Erling Braut Haaland - The future of football

  • The Fighting Cock is a forum for fans of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Here you can discuss Spurs latest matches, our squad, tactics and any transfer news surrounding the club. Registration gives you access to all our forums (including 'Off Topic' discussion) and removes most of the adverts (you can remove them all via an account upgrade). You're here now, you might as well...

    Get involved!

Latest Spurs videos from Sky Sports

Fair enough but anyone who fails to include Ronaldo in any analysis when talking of Messi is ignoring the evidence.

Ronaldo is fantastic at his peak, what makes Messi and similarly Maradonna fantastic is that they are strikers, midfielders and wingers all in one. Can’t think of anyone outside those two who where elite at all aspects.
 
LOL
Assassins Creed Cosplay GIF by Ubisoft Nederland
 



Erling Haaland picks up the referee's spray canister
2
Erling Haaland picks up the referee's spray canister
He then throws it back to him before charging into the box to join the attack

He then throws it back to him before charging into the box to join the attack
And eagled-eyed fans were quick to pick up on his ref spray antics.

"He's doing side quests now," quipped one fan.

"Football is too easy for him," said a second user online.

Another said: "He's taking the mick now..."
One City fan said: "Biggest forward I (have) ever seen. Doing (side) quest, make a score and good person. We are so lucky, cause he's playing in our team. "

Meanwhile, a rival fan said: "I actually hate the fact that I can’t hate this man."
 



Erling Haaland picks up the referee's spray canister's spray canister
2
Erling Haaland picks up the referee's spray canister
He then throws it back to him before charging into the box to join the attack

He then throws it back to him before charging into the box to join the attack
And eagled-eyed fans were quick to pick up on his ref spray antics.

"He's doing side quests now," quipped one fan.

"Football is too easy for him," said a second user online.

Another said: "He's taking the mick now..."
One City fan said: "Biggest forward I (have) ever seen. Doing (side) quest, make a score and good person. We are so lucky, cause he's playing in our team. "

Meanwhile, a rival fan said: "I actually hate the fact that I can’t hate this man."


Football is so easy for this guy, he's resorted to doing side quests
 
Deeney: Haaland's like prime Tyson… rivals are beaten before they step on pitch

HAAL OF FAME

Troy Deeney: Erling Haaland is like prime Mike Tyson… opponents are mentally beaten before they even walk on the pitch​


  • Troy Deeney
  • 21:00, 7 Oct 2022
  • Updated: 21:03, 7 Oct 2022

EVERY so often, a striker comes along to rip up the rulebook and redefine the role.
Players such as Ronaldo — the original Brazilian one — who is the greatest I’ve ever seen.

Then there was Thierry Henry, the way he cut in from the left to score so many goals provided the blueprint for the likes of Mo Salah, the prolific goal-scoring wideman.
And Didier Drogba, who mastered the art of playing up front on his own, the first one who could truly, single-handedly occupy an entire back four — allowing managers to change their formations.
Erling Haaland is one of these generational talents.
In fact, he could soon turn out to be the best of the lot.

Win an incredible Rolex Pepsi GMT Master II or £16k cash alternative from just 89p with The Sun’s special discount code
I probably wouldn’t even compare him to another centre-forward, or even another footballer.
This phenomenal Norwegian reminds me of Mike Tyson in his peak years — where opponents were mentally beaten before they even got in the arena.

Haaland has scored 19 times in 12 appearances for Manchester City.
His Premier League tally is 14 in eight games.

If he keeps up that strike rate and plays every game this season, he’d end up with 66.5.
The all-time top-flight record in English football is the 60 goals Everton’s Dixie Dean achieved 94 years ago.
I genuinely believe Haaland could surpass that figure.
When he was scoring at a goal per game for Borussia Dortmund, most said that he could never keep up such standards in the Premier League, the toughest in the world.
Certainly not in his first season.
Aren’t players supposed to need time to settle when they move to England from abroad? That’s yet another idea Haaland has ripped to shreds.


You might say I’m crazy but I think the Norwegian could actually become even more lethal when his team-mates become more accustomed to his game.
On Haaland’s league debut at West Ham, he made about 47 runs — with the vast majority being in vain.
I can remember watching Pep Guardiola continually losing his s**t with his players for not giving Haaland the right service.
Even though City dominated, the new boy had 32 touches, the lowest of any of Guardiola’s starters.

Yet City still won 2-0 and Haaland scored both.
Remember this is a City team who have won their last two titles playing with ‘false nines’ for the vast majority of the time.
Their patterns of attacking play have changed drastically due to Haaland.
Some said his arrival might even weaken City because they could have lost some of their attacking fluidity.
Those predictions don’t look too clever now.

Troy Deeney has been wowed by Haaland's instant impactCredit: Alamy
Haaland has joined the ultimate team, now favourites to win every competition they play in.

I expect them to win the Champions League for the first time this season.
Gradually, Haaland’s team-mates are getting more used to what he does, he could end up scoring at an even more alarming rate.
You might suggest that opposition managers and defences could start to work him out.
Good luck with that. Do you press or sit deep against a striker who has it all — pace, strength, intelligence and ruthless, instinctive finishing ability?

As a striker, I have been studying Haaland intently and looking for a weakness. I genuinely can’t see one.
Many have looked at his figures, the small number of touches he often has during a match and said that his weakness is a lack of link-up play.
However, his performance in last Sunday’s Manchester derby certainly torched that idea.
Haaland was everywhere, dropping deep, providing two assists as well as his hat-trick — a third successive treble in Premier League home games.

He looks to be a great kid, too. He’s entertaining in interviews.
I was on Match of the Day 2 last Sunday, watching the feeds come in.
Haaland insisted Phil Foden, who also scored a hat-trick in City’s 6-3 win, have the match ball, because he’d already got plenty of his own.
As the kids say, City having Haaland is like having a ‘cheat code’ for a computer game.
And if I try to imagine a manager preparing a team against City with Haaland — such as Ralph Hasenhuttl, taking Southampton to the Etihad on Saturday — it’s difficult to work out what the game plan would be.
You certainly have to be bold against City.
Newcastle were very much on the front foot in their 3-3 draw against Guardiola’s team and probably should have won.

Most of all, you have to hope they have a relatively bad day and that you have an outstanding one.
Even then, you would still need to get lucky to get a result.
For now, let’s just appreciate how privileged we are to be watching a master of his craft.
And remember that Haaland is only 22, with his peak years well in front of him.
Then don’t forget that, while most elite Premier League stars will be toiling at the World Cup in November and December, the Norwegian will probably be enjoying a fortnight on a beach in the Maldives.

He will take a break, mentally and physically.
And, if it’s even possible, he might come back with his appetite for goalscoring even stronger.
 
With the World Cup coming up, I get the feeling there's a possibility that Haaland could end up being a Norwegian George Best, legit one of the best players in the world in his time, but never getting to be at a World Cup thanks to the national team he represents being mostly sub-standard.
 
Back
Top Bottom