I'd rather have KDB in my team than Neymar any day.
Tap in merchant 
Honestly, I can’t believe how good he was today. Passing, dropping deep. The space he created and his presence. He looks untouchable out there.
Honestly, I can’t believe how good he was today. Passing, dropping deep. The space he created and his presence. He looks untouchable out there.Yeah, I'm not the one with blinkers on. Have you watched them this season?
Also, if you discount Neymar/Messi as playmakers which is ridiculous even today for Messi, but let's roll right past that, we can still agree Mbappe, Benzema, and Lewandowski are better players than De Bruyne, or that's a no go as well?
Who, Messi?
He's playing in the Tinpot league. Last season he was outscored by Fred for a good chunk of the season. Yes, Fred for us.
He's nowhere near the player he was. He was showing signs of slowing down at Barca too. Incredible player in his pomp though. For me the best ever too.
City would wipe the floor with you lot playing the way they did today.
Also why are Benzema, Lewandowski and Mbappe all better than KDB out of interest? Do you only rate forwards? Is that it? You can't really judge them by stats as they play different positions.
For me KDB is the best midfielder on the planet.
Yeah, as I thought you haven't watched a thing. Cool.
Well that second point I can be swayed with, but it's not what you said.. When you say best player, it means overall impact on a game, and those players individually have more impact than he does on a game's outcome on their own IMO.
I have. Last season I watched him a fair bit and he was very very ordinary. He's still capable of doing something special as he's a special talent but the days of him being the best are well and truly gone.
I think up until about Feb....Fred had scored more league goals for Utd than Messi had in the French League for PSG. This is a player who used to score 50-60 a season pal.
Similar thing happened with the Ronaldo conversation until recently. Fans still think it's 3-4 years ago.
Well, I'm telling you that Messi this season has been an absolute maestro in playmaking, chief. I agree with you about last season, but this season he's been much better, and it's showing for both club and country. He is a much, much better player than what CR7 is now, it's not even comparable IMO.
In the French League though. That's the thing. KDB in your team and in that league would be scary. It would almost be unfair. He does it week in week out in the PL. The level here is much much higher mate.
Messi probably is better than Ronaldo currently too but then he is 2 years younger too and playing in a much easier league where there is only really one good side. Ronaldo may have just about got away with another full season had he joined you lot. His legs can't handle the PL though. Not anymore.
I wouldn’t say he’s the best in the world, but he’s definitely in the top one.
What’s scary is his goals are actually being limited by Pep bringing him off in games when the game is won. He brought him off in the West Ham game I think where he scored 2 goals and could have had another hat trick if he stayed on.
I genuinely think he’ll be the first player ever to score 2 hat tricks in one game. With the amount of chances City create, he can do it.
I genuinely think he’ll be the first player ever to score 2 hat tricks in one game. With the amount of chances City create, he can do it.
Has class technical midfielders around him that can serve it up on a platter time and time again.
Helps that his movement is also so very good. Can just see his constantly on the move, shuffling about, evaluating options when they're in possession. Gets back to defend.
Class player in a very good system.
Helps that his movement is also so very good. Can just see his constantly on the move, shuffling about, evaluating options when they're in possession. Gets back to defend.
Class player in a very good system.
It's not like that same Ronaldo scored what, 18 goals in 30 games last season at age 36. "Legs can't handle the PL". Riiiight. It's called having no preseason and being a wanker on the run. You think that this version of Ronaldo would be any good to any team in the top 7 leagues? It's not about "Prem supreme", it's about a busted individual with no motivation.
If anything, this run of form from Halaand shows how easy it can be to settle into this league.