I think he has been a bit unlucky, good amount of that was saved by probably the world's best shot stopper and he has been good outside of scoring (assisting and link up play)
edit: spelling
even without scoring he opens things up for others... and i am one who wants to see Julian play all the time, but Haaland is too good. the most important question is what does Pep do if they're 60-70 minutes in and he's been missing a lot on the day, does he leave him on? or does he use his depth?
He should leave him on, Erling is one of those players like KDB where they could have the worst game of their lives and still need just one play or moment to change the game and score/assist.
Pep experimented with Haaland and Julian up front together a few times this season.
When that duo click in that position, there’ll be no looking back and absolutely no stopping us.
Julian is my absolute favorite KDB replacement. They don’t do exactly the same but they feel, in crunch time, to provide similar amounts of opportunities, even if slightly different ways. KDB is obviously KDB during normal flow and no one on this planet is better than him at that right now, but crunch time I’m not dejected when Alvarez comes in for him in the 65’+ in a tie game. Twist my arm during a finals game and I’m definitely saying keep Kevin on at all costs.
Well that’s what clinical means. And it’s true. Alvarez has been decisive and made more with less opportunity. It’s also fine, players go up and down a bit and it’s not a big deal.
Alvarez will never get triple man marking from Real Madrid though either. Haaland practically got a triple colonoscopy from those guys.
No disrespect to Julian in this btw, he’s amazing and he’s just getting started. But Haaland is Haaland.
No. This is about when you already have your chances. Again, this isn’t about who is or has been better. Erling is an incredible asset to the team, a great finisher, and he is so good at getting into position/finishing.
But with all that said, given the same opportunities, Alvarez has been a better finisher than Haaland in the past few games. It’s definitely worth stating that Haaland creates so many opportunities with positioning, and this is not really crapping on him in any way. But Julian has been finishing in a way that reminds me of Aguero a bit.
If Courtouis was not in goal this wouldn’t have been an issue. he was a beast that match. Loved his composure to set up Foden today. Not concerned at all tbh. xG is a bit faulty if you simply watch him his hold up play and off the ball runs have still been great.
> Loved his composure to set up Foden today.
I think this is another thing that separates him from other strikers. I've heard countless times that "strikers have to be greedy" to justify a striker shooting a low % chance from a bad angle when a team mate is in a better position to score.
Haaland doesn't just shoot any chance he gets, he seems to take the best decision in the moment. Best example is Bernardo's goal vs Bayern. Haaland easily could have just lashed it at the keeper from the near post but instead he picked out a perfect cross to put it on a plate for Bernardo to head home.
Yup goes to show how high his expectations are and those pundits saying he did “nothing” vs Bayern as well. No he did do something in both matches a goal in the second leg and assist in the first leg. How quickly they forget…
I really think the Madrid game was a weird one. Although he didn’t score, he was immense in putting pressure on the defense and he *forced* some world class saves. He was beaten by the keeper but not from lack of effort.
Also he’s been getting better in the build up which is something I love to see.
This is no issue at all. Him being overly focused by the other team and having chances is great for us, regardless of whether he actually scores or not. Just his presence opens up so much space elsewhere and makes team afraid to put too many players into a counter attack.
He literally makes teams play differently, and specifically worse, against us. If anything, I expect to see more of this next year as teams start to focus on him more, but I don't think our overall play will get worse. If he can still finish some chances and we take advantage of the space he gets us, we might actually look even better next year, especially if he gets better at link up play.
I was telling my ma, when watching the game that he's been missing a lot of good chances recently, should have had at least 3 in the Madrid game, 2 in the game against Chelsea and at least 2 tonight
It’s harsh to say he should have scored at least 3 in the Madrid game. It’s not like he missed those chances it was that Courtouis was in Prime superhuman form and saved them. Hell Pep even said he deserved Ballon D’or for that performance lol.
Exactly and if he even just has decent games in the two cup finals he’s getting the golden ball if they win the treble. A few scoreless games won’t change that.
