Erling Haaland's adventures in Manchester City

You couldn't get two strikers so unlike each other as these two.
Haaland is probably the best killer in the history of football alongside Messi and Ronaldo but when I remember Benzema last season, while he was at his most lethal form ever, he won Madrid titles because he was also absolutely flawless when he wasn't scoring. The way he was receiving the ball, relieving pressure off his teammates, making key passes as well as his leadership and clutch play is what sets him far above Haaland IMHO.

No offence to Thimmy and Cascia but Haaland without service is Andy Carroll. And while we can say that about a lot of strikers, players like Kane, Lewandowski, Messi, Ibra etc provide something extra when your team is pinned back and not creating chances.

You mean, like in the first leg between Dortmund and Sevilla where Dortmund were pretty much pinned back in their own half and looked like they were about to get steamrolled until Haaland completely changed the game with a single counter-attack that caused Sevilla's overly confident defenders to suddenly back up in a wave-like pattern and look like the underdogs for the rest of the match?

No offense taken, but you might want to follow a player for more than 8 matches before you claim what someone is or isn't good at. You might as well follow the trend of arguing that he can't do headers, link-up play or pass the ball very well since he barely seems to do those things at City. Benzema is more involved in the build up, that's part of his role in the team. Haaland at City doesn't really touch the ball much over the course of a match, but after following him for almost 3 years now, it's hard to agree with the claim that "Haaland without service is like Andy Carroll". That honestly sounds like a joke.

Is this you?

Varnagel wrote:Florentino Perez: "Haaland would be a substitute for Benzema"


Since 2019/20 season (when Haaland had his breakout season)

- League campaign:

Haaland: 92 goals + 28 assists in 89 games = 1.35 G/A per game
Benzema: 75 goals + 28 assists in 107 games = 0.98 G/A per game

- Champions League:

Haaland: 26 goals + 3 assists in 22 games = 1.32 G/A per game
Benzema: 26 goals + 4 assists in 32 games = 0.94 G/A per game


- International:

Haaland: 21 goals + 3 assists in 23 games = 1.04 G/A per game
Benzema (2nd stint): 10 goals + 2 assists in 16 games = 0.75 G/A per game

- All comps:

Haaland: 131 goals + 33 assists in 122 games = 1.34 G/A per game
Benzema: 105 goals + 36 assists in 146 games = 0.97 G/A per game

What in the world are you troll laughing about, Benzema's about to win the Balon D Or

First off, Andy Carroll was actually a decent player who’s career got completely fucked by injuries and his lack of finishing. On the ball, he wasn’t heskey.

Irregardless, Haaland is excellent with the ball at his feet. Anyone who watches city regularly can see his ability on the ball, particularly his passing ability.

Completely unrelated but when fennecfox mentioned heskey, I remember when they asked Rivaldo something along the lines of his favorite England or epl player and he mentioned heskey, and he even gave reasons. I think it was either after Brazil won the Mundial or after he won footballer of the year. People stopped trusting Rivaldo after that. And he was serious too

titosantill wrote:Completely unrelated but when fennecfox mentioned heskey, I remember when they asked Rivaldo something along the lines of his favorite England or epl player and he mentioned heskey, and he even gave reasons. I think it was either after Brazil won the Mundial or after he won footballer of the year. People stopped trusting Rivaldo after that. And he was serious too

Tbf I can see why Rivaldo would say this Heskey was an unselfish donkey who overpowered defenders and opened up a lot of spaces for other attacking players. That is a dream partner for a second striker/wide forward like Rivaldo.

prime Heskey was good
proper Brexit player except for his skin colour

Gonna own up to this and change my opinion on the Mbappe v Haaland debate.

Haaland is clearly not just better but another level. Mbappe has mostly only just proven himself in the Ligue 1. Outside of that the World Cup contrary to boomer belief, is NOT the top level. International footballing standards have gone way down. Thankfully Mbappe does perform in the UCL but he is not a generational player by any means despite his über talent. Haaland on the other hand is breaking all the scales and doing so in the EPL.

And goals are the hardest thing to do in football as nobody cares if Haaland cannot string together some through ball or does not have link-up play he is winning games by himself by this point and is the best player in the world at this current moment.

oh how glorious you would've looked in a Madrid shirt, you fooking ruthless, cold-blooded psychopath

I wish

danyjr wrote:You couldn't get two strikers so unlike each other as these two.
Haaland is probably the best killer in the history of football alongside Messi and Ronaldo but when I remember Benzema last season, while he was at his most lethal form ever, he won Madrid titles because he was also absolutely flawless when he wasn't scoring. The way he was receiving the ball, relieving pressure off his teammates, making key passes as well as his leadership and clutch play is what sets him far above Haaland IMHO.

