Nordic Ghost Yeti (Scandi Carroll) | Haaland at City

[Tom Cato]

But Haaland doesn’t do any of the apparent vital aspects of modern football that was so important last season.
He just doesn’t. There’s a video a few posts up literally saying he doesn’t leave the width of the goal posts alongside Rodri quotes of him not contributing much outside of goals (which he says is understandable)
The man barely touches the ball. Apparently he averages half the touches of what Aguero did under Pep and only City’s goalkeepers under Guardiola average less. I’m just quoting stats now but every golden boot winner has averaged twice as many touches as that and they aren’t playing in a Pep team. Only two players have touched the ball less than Haaland (pre Forest game is where I’m reading this from) in the league this season.
There aren’t any pressing stats available from what I see but I can’t see them being any way impressive. It’s not as if he’s doing anything with the ball when he gets it, he has so few touches yet most shots from outside the box! So it’s not exactly link up play here.
What exactly is he doing that fits modern football criteria?

The second goal yesterday was originally an assist to Silva that got fumbled and just ended up back in his feet instead

The past two seasons he has had 8 bundesliga assists and 24GP/22G and 28GP/27G respectively. He certainly contributes in the final end of the play.

I suppose the idea is that City plays the way Pep tells them to play, and that appears to be "play it to through to Haaland". Silva staying is massive for Citys season, him and KDB are masters at finding the spaces for the constant runs.

 

[balaks]

Shouldn’t he have been scoring at a much higher rate in the Bundesliga for it to be so much worse than the PL?

It clearly is a much weaker league than the Premiership whether Haaland scored a ton there or not. In my opinion of course.

 

[troylocker]

No, that’s not really what I’m saying. I’m saying Ronaldos flaws were dissected in such broad terms as to what is needed to succeed in modern football. Apparently that was all nonsense from what we’re seeing now. You either need what was demanded from last season to succeed or you don’t. Being able to get around those demands lowers the value of the argument that seemed so absolute a few months ago.
Carragher etc weren’t saying Ronaldo doesn’t score enough goals to make up the difference. They were 100 percent saying no matter how many goals he scores the detrimental affect such a player brings to a top side isn’t worth it. Remember they were saying this as Ronaldo dragged us through the CL group stages on his own. He opened the scoring in a must win game away to Villarreal yet everybody said he was rightly dropped for the game a few days later at Stamford Bridge.
Football evolves so quickly and in such a rapid fashion that any ideas or lectures on modern football is basically worthless.
My prediction (ironic I know) is the idea of teams needed attacking FBs to succeed falling away for teams who play us with Sancho and Antony out wide with Dalot and Malacia behind them. Not in terms of effectiveness but in how teams will abandon that way of playing when facing us (please God if they’re a success!)
Football tactics go with trends and if wide men who get in behind become the norm again then you’ll see a lot more conservative FBs picking their spots. If we see a lot more goal scoring number 9s appear from the abyss then the workhorses who drop deep and link up play will be on the out again.
There really is no one way of playing modern football.

Let's agree that Haaland does not involve himself in the buildup game as much as some other strikers.
When it comes to defensive contribution, let's just keep it simple and present some pressing numbers for Ronaldo, Haaland, Kane, Benzema and Lewa from last season in their leagues and in Europe:

Haaland:
12,6 pressings per 90 minutes
8,6 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

Ronaldo
6,5 pressings per 90 minutes
2,9 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

Kane
9,7 pressings per 90 minutes
5,2 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

Benzema
10,9 pressings per 90 minutes
5,8 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

Lewa
9,7 pressings per 90 minutes
4,1 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

You see. The reason Ronaldo gets a lot of blame for how his defensive contributions have a negative impact on our game is because Ronaldo's numbers in this category is not just low, it's the lowest. From the 850 midfielders and attackers in the top 5 leagues with 500 minutes or more his pressing numbers were 850th out of the 850....

Haaland doesn't top these lists at all, but he does a lot more than the bare minimum. There are many ways to play football, but you need players who does at least the bare minimum. Ronaldo doesn't, hence the difference in critisism.
Yesterday I posted the difference in pure goal output for and against with and without Haaland and Ronaldo for their respective clubs.