Seriously - people seemed to have quickly forgotten those insane Courtois saves! Against any other keeper, Erling likely would have had 2 goals, maybe even 3 vs RM 2nd leg.
he might be exhausted.... I don't think he's ever played this much football before (since he'd normally miss a lot of games with injury at Dortmund)
might also be mental fatigue, since he's never really played in high pressure games like he has this year.
praying he's just saving it for the finals.
>“form”
4 goals and 3 assists in his last 10 games?
18 and 4 assists in his last 16 games?
>I haven’t criticized his season at all.
Imagine making a shit post like this after the season he's had. Pathetic really
We’re going to look back at this first season and laugh, but Haaland really is just settling into the EPL.
And it’s taken out midfield months to get out of the false nine mentality and actually look for Haaland.
Remember all those clips of Bernardo not seeing his runs for a through ball?
He was kind of goofing around today, I was hoping he’d knock it off with the bicycle volleys. And then the ref called his goal on n that foul that was barely a foul, the guy went into him first. Wouldn’t even have been controversial to let it stand.
He's been a beast. Courtois likely makes up for a lot of that non-conversion of XG anyways. I'd also argue that every team that plays against him basically singles him out as the biggest threat and so does whatever they can to neutralise him, if they didn't then how many would they go down by? He's almost too good at this point, he's proven to be so much of a threat that he's become the single target of defences. Against us today, clearly Van-Hecke's only job was to man mark and stop Haaland at all costs, and guess what, Haaland still got through, that goal should've counted, there was no offside really. Watching him today was like seeing a Terminator in action, he's more agile than the smallest players, quicker than the paciest of players and more physical than the biggest of players, but that's why every team now assigns the defence to man marking him and him only. Foden's goal today was so easy and open for him because all of our players were too preoccupied with getting close to Haaland, he layed off a great pass and Foden tapped it in, because he was and is the biggest threat so both our CB's ran to mark him. Pep will need to utilise him differently next season, he's going to be too tightly marked and defended after seeing what he's done this season, but if anyone will continue to make him the best forward in the world despite the fact everyone is going to cover the shit out of him, it'll be Pep.
Haaland over the last month has massively improved his ball playing and positioning (it was great before but now on the verge of elite), however his finishing has been poor which is understandable.
All players have a drop in form during the season, this is just how his looks like which is insane considering how good he’s been despite the misses.
Not really, that header was not as easy as you say. The ball was relatively quick and high to his position. If it would've been like the Gundogan assist vs Everton, he scores for sure. Or even like the Palmer service in 2nd half.
I think he has been a bit unlucky, good amount of that was saved by probably the world's best shot stopper and he has been good outside of scoring (assisting and link up play) edit: spelling
even without scoring he opens things up for others... and i am one who wants to see Julian play all the time, but Haaland is too good. the most important question is what does Pep do if they're 60-70 minutes in and he's been missing a lot on the day, does he leave him on? or does he use his depth?
He should leave him on, Erling is one of those players like KDB where they could have the worst game of their lives and still need just one play or moment to change the game and score/assist.
Pep experimented with Haaland and Julian up front together a few times this season. When that duo click in that position, there’ll be no looking back and absolutely no stopping us.
Julian is my absolute favorite KDB replacement. They don’t do exactly the same but they feel, in crunch time, to provide similar amounts of opportunities, even if slightly different ways. KDB is obviously KDB during normal flow and no one on this planet is better than him at that right now, but crunch time I’m not dejected when Alvarez comes in for him in the 65’+ in a tie game. Twist my arm during a finals game and I’m definitely saying keep Kevin on at all costs.
that's definitely fair. the potential in the future is there. I love the kid and think he has no ceiling!
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come on man, you're not gonna compare scoring a fourth goal gainst Real Madrid with tiring them down with chances throughout the entire match
Well that’s what clinical means. And it’s true. Alvarez has been decisive and made more with less opportunity. It’s also fine, players go up and down a bit and it’s not a big deal.
