Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is certainly trying his best to get his name right up there in the club’s hall of fame.
Erling Haaland has been nothing short of sensational over the past three years, registering 124 goals and 21 assists from just 146 Manchester City appearances.
Few defenders have been able to really give Haaland trouble over the years, except for perhaps some of the very best.
Now, Arsenal legend Tony Adams has spoken about Haaland and made a bold claim over how he’d have dealt with the City star.
Erling Haaland in action for Manchester City v Wydad at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images
Tony Adams says he would have dealt with Erling Haaland easily
Adams, speaking on the Irish Independent’s Indo Sport podcast, suggested that he’d have no trouble dealing with Haaland on the pitch.
The Arsenal legend said Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer, one of the best strikers of his generation, was “so easy” to deal with as he was a “throwback”.
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Adams hinted that Haaland was in a similar mould and claimed he would “chew him up”.
“So Alan Shearer, I always say, he was so easy for me because he was a throwback to the good old days,” said Shearer.
“And I think Haaland would be very easy for me today. You know, that’s the kind of guy – I’d chew him up tomorrow.”
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One defender Erling Haaland admitted was difficult to deal with
It’s all well and good for Adams to say he would have dealt with Haaland easily, but there’s no way to prove it.
Haaland has, however, spoken of defenders who gave him a hard time, and Virgil van Dijk’s name has popped up several times in his interviews.
“The most difficult, we struggled at Anfield I remember,” Haaland told BT Sport ahead of the 2022/23 Champions League final against Inter Milan, which City won.
“Van Dijk, I always said it, I think he’s so good. But the good thing also about it is I’m meeting Ruben Dias, (Manuel) Akanji, (Nathan) Ake in training every single day. Training is not easy.”
He added: “But Van Dijk, I like him a lot. He’s smart, fast, and in the air, he’s just unreal as well.”
A year earlier, Haaland told ESPN: “You know how tall he is, how strong he is and how fast he is, and also the timing is crazy.
“I don’t think I won one duel against him because he’s a physical monster.”