 

[justsomebloke]

But Haaland doesn’t do any of the apparent vital aspects of modern football that was so important last season.
He just doesn’t. There’s a video a few posts up literally saying he doesn’t leave the width of the goal posts alongside Rodri quotes of him not contributing much outside of goals (which he says is understandable)
The man barely touches the ball. Apparently he averages half the touches of what Aguero did under Pep and only City’s goalkeepers under Guardiola average less. I’m just quoting stats now but every golden boot winner has averaged twice as many touches as that and they aren’t playing in a Pep team. Only two players have touched the ball less than Haaland (pre Forest game is where I’m reading this from) in the league this season.
There aren’t any pressing stats available from what I see but I can’t see them being any way impressive. It’s not as if he’s doing anything with the ball when he gets it, he has so few touches yet most shots from outside the box! So it’s not exactly link up play here.
What exactly is he doing that fits modern football criteria?

Is taking too few touches something that Ronaldo is criticised for? As for pressures, he's 7th on City on per 90 basis for attempts - ahead of f.e. Gündogan and Grealish. Same position for pressing success rate. So while hardly a pressing machine, he's not a negative standout on this City team the way Ronaldo is on United. Different players.

Manchester City Stats, Premier League | FBref.com

It's obvious, both from watching and from the stats, that he's not much involved in many aspects of the game. But would you necessarily want him to be? Even if he doesn't take many touches or passes, that doesn't mean he has no influence on what happens except when he puts the ball in the net. In possession he's mostly positioned ahead of the ball, and his movement seems most often to be primarily motivated by seeking a breakthrough threat rather than making himself available for participation in the build-up play. But in so doing, he also drags defenders with him and creates space for teammates while still being a constant breakthrough threat even if he's well-covered. I'd take that. It makes City more multi-dimensional, and hence harder to deal with. So far they have some defensive fall-out from playing a little bit more direct (and hence with less control) in the attack, but the tradeoff seems to be worth it. It's also important to remember that he's new to the team, and it's quite normal for players to take quite some time fully adjusting to Pep football. Probably his sweet spot is being a bit more involved than he is up until now without fundamentally changing the nature of his game, but it'll take time to get there, as it has for pretty much everyone else. Aguero had to change his game quite a bit too.

 

[phelans shorts]

But Haaland doesn’t do any of the apparent vital aspects of modern football that was so important last season.
He just doesn’t. There’s a video a few posts up literally saying he doesn’t leave the width of the goal posts alongside Rodri quotes of him not contributing much outside of goals (which he says is understandable)
The man barely touches the ball. Apparently he averages half the touches of what Aguero did under Pep and only City’s goalkeepers under Guardiola average less. I’m just quoting stats now but every golden boot winner has averaged twice as many touches as that and they aren’t playing in a Pep team. Only two players have touched the ball less than Haaland (pre Forest game is where I’m reading this from) in the league this season.
There aren’t any pressing stats available from what I see but I can’t see them being any way impressive. It’s not as if he’s doing anything with the ball when he gets it, he has so few touches yet most shots from outside the box! So it’s not exactly link up play here.
What exactly is he doing that fits modern football criteria?

If you’re good enough at what you do do then it can be worked around, that’s the glaring difference that you’re seemingly intentionally ignoring.

 

[Zen]

Let put it so you understand.
1. Messi was already a great goalscorer before age 22, Cristiano Ronaldo became one after age 22.

2. Yes position on the pitch matters ALOT when it comes to goals. Any player playing closer to goal is bound to get more opportunities to score compared to one who isn't. A case in point, when Ronaldo started playing as a forward his numbers went up spontaneously compared yo when he played as a winger.

3. I agree that the goal stat has existed as long as football but in today's age it has resulted in overhyping players who otherwise have an average allround game. A case in point in today's game is the comparison between Haaland and R9 which is nonsense. Or that from the past players Gerd Muller isnt compared to Cruijff or Pele despite a phenomenal goalscoring rate for club and country due to his relative limitations in his all round game

Messi was at about 0.65 per 90 before his 22 age season, Haaland is above 1.00, Ronaldo 0.90…. this is legit the ONLY figure that creating this comparison. Therefore, yes, position is mute. Since no one is, once again, comparing them stylistically as players… you and others have absurdly made this up in your head.

