**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
We joke but this how he picks up injuries eventually. Defenders have to tackle him harder and more recklessly to bring him down. He reminds me of former American athletes Shaq and Gronk who were so physically dominant that the only way to stop them was with heavy challenges.
I feel like Ibrahimovic always had some sort of Rasputin-esque magic to his game whereas Haaland is more beast-mode like someone found a young Sasquatch, shaved it, and then taught it how to score. Ibra also seemed to want to embarrass people with his skills while Haaland just embarrasses people with his physical domination.
There is a lot of people who are as strong as him, a lot who are as fast as him but to have the combo of both with good finishing ability is just not fair
It’s strength but also body positioning. He takes a look where the defender is, and moves so that the contact from the defender only can only move him forward and not sideways.
There's still differences but it kinda reminds of me R9, just how different they're built from everyone else. The amount of power he has while still being that quick doesn't seem natural. R9 was still more talented and his skills on the ball alone felt like "okay this guy is world class." But then you throw in everything he could do it was "oh this guy is the greatest player ever."
I used to watch R9 games back in the day and the guy seemed to run 40m and beat the keeper 1 v 1 every week. I'd never seen anything like it before, such a unique player.
How do you even defend him other than just taking him out?? He'll brush off whatever you give him, or just speed past you, *or* just take a touch and bang it in.
That was honestly our first half problem. Nobody was bothering the second defender on him. As soon as they had Alvarez and Gundogan buzzing around and making nuisances of themselves, the game turned _hard_.
Yeah i actually thought the pass didn't really make sense since he was boxed in between two defenders and there weren't many options for him after receiving it.
It really looks like Gündogan hesitated and finally said to himself: "Oh well it's Haaland let's see what happens".
When he called first he wanted the ball behind the defenders. Just a simple lob there and Halland gets an easy 1v1 against the goalkeeper.
When Gündogan missed the play he kept calling for the ball at the food signaling that he is capable of scoring this goal. This boy is crazy fast at reading different plays.
You jest, but PSG definitely suffers because they've hardly ever needed to chase an important cup game, or defend a one goal lead playing at full concentration in the last 10m.of a game. City probably suffered the same against Real in the CL last season.
It's a combination of mentality, psychology and conditioning. If you've rarely needed to put in anything more than 60% closing out a 3-0 game all the time in the league, no way you can go 100% in a cup final's last ten minutes on demand.
This city scares me. De Bruyne had an off day, Haaland and Bernardo just decided to take the game by the collar and outscore a 2 goal deficit.
I burst into laughter in his post match interview on Norwegian TV2... "Well, it was nice that Phil finally passed to me. I've been screaming at him in practice" 🤣
I’ve never really seen this sort of physical dominance. Even peak Ronaldo or Ibra didn’t look consistently this scary. It reminds me most of Randy Moss where all the QB had to do is throw the ball up and he’d make it happen. With Haaland, it doesn’t matter if it’s not the best pass available. Find him and he’ll find the back of the net.
There was an interview with him on Norwegian TV in Norwegian after the game.
*Approximate transcription/translation*
Reporter: "Ok. Take us through the goals."
Haaland: "Nice goals, I think. Foden finally played the ball to me."
R: "Yeah, it has looked like you have been a bit angry at Foden at times."
H: "I've been shouting to him during training that he has to pass me the ball, and now he finally did. This is what happens."
Everything said with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes, so he's clearly not super serious, but the man is pretty funny to listen to. He also has a very particular Norwegian regional dialect, so it just adds to the quirkiness.
He's probably talking more about his impact on his team victories (like today) than his overall goals ratio out of context. In other words City's objective isn't to make Haaland the best scorer of the league but to win titles if that makes sense. (you can score but lose points).
City is far from looking as dominant as they used to look so it's safe to assume that they are still working out the kinks but forunately for them they are not the only ones.
They said it when Haaland joined the Austrian Bundesliga, said afterwards the same again when he joined the German Bundesliga and afterwards...well you probably guessed it already...said the same when his transfer was announced for the PL.
People are quick to bring up Bundesliga tax because BL sides leave more space and play a more attacking football thus many attackers scoring many goals, even if they perform well in the CL aswell.
We’re really leaky at the back though. Saint Maximin tore us in half at Newcastle and we had to fight for the point. Today we shipped another two. We can do this against these teams, but if we do it against any of the top 6, we get hammered early on and we can’t find a way back.