No offence to Thimmy and Cascia but Haaland without service is Andy Carroll. And while we can say that about a lot of strikers, players like Kane, Lewandowski, Messi, Ibra etc provide something extra when your team is pinned back and not creating chances.

He doesn’t have the technical security that someone like Benz does. Yes, Haaland can look awkward on the ball and have some loose touches but you’re underrating his link up play.

Haaland is not bad at link up play. I think he’s actually decent at it. I’ve seen him thread passes through narrow openings multiple times. Most players of his type wouldn’t even attempt those and he’s pulled them off. He’s great at holding the ball and has no issue laying it off. I even remember at times with Dortmund he’d play a very clever ball but the execution was sometimes off. He has creativity in him.

In fact it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he does have that Kane esque metamorphosis in a few years. Yes right now he’s primarily a goal scorer but I think over the next few years he’ll show a footballing side too. He has it it in him it just needs more developing. He’s not Andy Carroll without service. He’s a dangerous goal scoring threat in almost every possible game state.

FennecFox7 wrote:First off, Andy Carroll was actually a decent player who’s career got completely fucked by injuries and his lack of finishing. On the ball, he wasn’t heskey.

Irregardless, Haaland is excellent with the ball at his feet. Anyone who watches city regularly can see his ability on the ball, particularly his passing ability.

Exactly. Him looking awkward as fuck when he runs with the ball is why people think he’s an oaf. I’ve seen him play passes that you never would’ve thought he’d be capable of based on his perception.

This guy is a monster and he’s going to round out his game very nicely over the coming years. Watch this space.

Pep just said there’s no release clause in Haaland’s contract.

@Thimmy what’s the Norwegian media’s thoughts on that?

The greatest football player in the world is from Norway , what a time to be alive for Thimmy

Casciavit wrote:Pep just said there’s no release clause in Haaland’s contract.

@Thimmy what’s the Norwegian media’s thoughts on that?

They're not saying anything that I haven't already read in foreign media. He had a buyout clause in his contracts for both Salzburg and Dortmund, so people have naturally been expecting and speculating about there being one in his Man City contract as well. Neither him, nor his dad have confirmed whether or not there is one, so Pep's word is all there is to go by on that matter.

Casciavit wrote:

danyjr wrote:You couldn't get two strikers so unlike each other as these two.
Haaland is probably the best killer in the history of football alongside Messi and Ronaldo but when I remember Benzema last season, while he was at his most lethal form ever, he won Madrid titles because he was also absolutely flawless when he wasn't scoring. The way he was receiving the ball, relieving pressure off his teammates, making key passes as well as his leadership and clutch play is what sets him far above Haaland IMHO.

No offence to Thimmy and Cascia but Haaland without service is Andy Carroll. And while we can say that about a lot of strikers, players like Kane, Lewandowski, Messi, Ibra etc provide something extra when your team is pinned back and not creating chances.

He doesn’t have the technical security that someone like Benz does. Yes, Haaland can look awkward on the ball and have some loose touches but you’re underrating his link up play.

Haaland is not bad at link up play. I think he’s actually decent at it. I’ve seen him thread passes through narrow openings multiple times. Most players of his type wouldn’t even attempt those and he’s pulled them off. He’s great at holding the ball and has no issue laying it off. I even remember at times with Dortmund he’d play a very clever ball but the execution was sometimes off. He has creativity in him.

In fact it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he does have that Kane esque metamorphosis in a few years. Yes right now he’s primarily a goal scorer but I think over the next few years he’ll show a footballing side too. He has it it in him it just needs more developing. He’s not Andy Carroll without service. He’s a dangerous goal scoring threat in almost every possible game state.

That's pretty much the same impression that I have regarding his passing ability and ability to spot good passing opportunities. There seems to be a discrepancy between his vision of the field, which he's shown on occasion can be surprisingly good, and his ability to execute a pass to those areas - which isn't always quite up to par. I'm personally convinced that his link up play has incredible potential, but unless he shows that with some regularity, it's not going to be considered a part of his game.

Up until recently, I had assumed that he'd been instructed to play in a more isolated role since he's been seeing so little of the ball for City, but Pep said that he wants Haaland to be more involved in the build up, which makes me wonder if he really has adapted as well as as it looks like. It's natural to assume that he's settled in well when you look purely at his efficiency and impact in the final third, but unlike at Dortmund, he hasn't been making himself available for passes outside of the box and he's barely utilizing his speed anymore.

I think it is time to give this ‘best player in the world’ his own thread. His stats in his first 3 or 4 years is better than Messi, Ronaldo and Mbappe. Enough of this raving about aging previous top players and stop this comparison to the selfish Frenchie. There is no doubt who is the better player.

It's completely irrelevant if Benzema is more skilled than Haaland whatsoever. Because last time I checked, a striker's main job is to consistently score goals. Haaland as a player is LEVELS above Benzema & it's not even debatable. And this is coming from someone who used to always defend Benzema when everyone treated the Frenchman as a meme player.