When I was a youngun, Muller was regularly getting brought up with Pele and Cryuff, as was Eusebio. Maybe never as the absolute best, but like Haaland, comparisons of certain levels did exist… and guess what? That was mostly down to his absurd scoring too… which you seem to think no one cared 5 years ago? Goalscorers in every generation since the dawn of football get this kind of reaction.

 

[Eriku]

If he gets the golden boot, smashes Salah’s record, winds up helping City win their first CL, I wonder if people will still downplay him as nothing special?

Baffling how there’s still people unwilling to give it up.

 

[Gehrman]

Do you think it suggests that your impression of how easy the Bundesliga is was a little off-base? People talked about the PL as if it was in a different category altogether, and yet Haaland doesn’t notice the difference at all…



Gerd Muller was amazing though!

If Haaland can do what Muller did in the latter stages of the European Cup in the early 70s, then he’ll turn City into one of the all time great teams. Muller absolutely did that for Bayern. That is one of the greatest teams ever and it would have been impossible to replicate without Muller.

I think sometimes people underestimate the quality of mullers goals. He wasn't just prolific, a lot of his goals were brilliant.

 

[NewUser777]

If he gets the golden boot, smashes Salah’s record, winds up helping City win their first CL, I wonder if people will still downplay him as nothing special?

Baffling how there’s still people unwilling to give it up.

The only way to become a genius. Repeat stupid things, and one day one of them will come right.

 

[WeePat]

I can’t wait for them to get bounced in the CL quarters so I can come in here and shout about what a waste of money he’s been.

 

[mshnsh]

Messi was at about 0.65 per 90 before his 22 age season, Haaland is above 1.00, Ronaldo 0.90…. this is legit the ONLY figure that creating this comparison. Therefore, yes, position is mute. Since no one is, once again, comparing them stylistically as players… you and others have absurdly made this up in your head.

When I was a youngun, Muller was regularly getting brought up with Pele and Cryuff, as was Eusebio. Maybe never as the absolute best, but like Haaland, comparisons of certain levels did exist… and guess what? That was mostly down to his absurd scoring too… which you seem to think no one cared 5 years ago? Goalscorers in every generation since the dawn of football get this kind of reaction.

Muller isnt considered the best German player of his generation. Backenbauer holds that distinction.

And if you follow, Muller is considered one of greatest goalscorers of all time yet doesn't feature in near the top of all time lists and inconsistently in the top 10 all time lists. It's not about style but about ability.

Fixed for you. When being condescending towards others as a know-it-all newbie, don’t forget to include the main man. ‘Me, me, me’ … Enjoy the season!

 

[Thunderhead]

thing is, I'm hearing he's not a good 'footballer' technically and is just a goalscorer, after watching him for 5 games now I'd say people are underrating his technical ability, last night for his second goal, back to goal takes a nice touch and plays a good ball to Foden, did the same against Newcastle for De Bruyne and someone else at the weekend (I forget) but he's linking up play nicely, he's never going to be a Bernardo Silva on the ball but he doesn't have an awful touch or no vision to where teammates are on the park, seems to be a two touch footballer but they're decent touches, his second touch isn't a proverbial tackle like some people make out.

 

[Tiki-Taka]

Shouldn’t he have been scoring at a much higher rate in the Bundesliga for it to be so much worse than the PL?

I think the quality of service with the players he plays with would likely offset this. The creativity of the team along with the amount of time he can just spend in the box is just ridiculous.

 

[Fabio Rochemback]

Eh?

On national team R9 had way better team around him, and Haaland is on a very limited national side. He still scores for fun there.

It's true, but R9 wouldn't have played against absolute dross like Estonia, Faroe Islands etc.

 

[FriedClams]

If he continues on his current trajectory, he will break most of the important goal scoring records at club level. Not really sure he needs anything else said about him. World class talent with potential to get even better, it’s scary.