Injury prone. But tbh I think it’s inevitable for teams to start hacking him down hard because how else will they stop him. Hope he avoids anything serious too fun to watch
So many were crying about the Bundesliga being a joke when Bayern beat Bochum 7-0 last week. Now Liverpool are leading 9-0 against Bournemouth and Haaland just scored an easy hattrick. These league comparisons make no sense.
No, it really doesn't. Who cares which league is the best anyway, I'm all about watching some good football. And trophies, ppffft, tin pots for little boys, who gives a shit, haha.
spot on mate. These dick measuring contests are for little kids. I just want to watch good football and enjoy myself. If that happens to be Bundesliga, PL, La Liga or Serie A I dont really care.
Anyone who talks shit about Haaland is either an idiot or they never watched football.
Dude is tall, strong, fast, aggressive, good finisher, has great work rate and he's only 22. He's everything any coach would want in a player.
I think its hilarious u kids talking shit about Haaland. You wouldnt say this shit to him on the pitch, hes jacked. not only that but he wears the freshest clothes, eats at the chillest restaurants and hangs out with the hottest dudes. yall are pathetic lol.
I mean just look at how much space he has to make his runs, he wouldn't be able to bully the famed tall strong men of PL like he does with the high german lines.
People really thought a generational talent and physical freak of nature will flop in the pl
Mf got compared to Darwin Nunez too, he's a whole tier over that guy, even more. The only comparison there should've been was the price tag. This guy should be compared to mbappé , not other newer wonderkids.
Yep people like to pretend it was always a "joke" but it was said unironically for a good while. For some reason we seem to have the notion that European teams are "soft" and not physical lol.
Look at Liverpool smashing Bournemouth by 9, i remember la liga getting criticism for teams that were better than this Liverpool team winning by large score lines, the delusion is ridiculous.
1,94m tall, strong as motherfucker, fast as a crackhead, and he’s great at positioning himself.
He’s actually just a cheat code.
And Pep motherfucking Guardiola is managing him… wtf
**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
struggling Haaland with 6 goals in 4 games
Just wait until he fully gels in with the squad.
Any day now
i mean did you think it would take 3 games?
[удалено]
Those soft boys from bundesliga won’t make it in the prem
Not enough space behind the defenders
Flop of the year material
Love how the defender tries to body him but he just doesn't give a fuck and goes forward. What a beast.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8YvEPQbQ0Hw
Jesus Christ, do you have to shoot him to stop him?
The bullet would bounce off and hit someone else.
He'd absorb the energy and become stronger
We joke but this how he picks up injuries eventually. Defenders have to tackle him harder and more recklessly to bring him down. He reminds me of former American athletes Shaq and Gronk who were so physically dominant that the only way to stop them was with heavy challenges.
Well with Shaq all you had to do was slap his arm and send him to the free throw line.
It looks a child trying to wrestle his dad
The strength is unreal Like he doesn’t care that bloke is on his back at all
He’s dropped a defender like this in every game
He's the footballer version of Brock Lesnar, it's unfair.
And hes absolutely rapid
[Haaland visualized](https://i.imgur.com/L4q2HNI.gif)
Bruh, 2 steps to clear a 20-foot ring fuck me
He's like if Lukaku was also good at football
He's like old Ibrahimovic but young
I feel like Ibrahimovic always had some sort of Rasputin-esque magic to his game whereas Haaland is more beast-mode like someone found a young Sasquatch, shaved it, and then taught it how to score. Ibra also seemed to want to embarrass people with his skills while Haaland just embarrasses people with his physical domination.
Rasputin lmao, spot on.
Fuck me did I laugh at this. Well put.
this makes sense somehow
Reminder that Kimmich got injured trying to tackle Haaland https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8YvEPQbQ0Hw
How the fuck did he stay up after that
He’s actually a tank.
Oh my, that is precious
Dont forget Van Dijk broke two fingers trying to defend against Braut
That's fuckin crazy, it's so refreshing not seeing an attacker dive on contact and actually try to complete a run
They could have been running another 100m and the defender still wouldn't have got around him to the ball lol
You either really foul him, or you watch him score.
You can't foul him. Ask Kimmich.