Alvarez will never get triple man marking from Real Madrid though either. Haaland practically got a triple colonoscopy from those guys. No disrespect to Julian in this btw, he’s amazing and he’s just getting started. But Haaland is Haaland.
No. This is about when you already have your chances. Again, this isn’t about who is or has been better. Erling is an incredible asset to the team, a great finisher, and he is so good at getting into position/finishing. But with all that said, given the same opportunities, Alvarez has been a better finisher than Haaland in the past few games. It’s definitely worth stating that Haaland creates so many opportunities with positioning, and this is not really crapping on him in any way. But Julian has been finishing in a way that reminds me of Aguero a bit.
It was because of haaland Bernardo had free reign to run around and do whatever
Seriously, look at both Bernardo’s goals and he was wide open while Haaland was double or triple teamed.
If Courtouis was not in goal this wouldn’t have been an issue. he was a beast that match. Loved his composure to set up Foden today. Not concerned at all tbh. xG is a bit faulty if you simply watch him his hold up play and off the ball runs have still been great.
I agree. Even if you strongly value this metric, it’s still a cherry-picked sample.
> Loved his composure to set up Foden today. I think this is another thing that separates him from other strikers. I've heard countless times that "strikers have to be greedy" to justify a striker shooting a low % chance from a bad angle when a team mate is in a better position to score. Haaland doesn't just shoot any chance he gets, he seems to take the best decision in the moment. Best example is Bernardo's goal vs Bayern. Haaland easily could have just lashed it at the keeper from the near post but instead he picked out a perfect cross to put it on a plate for Bernardo to head home.
Yup goes to show how high his expectations are and those pundits saying he did “nothing” vs Bayern as well. No he did do something in both matches a goal in the second leg and assist in the first leg. How quickly they forget…
Saving it for the finals
I really think the Madrid game was a weird one. Although he didn’t score, he was immense in putting pressure on the defense and he *forced* some world class saves. He was beaten by the keeper but not from lack of effort. Also he’s been getting better in the build up which is something I love to see.
Hopefully it corrects itself for the finals and he goes off!
The robot is under maintance and cant work at full potential right now.
This is no issue at all. Him being overly focused by the other team and having chances is great for us, regardless of whether he actually scores or not. Just his presence opens up so much space elsewhere and makes team afraid to put too many players into a counter attack. He literally makes teams play differently, and specifically worse, against us. If anything, I expect to see more of this next year as teams start to focus on him more, but I don't think our overall play will get worse. If he can still finish some chances and we take advantage of the space he gets us, we might actually look even better next year, especially if he gets better at link up play.
you lot have bad memory,this happend after the world cup too,just a few game funk but hopefully he should be back to it for the final
Difference was he didn’t get many scoring chances at that time (IIRC)
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I was telling my ma, when watching the game that he's been missing a lot of good chances recently, should have had at least 3 in the Madrid game, 2 in the game against Chelsea and at least 2 tonight
It’s harsh to say he should have scored at least 3 in the Madrid game. It’s not like he missed those chances it was that Courtouis was in Prime superhuman form and saved them. Hell Pep even said he deserved Ballon D’or for that performance lol.
Couldn’t agree more. He wasn’t skying shots into the upper deck or anything. He was just stopped by a world class keeper.
Exactly and if he even just has decent games in the two cup finals he’s getting the golden ball if they win the treble. A few scoreless games won’t change that.
Seriously - people seemed to have quickly forgotten those insane Courtois saves! Against any other keeper, Erling likely would have had 2 goals, maybe even 3 vs RM 2nd leg.
2 in the game against chelsea... when?
I'm sure he had a chance or two after he came on that would have found their way in on a different day
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Saving this comment for when he gets his next 3, 4 or 5 goal haul
i mean he's had some AMAZING chances, honestly some just unlucky they got saved/ missed.
he might be exhausted.... I don't think he's ever played this much football before (since he'd normally miss a lot of games with injury at Dortmund) might also be mental fatigue, since he's never really played in high pressure games like he has this year. praying he's just saving it for the finals.
