As Manchester City fell to a 2-nil defeat to Liverpool at Anfield Erling Haaland was kept quiet by the Liverpool defence. Liverpool’s defence, led by Virgil Van Dijk, kept City’s number 9 quiet throughout the game. The fact that City couldn’t muster much of an attacking threat also helped keep Haaland out of Sunday’s match. Coming out of the game former Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart believes Haaland is just a ‘normal’ player. If that’s where we are heading with analysis of Haaland’s game then what are we doing here?
Speaking on The LineUp van der Vaart had this to say when asked about Haaland’s performances over City’s last seven games. The full clip can be seen below: “*Take away his pace, I see Erling Haaland as a normal player. Technique-wise, he’s not good enough and he can get away with it when City are on form but not when they’re struggling. I just think he’s missing something that those top, top strikers have. I might get criticised for that opinion, but I don’t see him at the same level as the top strikers I played with, like Ruud van Nistelrooy. Manchester City need Erling Haaland at the moment, but where is he? That’s why he’s not among that select few world-class strikers.*”
Rafael van der Vaart claims Erling Haaland is NOT world-class after Man City’s seven-game winless run! 😱
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We see this type of criticism aimed at Erling Haaland every season and we all know where it ends.
It’s about this time every season when we see criticism of Erling Haaland’s play emerge. It’s typically built around his lack of touches during a game. Or his lack of influence on games besides goals. However, that is a ridiculous notion as goals win games, and Haaland scores them at a higher rate than any other player in the game. His career record of 242 goals in 300 club appearances highlights this fact.
But Van der Vaart’s claim that Haaland is a ‘normal’ player borders on the ridiculous. Does City’s number 9 have quiet games? Of course, he does. A striker is dependent on the service he is provided with, and if it isn’t there, the goals dry up. That was evident at Anfield. Haaland has also been guilty of missing chances this season but show me any striker that doesn’t? That’s the life of a striker. Whether that is in this era of football or any other. But what separates the good from the great strikers is their ability to forget the missed chances and move on to their next chance. Haaland does that better than anyone in the game. It is part of what makes him the player that he is.
The problem with Van der Vaart’s assessment is this. If Erling Haaland isn’t world-class then there are no world-class strikers in world football. If the renowned best striker and goalscorer in the game isn’t considered amongst the top echelon of front men then they don’t exist. It’s that simple. If that’s the standard that Van der Vaart applies then what are we doing here? That’s my question of Van der Vaart’s assessment.
But we’ve seen this movie before. Usually when the criticism of Erling Haaland comes, a glut of goals from City’s number 9 follows. That’s been seen across his Manchester City career. The world champions will be hoping that starts tonight against Nottingham Forest at the Etihad. But the goals will come from Haaland soon enough, and when they do the takes over his overall game will vanish once again.