 

[Gehrman]

It's true, but R9 wouldn't have played against absolute dross like Estonia, Faroe Islands etc.

R9 could also create chances on his own. Haaland thrives on perfect service but is absurdly clinical.

 

[Zen]

Muller isnt considered the best German player of his generation. Backenbauer holds that distinction.

And if you follow, Muller is considered one of greatest goalscorers of all time yet doesn't feature in near the top of all time lists and inconsistently in the top 10 all time lists. It's not about style but about ability.

But Muller does consistently show up on these lists… just because Ronaldo9, Zidane, Messi and Ronaldo may have pushed out of the top 10 for some doesn’t change that he’s always around the discussion to the degree.

It’s exceptionally circumstantial that he played at the same time as Germany other regular ‘best ever’ player.

 

[Fabio Rochemback]

Haaland is an average, one-dimensional player

 

[Gehrman]

But Muller does consistently show up on these lists… just because Ronaldo9, Zidane, Messi and Ronaldo may have pushed out of the top 10 for some doesn’t change that he’s always around the discussion to the degree.

It’s exceptionally circumstantial that he played at the same time as Germany other regular ‘best ever’ player.

I know players of the same team make eulogies about their own but Beckenbauer said Muller was impossible to defend against in training.

He's somewhat underrated now because he shared eras with Pelé, Beckenbauer and Cryuff.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

Absolute monster. He was created in a lab.

I think the Shearer comparisons make sense. Very similar builds and play style and love to make center backs look like toddlers. He is very good because he does the simple things right as a forward - anticipation and being in the right place at the right time more often than not.

He’s going to be a big problem for a long time.

 

[Relevant]

But Haaland doesn’t do any of the apparent vital aspects of modern football that was so important last season.
He just doesn’t. There’s a video a few posts up literally saying he doesn’t leave the width of the goal posts alongside Rodri quotes of him not contributing much outside of goals (which he says is understandable)
The man barely touches the ball. Apparently he averages half the touches of what Aguero did under Pep and only City’s goalkeepers under Guardiola average less. I’m just quoting stats now but every golden boot winner has averaged twice as many touches as that and they aren’t playing in a Pep team. Only two players have touched the ball less than Haaland (pre Forest game is where I’m reading this from) in the league this season.
There aren’t any pressing stats available from what I see but I can’t see them being any way impressive. It’s not as if he’s doing anything with the ball when he gets it, he has so few touches yet most shots from outside the box! So it’s not exactly link up play here.
What exactly is he doing that fits modern football criteria?

No offence mate but who the feck cares what he's doing if he's scoring at the rate he has in August? Unheard of figures.....and his "goals per touch" rate must be absolutely phenomenal.

The complete galoot and ugly feckin gobshite

 

[justsomebloke]

Absolute monster. He was created in a lab.

I think the Shearer comparisons make sense. Very similar builds and play style and love to make center backs look like toddlers. He is very good because he does the simple things right as a forward - anticipation and being in the right place at the right time more often than not.

He’s going to be a big problem for a long time.

I don't think they're very similar at all, except in that they are both very good goal scorers. Shearer isn't big, is in an entirely different category than Haaland when it comes to physical strength and had nothing like the pace or explosiveness. Compared to Haaland, he was a late bloomer - when he was the age Haaland is now, he had barely started scoring in the Premier League. He was a fantastic scorer, but he grew into it - he didn't have most of the tools Haaland has, and he really wasn't the same type of player.

 

[NoLogo]

Let's agree that Haaland does not involve himself in the buildup game as much as some other strikers.
When it comes to defensive contribution, let's just keep it simple and present some pressing numbers for Ronaldo, Haaland, Kane, Benzema and Lewa from last season in their leagues and in Europe:

Haaland:
12,6 pressings per 90 minutes
8,6 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

Ronaldo
6,5 pressings per 90 minutes
2,9 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

Kane
9,7 pressings per 90 minutes
5,2 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

Benzema
10,9 pressings per 90 minutes
5,8 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

Lewa
9,7 pressings per 90 minutes
4,1 pressings in the attacking 1/3 per 90

You see. The reason Ronaldo gets a lot of blame for how his defensive contributions have a negative impact on our game is because Ronaldo's numbers in this category is not just low, it's the lowest. From the 850 midfielders and attackers in the top 5 leagues with 500 minutes or more his pressing numbers were 850th out of the 850....