Post-2014 Cristiano Ronaldo's style of play was no different than Erling Haaland & Benzema was more better all-around player even back then. And yet, Cristiano was rightfully regarded as a far superior player than Benzema simply because the former was an outrageous goalscorer.

If people thinks Benzema > Haaland, then I assume they also believe Benzema > Prime Cristiano

Did I read Andy Carroll's name in this thread?

imagine comping Haaland with Andy Carroll dirty

Varnagel wrote:It's completely irrelevant if Benzema is more skilled than Haaland whatsoever. Because last time I checked, a striker's main job is to consistently score goals. Haaland as a player is LEVELS above Benzema & it's not even debatable. And this is coming from someone who used to always defend Benzema when everyone treated the Frenchman as a meme player.

Post-2014 Cristiano Ronaldo's style of play was no different than Erling Haaland & Benzema was more better all-around player even back then. And yet, Cristiano was rightfully regarded as a far superior player than Benzema simply because the former was an outrageous goalscorer.

If people thinks Benzema > Haaland, then I assume they also believe Post-2014 Prime Cristiano > Benzema

Why are you burning all of your brain cells in this Benzema-Haaland comparison that nobody here, except you, gives a fck about?

And can't you just praise Haaland (or not) without bringing Benzema up?

And do you even realize that the comparison doesn't even make any sense? It's like comparing a private to a 5-star general.

Haaland is amazing, everybody here knows how much I love him, but comparing him to Benzema is a crime. He may surpass him in the future, but as of now, he still has a mountain of trophies to win before even earning the right to be mentioned in the same breath as Benzie.

Stop the comparison, it really doesn't make any sense as of yet.

Maybe I have a poor sense of humor, but this image made me laugh so hard when I first saw it. Firenze?

The Demon of Carthage wrote:

Varnagel wrote:It's completely irrelevant if Benzema is more skilled than Haaland whatsoever. Because last time I checked, a striker's main job is to consistently score goals. Haaland as a player is LEVELS above Benzema & it's not even debatable. And this is coming from someone who used to always defend Benzema when everyone treated the Frenchman as a meme player.

Post-2014 Cristiano Ronaldo's style of play was no different than Erling Haaland & Benzema was more better all-around player even back then. And yet, Cristiano was rightfully regarded as a far superior player than Benzema simply because the former was an outrageous goalscorer.

If people thinks Benzema > Haaland, then I assume they also believe Post-2014 Prime Cristiano > Benzema

Why are you burning all of your brain cells in this Benzema-Haaland comparison that nobody here, except you, gives a fck about?

And can't you just praise Haaland (or not) without bringing Benzema up?

And do you even realize that the comparison doesn't even make any sense? It's like comparing a private to a 5-star general.

Haaland is amazing, everybody here knows how much I love him, but comparing him to Benzema is a crime. He may surpass him in the future, but as of now, he still has a mountain of trophies to win before even earning the right to be mentioned in the same breath as Benzie.

Stop the comparison, it really doesn't make any sense as of yet.

Jfc, trophies are team accomplishments. It's hilarious how one of Benzema's biggest haters on GoalLegacy for years is using it as an argument. I thought he was a scrub & being carried by the likes of Cristiano & others during entire 2010s decade according to you?

Haaland is currently on track to win European Golden Boot and hit Prime Cristiano/Messi numbers. Something Benzema was never capable to do lol.

Varnagel wrote:It's completely irrelevant if Benzema is more skilled than Haaland whatsoever. Because last time I checked, a striker's main job is to consistently score goals. Haaland as a player is LEVELS above Benzema & it's not even debatable. And this is coming from someone who used to always defend Benzema when everyone treated the Frenchman as a meme player.

Post-2014 Cristiano Ronaldo's style of play was no different than Erling Haaland & Benzema was more better all-around player even back then. And yet, Cristiano was rightfully regarded as a far superior player than Benzema simply because the former was an outrageous goalscorer.

If people thinks Benzema > Haaland, then I assume they also believe Benzema > Prime Cristiano

A player's main goal is to help their team win. And Benz did that in spades and deservedly got a BdO out of that.

Just a few years ago people were saying "a fullback's main goal is to defend" and that's certainly not true in some teams.

Roles ultimately depends on team setup, not just position.

Why is this comparison being made?? Both have been great. One was last season’s BdO and the other is likely this season’s BdO. One is finishing his career in grand form and the other is just beginning and putting up better numbers than ‘all career goal scorers’ at same point of their careers. It is a way way too early to consider him an all time great.

Actually, I find all these threads comparing players (my RB is better than yours) to be useless usually just trolling for the few immature fan fanatics on GL.

Fuckin robot