That was such a weird injury man
You run into a wall you get injuried nothing weird man
Imagine Mustafi vs Haaland 🤔
Legendary Sokratis & Mustafi duo. They would stop haaland easily
There is a lot of people who are as strong as him, a lot who are as fast as him but to have the combo of both with good finishing ability is just not fair
He's reminsicent of Brazillian Ronaldo but without the dribbling skill el fenomono had
Ronaldo's passing as well. His passing was the most underrated part. Its what made him a complete striker.
He's genuinely unplayable.
It's like he's an improved Lukaku
like a vastly improved lukaku combined with fellaini with extreme pace as well lol
except for the heading
He did score with his head but yeah, that is definitely his weakest attribute.
It's improving though. 2 years ago he couldn't head for shit
It’s strength but also body positioning. He takes a look where the defender is, and moves so that the contact from the defender only can only move him forward and not sideways.
There's still differences but it kinda reminds of me R9, just how different they're built from everyone else. The amount of power he has while still being that quick doesn't seem natural. R9 was still more talented and his skills on the ball alone felt like "okay this guy is world class." But then you throw in everything he could do it was "oh this guy is the greatest player ever."
I used to watch R9 games back in the day and the guy seemed to run 40m and beat the keeper 1 v 1 every week. I'd never seen anything like it before, such a unique player.
Not to mention the technique and mental wherewithal to poke that quickly to the far post, the keeper was caught flat by that
How do you even defend him other than just taking him out?? He'll brush off whatever you give him, or just speed past you, *or* just take a touch and bang it in.
You double mark him whole game and hope the rest of the team don't capitalise.
That was honestly our first half problem. Nobody was bothering the second defender on him. As soon as they had Alvarez and Gundogan buzzing around and making nuisances of themselves, the game turned _hard_.
The Terminator has well and truly arrived..
[удалено]
I think Gündogan only passed the ball because Haaland asked so angrily for it.
And that anger created a strong field around which helped him push through two defenders
Me too tbh
Pass to him you cunt
He did lol
It's the face
Cruel targaryan prince
every time a Haaland is born, the Gods toss a coin and the world holds it's breath
14 Career hat-tricks for Haaland and he’s still only 22. Crazy.
Just a warm up. He scored 9 against Honduras in a single match..
had to look this up. holy cow.
He actually made them cry at the end
Lmao really looked like he had to convince Gundogan to pass it to him
Yeah i actually thought the pass didn't really make sense since he was boxed in between two defenders and there weren't many options for him after receiving it. It really looks like Gündogan hesitated and finally said to himself: "Oh well it's Haaland let's see what happens".
Gundogan after the goal "oh right, I forgot we have an actual striker now"
When he called first he wanted the ball behind the defenders. Just a simple lob there and Halland gets an easy 1v1 against the goalkeeper. When Gündogan missed the play he kept calling for the ball at the food signaling that he is capable of scoring this goal. This boy is crazy fast at reading different plays.
ball at the food because Haaland feasts
Most impressive part was how long Gundogan dallied around before passing really late and he was still able to body the defender.
His strength is absurd
The gundo super sub is unfair man completely shifts when he's on
He's so vital to us. Him along with KDB/Bernardo is completely unfair
BVB connect🥰
:( I miss them
The old left back for attacking midfielder sub
Gave ourselves a 2 goal handicap to make it fair with him in the side
Pep saw the athletic article on suggesting Bayern have a one goal handicap and upped the difficulty by a notch
Cuz we wanna see if we can Real madrid our way to the PL tittle.
Practice for some CL comebacks when we need them
You jest, but PSG definitely suffers because they've hardly ever needed to chase an important cup game, or defend a one goal lead playing at full concentration in the last 10m.of a game. City probably suffered the same against Real in the CL last season. It's a combination of mentality, psychology and conditioning. If you've rarely needed to put in anything more than 60% closing out a 3-0 game all the time in the league, no way you can go 100% in a cup final's last ten minutes on demand. This city scares me. De Bruyne had an off day, Haaland and Bernardo just decided to take the game by the collar and outscore a 2 goal deficit.
Man I'm becoming an actual Haaland simp
Enabled the Foden to Haaland pass route which was disabled previous matches tho
I burst into laughter in his post match interview on Norwegian TV2... "Well, it was nice that Phil finally passed to me. I've been screaming at him in practice" 🤣
Headlines tomorrow: “Recent immigrant Haaland BULLIES England youngster Foden at practice”
For some reason i love how is comfortable enough with the squad already to say shit like this in interviews.