Haaland doesn't top these lists at all, but he does a lot more than the bare minimum. There are many ways to play football, but you need players who does at least the bare minimum. Ronaldo doesn't, hence the difference in critisism.
Yesterday I posted the difference in pure goal output for and against with and without Haaland and Ronaldo for their respective clubs.

Imo Haaland does excellent work off the ball. There was a good piece on the TIFO channel today as well where they showed how much his movement causes gaps between midfield and defense of their opposition. I feel his work rate is excellent, even if he isn't technically the most astute striker and not the best passer, this is also worth quite a lot to his team because he opens up gaps for other players.

On top of that, there are so many excellent players in this squad working in the build up phase that I don't really think playing quality passes needs to be a top priority for a striker in this team.

 

[Trezeguet17]

Crazy how overrated R9 is.
14 CL goals for his career? CR7 and Messi scored 14 goals in one CL campaign only a few years after R9 retired..

 

[stefan92]

Crazy how overrated R9 is.
14 CL goals for his career? CR7 and Messi scored 14 goals in one CL campaign only a few years after R9 retired..

Few really care about his CL career as he impressed in World Cups in a way neither Messi nor CR7 did. It's a shame that his career was so short otherwise he would still be the record scorer in that competition and not been overtaken by Klose (who on the opposite side of the spectrum never played on that level but had excellent longevity).

 

[Gehrman]

Few really care about his CL career as he impressed in World Cups in a way neither Messi nor CR7 did. It's a shame that his career was so short otherwise he would still be the record scorer in that competition and not been overtaken by Klose (who on the opposite side of the spectrum never played on that level but had excellent longevity).

His career wasn't short. His prime was due to injury and illness.

 

[troylocker]

It's true, but R9 wouldn't have played against absolute dross like Estonia, Faroe Islands etc.

Not that Haaland has played against any of those 2 teams, but his record against top 50 nations is:
8 goals and 1 assists in 9 games (707 minutes) - 1,02 goals/90 - 1,14 goals+assists/90

Norway is currently ranked 36 and is trending upwards after being carried through this summers Nations laeague matches by guess who...

Ronaldo played against weak teams too, and he played for a team that was a stable top 3 in the world team through our his active career.

 

[Fabio Rochemback]

Crazy how overrated R9 is.
14 CL goals for his career? CR7 and Messi scored 14 goals in one CL campaign only a few years after R9 retired..

I think a lot of people think in terms of "what could have been with R9. In terms of sheer talent, he is right up there with the best ever, but he had serious fitness issues. He was still a deadly striker at Madrid even though he'd noticeably lost a lot of agility and explosiveness.

 

[Tom Cato]

Haaland is a master of positioning, its his one big advantage on top of his superior speed and physique that allows him to get into the spaces he does. He is never close to defenders, but a few strides away so that he cant be blocked.

Is there genuinely any discussion as to who is the best goalscorer in football other than Lewandowski and Haaland? Im not sure why Mbappe gets so much admiration for playing in the French league on a team where individual players are worth more than the teams they are facing. His CL scoring is worse than Haalands as well, despite playing on a way superior team to Salzburg and Dortmund. Mbappe is clearly a significantly more technical player, but he comes short when it comes to pure goalscoring ability.

 

[ilrm]

he and/or Guardiola are looking to feck off.

This City team is all about Guardiola ... when he leaves, they will be just another good team, instead of the god team that they are.

 

[Ladron de redcafe]

Crazy how overrated R9 is.
14 CL goals for his career? CR7 and Messi scored 14 goals in one CL campaign only a few years after R9 retired..

He has 14 world cup goals. Do you want to guess how many world cup knockout goals OR assists Ronaldo has? It's zero. Zero goals contributed.

