For Haaland, his performance in the defeat to Liverpool in the English Super Cup deserved to be forever buried in his career memories. The Norwegian striker has lost to Nunez in terms of statistics, sadly, this is the one who has been compared the most. The Citizens' rookie striker looked quite tired towards the end of the match, not knowing if there was any physical problems or simply disappointment and sadness?
For most of the second half against Liverpool, Haaland mainly operated in the center-field circle. Occasionally, this striker entered the penalty area and tried to coordinate and shoot. Most of the time on the pitch, Pep's rookie was like a note of discord in the arrangement of Man City players playing every match. Regardless of his achievements at Dortmund or RB Salzburg, Haaland is still a dreamer when coming to the Etihad. This will take time to overcome to help the Norwegian super rookie feel the rhythm of the game.
In the whole match, Haaland only had 16 touches, without any successful headers or dribbles. With only 7 passes and no one to block, Haaland is considered an unpredictable source of energy on the pitch. Obviously, Pep does not want Haaland to repeat the way he plays like at Dortmund because if he continues to do so, the 22-year-old striker will destroy Man City's entire playing style.
If you look at Nunez, it can be seen that Klopp has a clear calculation and is more suitable for the Uruguayan striker. Nunez came on late and knew where to play. With Salah and Diaz, Klopp had a really scary trio. The energy from the King Power stands was the same as when Nunez scored and Haaland taped the ball into the crossbar. On one side was the burst of excitement while on the other side it brought immense pressure to the players on the field.
Man City played 4-1-4-1 against Liverpool, Haaland and Rodri played the "number 1" role in this squad. The Citizens always have a lot of players in one situation, but in the match against Liverpool, when needed, they "had no one" in the true sense to put the ball into the opponent's net. The advantage of a real striker is clearly felt in theory when he can pick up the ball, attract people and create many attack angles. Unfortunately, this theory is still not true for Haaland.
Haaland made a poor debut in an official match, but the skeptical eyes of Man City fans not only fell on this striker, but also on his coach Pep Guardiola. These two people are both good at it, but how long it will take to find a way to work together is a difficult question that needs to be answered soon.
At the end of the match, Pep shrunk his shoulder and said Haaland was a player with many special qualities when asked about his new student. From that statement, this talented coach began to discuss the calculations and solutions to solve the Norwegian star.