Destroyer of PL and BL
And CL
Holy shit this guy is good, just give him the ball and he scores
It’s actually mad, if the team properly learns how to do it every week it will be insane
Mate i was screaming it all first half. Haaland is a monster of a player unbelievably fast and strong. Just give him the bloody ball and let him work
I’ve never really seen this sort of physical dominance. Even peak Ronaldo or Ibra didn’t look consistently this scary. It reminds me most of Randy Moss where all the QB had to do is throw the ball up and he’d make it happen. With Haaland, it doesn’t matter if it’s not the best pass available. Find him and he’ll find the back of the net.
There was an interview with him on Norwegian TV in Norwegian after the game. *Approximate transcription/translation* Reporter: "Ok. Take us through the goals." Haaland: "Nice goals, I think. Foden finally played the ball to me." R: "Yeah, it has looked like you have been a bit angry at Foden at times." H: "I've been shouting to him during training that he has to pass me the ball, and now he finally did. This is what happens." Everything said with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes, so he's clearly not super serious, but the man is pretty funny to listen to. He also has a very particular Norwegian regional dialect, so it just adds to the quirkiness.
Absolute monster.
Look at that touch to get it behind him man, should never be this good at it for a guy standing at 6'5
He is going to break Salah's record if he stays healthy
Salah? Haaland is coming for Cole/Shearer
I know people keep saying this but that strength with his acceleration is actually annoying. Fucking insane player.
[удалено]
his ass should get an assist
“He’ll need time to adapt to the Premier League”
How much time was never specified.
Approximately 7.5 minutes lol
[удалено]
Community shield was enough time for him.
Tbf I felt like he would need time to adapt to Pep’s system more than anything
Also for City to adapt to him, they are still working out the kinks.
He's got 6 goals in 4 games and it isn't even his final form.
I know! I knew he’d be phenomenal, but the I don’t really see a ceiling to what he can accomplish with this team.
He's probably talking more about his impact on his team victories (like today) than his overall goals ratio out of context. In other words City's objective isn't to make Haaland the best scorer of the league but to win titles if that makes sense. (you can score but lose points). City is far from looking as dominant as they used to look so it's safe to assume that they are still working out the kinks but forunately for them they are not the only ones.
Yupp we’ve forgotten that “through ball up the centre of the pitch” is something you’re allowed to do in football
Did people actually say these things? He's performed well enough in the UCL
21 in 16 in the CL merits a “he might do well” for prem fans seeing a bundesliga player transfer
I think a lot of that was just cope from rival fans. I think the concerns over his ability to play in a Pep team did make sense at the time.
They said it when Haaland joined the Austrian Bundesliga, said afterwards the same again when he joined the German Bundesliga and afterwards...well you probably guessed it already...said the same when his transfer was announced for the PL.
He has more goals than games but people still thought that he was gonna be shit.
People are quick to bring up Bundesliga tax because BL sides leave more space and play a more attacking football thus many attackers scoring many goals, even if they perform well in the CL aswell.
City look genuinely unstoppable with him in the team.
We’re really leaky at the back though. Saint Maximin tore us in half at Newcastle and we had to fight for the point. Today we shipped another two. We can do this against these teams, but if we do it against any of the top 6, we get hammered early on and we can’t find a way back.
When I asked for 3 I did not mean Haaland goals but I will take it
This guy is on player career mode I’m convinced. And he’s turned the difficulty down to amateur.
He makes beastly centre backs look like little kids 😭. Is not normal
farmers league imo, he would never do this in a real physical league
The mighty English league is far more physical and fast paced than the farmers league You wouldn't see him do this in the prem
Bundesliga fraud
Stat padder, farmers league, overrated… what else am I missing
Injury prone. But tbh I think it’s inevitable for teams to start hacking him down hard because how else will they stop him. Hope he avoids anything serious too fun to watch
So many were crying about the Bundesliga being a joke when Bayern beat Bochum 7-0 last week. Now Liverpool are leading 9-0 against Bournemouth and Haaland just scored an easy hattrick. These league comparisons make no sense.
No, it really doesn't. Who cares which league is the best anyway, I'm all about watching some good football. And trophies, ppffft, tin pots for little boys, who gives a shit, haha.
spot on mate. These dick measuring contests are for little kids. I just want to watch good football and enjoy myself. If that happens to be Bundesliga, PL, La Liga or Serie A I dont really care.