Ronaldo won 2 world cups and led his team to the final in the third. Why on earth would anyone even bring up the Champions League as if it matters even close to as much as what Ronaldo accomplished at the world cup?

 

[Fabio Rochemback]

Not that Haaland has played against any of those 2 teams, but his record against top 50 nations is:
8 goals and 1 assists in 9 games (707 minutes) - 1,02 goals/90 - 1,14 goals+assists/90

Norway is currently ranked 36 and is trending upwards after being carried through this summers Nations laeague matches by guess who...

Ronaldo played against weak teams too, and he played for a team that was a stable top 3 in the world team through our his active career.

I chose those examples at random, but he has goals against Luxembourg, Latvia, Armenia, Gibraltar and Northern Ireland. R9 wouldn't have played against teams anywhere near that shit . if you look at the teams he scored against for Brazil, there are a few weak teams but the overall quality of opposition is very clearly higher by comparison.

There were a lot less pointless international games in his day - this isn't even just a Haaland vs R9 thing, it isn't really fair to compare international record of players now vs 20 years ago for that reason.

 

[justsomebloke]

He has 14 world cup goals. Do you want to guess how many world cup knockout goals OR assists Ronaldo has? It's zero. Zero goals contributed.

Ronaldo won 2 world cups and led his team to the final in the third. Why on earth would anyone even bring up the Champions League as if it matters even close to as much as what Ronaldo accomplished at the world cup?

Actually, I think you could probably argue that it does. In the way that it has probably been a while since the big national team tournaments represented a higher level of play than the CL.

 

[troylocker]

He has 14 world cup goals. Do you want to guess how many world cup knockout goals OR assists Ronaldo has? It's zero. Zero goals contributed.

Ronaldo won 2 world cups and led his team to the final in the third. Why on earth would anyone even bring up the Champions League as if it matters even close to as much as what Ronaldo accomplished at the world cup?

I love R9, but you cant give him much credit for Brazil's '94 WC win, when he didn't get a single minute. The '98 and '02 campaigns though were fenomenal.

 

[Gehrman]

Crazy how overrated R9 is.
14 CL goals for his career? CR7 and Messi scored 14 goals in one CL campaign only a few years after R9 retired..

Players are rated for different things. R9's prime was cut short before he barely got started. Even after that he won a world cup and is one of the WC topscorers. I agree that his overall european pedigree is lackluster, but anyone who watched him at his very best understand why he's rated so highly. He's a bit of another case of what could have been. In terms of natural talent he was imo right up there with Pelé, Messi and Maradonna. It's just that he got hit hard before he even hit a strikers prime. Doesn't mean he was faultless.

 

[giorno]

His goals yesterday were nothing special. Merely a goal poacher excelling in a team that creates dozens of chances.

More Gerd Müller than R9

So, top 15 player all time potential as opposed to goat. Got it

You see, I’m not really talking about Haaland v Ronaldo, it’s more Haaland v last seasons narrative. Is he pressing high from the front? Is he a trigger for the press? Is he linking play and playing in his teammates to the final third? Is he involved enough outside of the box?
He may do other things well but I was repeatedly told these were the basic fundamentals of modern football, that scoring goals just wasn’t enough anymore. Anything else and a top side can’t operate at a top level.
I’m looking at Haaland and I don’t see his teammates or his side suffering. I don’t even think it’s 9 in 5 that makes up the difference since he just stat padded v Forest. Say he got 0 last night, would people be saying he was a problem with 6 in 5? I suppose the better way of asking that is pre Forest match he had 6 in 4 which isn’t obscene. He still wasn’t seen as a problem so it’s not a scary goal rate that’s the difference here.

The scary goal rate and the success of the team are the difference. Haaland does create some negatives to city's play. They just don't matter because of how much he scores, and the impact those goals have on them winning games. Scoring the first 3 goals in a game isn't stat padding either, it's winning the game for your team. Stat-padding is scoring a hat trick with your team already up 4-0

Or that from the past players Gerd Muller isnt compared to Cruijff or Pele despite a phenomenal goalscoring rate for club and country due to his relative limitations in his all round game

You might want to check Cruijff and Pelé's numbers....

