Good read. John Muller at the Athletic has published a lot of work that relates: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4154516/2023/02/04/erling-haaland-is-phenomenal-so-why-hasnt-he-made-manchester-city-better/ . His takeaway is that on the whole, Haaland makes City a little worse because he doesn’t fit into Pep’s system, and in turn Pep’s system makes haaland less effective because they don’t get him out in space or in transition. I think on the scale of the 38 game league season that’s definitely true. In the Champions League, however, where being clinical and explosive is a premium, I think Haaland is a big upgrade to the false nine Pep likes in the league. I think back to the Chelsea CL final where Pep went double false-nine (insane) and they struggled to get any end product against a talented team who sat back and limited chances. While I think they (City and Haaland) do make each other a little worse in aggregate, they also have the upside for Haaland to put in 5 in a CL knockout phase and help get each other the trophy, while still being dominant enough in long run to win the PL.
Interestingly enough, I did an article after he left Dortmund on how he scored a remarkable amount of goals there but never actually moved the needle in terms of then getting closer to the league title or in the champions league. But I suspect that situation was the opposite end of the scale to the one he’s now in at Man City: one team was pure chaos, the other is almost too much control.
Is it possible Guardiola is limiting Haaland because of the injuries? I have no idea if that's the case, but the thought crossed my mind during the season and your piece refined it quite a bit.
Speaking of the season, I'm a Gooner in the Prem. You're right about fine margins. All it took was one stumble -- the loss to Aston Villa in April -- and that was it. City is a machine.
It stands to reason Pep would see it that way, too. Haaland has played a lot of minutes with City. Even though he was on the pitch for almost 800 fewer minutes last campaign, it's still his second consecutive year with over 4000' in all competitions.
He's young, so he's not like an older player who needs more frequent rotations out. But still, that's a heavy workload for a guy with something of a history with injuries. Limiting the physical stress by keeping him around the area more helps to mitigate the risk.
Good read. John Muller at the Athletic has published a lot of work that relates: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4154516/2023/02/04/erling-haaland-is-phenomenal-so-why-hasnt-he-made-manchester-city-better/ . His takeaway is that on the whole, Haaland makes City a little worse because he doesn’t fit into Pep’s system, and in turn Pep’s system makes haaland less effective because they don’t get him out in space or in transition. I think on the scale of the 38 game league season that’s definitely true. In the Champions League, however, where being clinical and explosive is a premium, I think Haaland is a big upgrade to the false nine Pep likes in the league. I think back to the Chelsea CL final where Pep went double false-nine (insane) and they struggled to get any end product against a talented team who sat back and limited chances. While I think they (City and Haaland) do make each other a little worse in aggregate, they also have the upside for Haaland to put in 5 in a CL knockout phase and help get each other the trophy, while still being dominant enough in long run to win the PL.
Interestingly enough, I did an article after he left Dortmund on how he scored a remarkable amount of goals there but never actually moved the needle in terms of then getting closer to the league title or in the champions league. But I suspect that situation was the opposite end of the scale to the one he’s now in at Man City: one team was pure chaos, the other is almost too much control.
Is it possible Guardiola is limiting Haaland because of the injuries? I have no idea if that's the case, but the thought crossed my mind during the season and your piece refined it quite a bit.
Speaking of the season, I'm a Gooner in the Prem. You're right about fine margins. All it took was one stumble -- the loss to Aston Villa in April -- and that was it. City is a machine.
Yeah injuries could definitely be a big factor. He did struggle with them at Dortmund and I’m sure he’s being careful not to overplay himself.
It stands to reason Pep would see it that way, too. Haaland has played a lot of minutes with City. Even though he was on the pitch for almost 800 fewer minutes last campaign, it's still his second consecutive year with over 4000' in all competitions.
He's young, so he's not like an older player who needs more frequent rotations out. But still, that's a heavy workload for a guy with something of a history with injuries. Limiting the physical stress by keeping him around the area more helps to mitigate the risk.