by RED BEERGOGGLES » Fri May 13, 2022 2:45 pm
It will be interesting to see how City set up with Haaland next season. I personally think City are so imposing because the manager sets his team up to dominate possession and this works so efficiently because basically he crams his team with midfielders who are all technically excellent and comfortable with the ball ,they rarely lose possession by shunting the ball up to a striker. I think the introduction of Haaland may also introduce more risk into their game and this maybe seen as sour grapes but I've watched a fair amount of Haaland and his link up play isn't the best ,but there's no denying he's an instinctive finisher.
I mean you only have to watch how many times Salah gifts the ball to the opposition and leaves us open to the counter to know playing that way leaves you open to risk and Haaland's not as blessed in terms of dribbling as Salah. I think Cities manager will have his work cut out for him adapting his team to play to his strengths because it will certainly deplete the amount of possession they enjoy.
Man United finished second last season under Solskaer and then this season they introduced Ronaldo thus undermining the influence Rashford had on their flanks and hampering the effectiveness of Fernandez as their resident playmaker and midfield architect. Chelsea bought Lukaku and became so one dimensional that its rare now for Tuchel to start him ,let alone even play him at all.
Like I said it will be interesting to see what happens ,but its a big task for any manager to ask his players to suddenly play a completely different way ,obviously he will think its worth the risk as they attempt to go all out for the Champions League ,but as we all know the Champions League isn't the Premier League and top European managers will already be devising plans to quell Haalands contribution by fair means or foul.