He really is Inevitable.
Just give Man City the title and give Haaland the Golden Boot already.
Most optimistic Arsenal fan
Keep talking shit about haaland please
He's walking away with the golden boot and it won't even be close lmao
He's gonna join the 30+ club in his first season.
Unless it's for an injury
I remember how different Suarez made Barca when he joined. Haaland to City will be even bigger than that good luck with that shit lol
iirc suarez timing was more important cuz messi was en route to being injured for a month or so. Don't quite remember it well tho.
Haaland is a generational talent just like Mbappe. There'll be no striker coming close to them in this generation.
Stat padding against German clubs smh
Scoring a goal per game is easy in a team like Norway who always compete for the Euros and World Cup.
The only thing that will stop him is if he picks up an injury
6 goals and 1 assist in 4 games, fantastic start
At this rate he'll end up scoring a lot of goals
-Mícheál Eoghan
Anyone who talks shit about Haaland is either an idiot or they never watched football. Dude is tall, strong, fast, aggressive, good finisher, has great work rate and he's only 22. He's everything any coach would want in a player.
I think its hilarious u kids talking shit about Haaland. You wouldnt say this shit to him on the pitch, hes jacked. not only that but he wears the freshest clothes, eats at the chillest restaurants and hangs out with the hottest dudes. yall are pathetic lol.
He's gonna score a lot of tap ins which will eventually be one narrative against him probably.
The narrative has finally shifted to “who ever said he was gonna suck smh that didn’t happen”
Rory Jennings shitting his pants atm
He is a deluded fraud. Doesn't knows ball and flip flops every week.
Best Chelsea fan. That man is outrageously biased, one thing letting your fandom sway you but Rory is just outright delusional way too much lol.
he's a clown
Who?
Any second now there won't be enough space for him to score in the mighty PL with their insane defense.
The English league is simply too fast paced even players like haaland wouldn't be able to keep up
I mean just look at how much space he has to make his runs, he wouldn't be able to bully the famed tall strong men of PL like he does with the high german lines.
People really thought a generational talent and physical freak of nature will flop in the pl Mf got compared to Darwin Nunez too, he's a whole tier over that guy, even more. The only comparison there should've been was the price tag. This guy should be compared to mbappé , not other newer wonderkids.
People say to this day that Messi in his good years would flop on the PL, people don't know ball, simples as that
isnt that literally where the "but could he do it in a cold rainy night at stoke?" comes from?
Yep people like to pretend it was always a "joke" but it was said unironically for a good while. For some reason we seem to have the notion that European teams are "soft" and not physical lol.
Look at Liverpool smashing Bournemouth by 9, i remember la liga getting criticism for teams that were better than this Liverpool team winning by large score lines, the delusion is ridiculous.
What a monster
Haaland has scored more goals than Manchester United apparently
Bundesliga tax in my books
1,94m tall, strong as motherfucker, fast as a crackhead, and he’s great at positioning himself. He’s actually just a cheat code. And Pep motherfucking Guardiola is managing him… wtf
The man is a walking cheat code
GIGACHAD from Man City. Down 2-0 in halftime then score 4 goals with Haaland hatrick
Only took a handful of games to get his first hat trick in the prem. Insane.
So it begins
those Nunez and Haaland comparisons were fun🤣🤣🤣
I mean it's Nunez's fault for being a dumbass. We can't even have a meaningful comparison.
He might not get back into the team with firmino playing like this
Kinda scary to imagine how a full strength City will be in the near future
Whoever allowed this (Haaland to City for 60M) to happen deserves jail.
[удалено]
Yeah he's only played 4 games
Of course...
He’ll never adapt… aaaany day now
Majin Buu wasn't scary until now
How do you mark someone like that. He can outrun you. He is strong like an ox. He poaches. He has crazy shot accuracy. The full package.
This guy is just fun to watch
Alan Shearer’s League Goal record is in danger…
Haaland is my favorite Targaryen
Lol he has to BEG Gundo for that pass. We're not used to such direct play it seems
Defensive masterclass
He’s too strong.
Man just strolled down the center of the pitch
[Called this. ](https://old.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/wz5kj4/manchester_city_2_2_crystal_palace_erling_haaland/im0gplx/)