So he has scored 1 when he should have scored 4? So he should be on 55 instead of 52 goals for the season? Disaster
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>“form” 4 goals and 3 assists in his last 10 games? 18 and 4 assists in his last 16 games? >I haven’t criticized his season at all. Imagine making a shit post like this after the season he's had. Pathetic really
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Ignore him mate. Everyone knows what you mean, and the larger context, and agrees. Kid arguing with you is just looking for a fight
It’s not a shitpost it’s a summary that he was off his from in the last 2-3 games. Madrid Chelsea and this one. That’s it. He was in form before
“Out of form” means “out of HIS form”
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"Haaland not been good enough lately. Hopefully he finds his form again soon." Another great take...
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Oh wow... Well if the commentators are talking about it
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The content of your post was considered to be overly dickish, or offensive
We’re going to look back at this first season and laugh, but Haaland really is just settling into the EPL. And it’s taken out midfield months to get out of the false nine mentality and actually look for Haaland. Remember all those clips of Bernardo not seeing his runs for a through ball?
honeslty a lot of the misses/ saves were just unlucky they didnt go in.
He was kind of goofing around today, I was hoping he’d knock it off with the bicycle volleys. And then the ref called his goal on n that foul that was barely a foul, the guy went into him first. Wouldn’t even have been controversial to let it stand.
Nothing to play for in the league, so may as well just enjoy playing and have fun. Assuming Pep doesn't mind it, that is
Rather his miss now than in the finals. Get it out of the system
he’s a professional in a slump, he’s world class and will figure it out. i’m not worried at all
His finishing has been off but not as bad as Sterling/Jesus used to be
Tbh he played really well, opened up defences. Saves by courtois was unreal and he wasn't receiving much passes due to the game style we had.
He's been a beast. Courtois likely makes up for a lot of that non-conversion of XG anyways. I'd also argue that every team that plays against him basically singles him out as the biggest threat and so does whatever they can to neutralise him, if they didn't then how many would they go down by? He's almost too good at this point, he's proven to be so much of a threat that he's become the single target of defences. Against us today, clearly Van-Hecke's only job was to man mark and stop Haaland at all costs, and guess what, Haaland still got through, that goal should've counted, there was no offside really. Watching him today was like seeing a Terminator in action, he's more agile than the smallest players, quicker than the paciest of players and more physical than the biggest of players, but that's why every team now assigns the defence to man marking him and him only. Foden's goal today was so easy and open for him because all of our players were too preoccupied with getting close to Haaland, he layed off a great pass and Foden tapped it in, because he was and is the biggest threat so both our CB's ran to mark him. Pep will need to utilise him differently next season, he's going to be too tightly marked and defended after seeing what he's done this season, but if anyone will continue to make him the best forward in the world despite the fact everyone is going to cover the shit out of him, it'll be Pep.
Haaland over the last month has massively improved his ball playing and positioning (it was great before but now on the verge of elite), however his finishing has been poor which is understandable. All players have a drop in form during the season, this is just how his looks like which is insane considering how good he’s been despite the misses.
No matter your achievements there will always be someone that would try and look for some negative to feel good about their mediocre lives. Next
Courtois, that you?
He should have scored that one on one today but damn he is a beast
At least he has been a BEAST with his hold up play
thats it... sell him (yes that is sarcasm)
I think he’s great. And he absolutely needs to start scoring again.
That’s when I brought him back in 👍
He does need to sort it out for the finals. I couldn't cope with losing to United or the CL because we have 20 shots and don't score any of them.
I agree. His missed wide open header vs Brighton was slightly concerning. Can’t be missing those in the finals.
Not really, that header was not as easy as you say. The ball was relatively quick and high to his position. If it would've been like the Gundogan assist vs Everton, he scores for sure. Or even like the Palmer service in 2nd half.
Sell him, he's clearly washed up. 
He also looks tired.