No, that’s not really what I’m saying. I’m saying Ronaldos flaws were dissected in such broad terms as to what is needed to succeed in modern football. Apparently that was all nonsense from what we’re seeing now.

It wasn't and it isn't nonsense. The reality is simply that goals are the most valuable commodity in the sport and enough of them make up for anything and everything. Most of those flaws attributed to Cristiano last season have always been there, even in his prime. They just didn't matter when he was scoring over a goal a game, because he was scoring over a goal a game, and his team kept winning because of it

If you’re good enough at what you do do then it can be worked around, that’s the glaring difference that you’re seemingly intentionally ignoring.

This is it really

Muller isnt considered the best German player of his generation. Backenbauer holds that distinction.

1a/1b. And Beckenbauer was one of the greatest, most inspirational leaders in the sport's history, that's what puts him above Gerd Muller

 

[Gehrman]

Actually, I think you could probably argue that it does. In the way that it has probably been a while since the big national team tournaments represented a higher level of play than the CL.

It was also a time of great national teams. They've been lackluster for a long time now. I dunno maybe i'm biased. Brazil only just beat Denmark in 1998 WC, but the was also the last legs of the best players Denmark ever had(i'm Danish so that's why i'm referencing them).

 

[justsomebloke]

I chose those examples at random, but he has goals against Luxembourg, Latvia, Armenia, Gibraltar and Northern Ireland. R9 wouldn't have played against teams anywhere near that shit . if you look at the teams he scored against for Brazil, but the overall quality of opposition is very clearly higher by comparison.

There were a lot less pointless international games in his day - this isn't even just a Haaland vs R9 thing, it isn't really fair to compare international record of players now vs 20 years ago for that reason.

How does that work then? A contemporary player by definition can't outperform someone who played 30 years ago? Weren't there teams like Latvia and Luxembourg in the nineties? Do you have some sort of data showing that a lot more goals are being scored per game now than used to be the case? You can't compare the national team scoring record of European players to that of South Americans, because UEFA contains a lot of shit teams? Do you have anything to substantiate there being "a lot less pointless international games in his day"? Because actually not much less than half of Ronaldo's appearances for Brazil was in friendlies (46 out of 98). Whereas only 4 of Haaland's 21 caps were non-competitive.

These assumptions of "everything was different then so can't be compared" are really just too cheap, too much of a cop-out. I'm not saying there's no point there at all, but you can't just wave away a measurable comparison because you can think of a few things that were different. There's always things that are different when you're comparing across eras. And you certainly can't go from there to making assumptions about things that are actually factual but which you haven't backed up (volume of scoring in international games then and now, more non-competitive games than before).

 

[justsomebloke]

It was also a time of great national teams. They've been lackluster for a long time now. I dunno maybe i'm biased. Brazil only just beat Denmark in 1998 WC, but the was also the last legs of the best players Denmark ever had(i'm Danish so that's why i'm referencing them).

Not to quibble here, but wouldn't that distinction belong to the great generation of a decade before? Elkjær, Laudrup and that lot?

 

[troylocker]

I chose those examples at random, but he has goals against Luxembourg, Latvia, Armenia, Gibraltar and Northern Ireland. R9 wouldn't have played against teams anywhere near that shit . if you look at the teams he scored against for Brazil, but the overall quality of opposition is very clearly higher by comparison.

There were a lot less pointless international games in his day - this isn't even just a Haaland vs R9 thing, it isn't really fair to compare international record of players now vs 20 years ago for that reason.

....or compare players playing in superstrong Brazil teams vs. Norway.
Ronaldo scored plenty of goals against poor nations too, like Lithuania, Latvia, Malaysia, China, Iceland, New Zealand, etc. and failed to score against nations like Saudi Arabia, Andorra, Haiti etc.
He played against a lot of great teams, but he playedin a team that was favourite to win every single game they played.

Point is Haaland averages over a goal/90 against the likes of Netherlands, Sweden and Serbia were Norway are underdogs as well, so you can't slate him for only doing it against dross. He does it against everyone.