Haller

[h69]

If that is the case, we could have bought a traffic cone and saved a fortune. I have yet to see any evidence he is good enough to be honest. Ive seen more mobility and energy in a lampost.

Maybe if the opposition start buying players from Madagascar then he will shine....a bit like Gervinho also in the team with him....what a player he was at Arsenal.

Show me the lampost?

In all seriousness, don't buy into the crowd mentality, have look at him properly. We know he hasn't got the pace of others but his hold up play and his positioning in the box is really good. As for chasing down the ball he could improve but he's no better or worse than Arnie who got no such criticism.

Ive looked at him properly and I dont think he is suited to the Premier League. Being good or bad is irrelevant, it is how you suit the league you play in.
The best strikers in the Premier League are mobile. Pace and power is the name of the game nowadays unless you hit a goldmine and find a world class striker that has something else that makes him difficult to stop. Lack of mobility is a huge issue, it makes you far too easy to mark.

I dont entirely disagree with you regarding Hallers strengths....
Do I think Haller is a better player technically than Antonio ? Yes, possibly
Do I think Antonio is far better in the Premier League, undoubtably.

I would rather Antonio than Haller in the team.

It has little to do with effort or chasing back and more to do with causing problems for defenders. Antonio does it because he is very quick, and when the Central defender is as quick as him then he tends to use strength to hold them off. Arnautovic was quick and pretty strong himself. They also brought people into play but we need a goalscorer up front and Haller just is not going to be one playing the way he plays in this division.

Pace is key in this division. If you dont have it, you have to be world class, if you have it you dont need to be. I look at even Giroud (who is far better than Haller imo) who is now surplus to requirements. Lukaku was the epitome of a PL striker....Strong quick and very difficult to stop...all in the mould of Drogba.

I would prefer to have a quick strong energetic forward who is focused on scoring goals. I think we have the players behind to make that happen.

[BCHammer]

Haller is here and we have to make him work while he is because Antonio is going to be out regularly. However poor the opposition, he was new to the squad, was not on the pitch very long but managed to score - because as far as I can see from the 1970's quality footage they put a cross in the box. We dont do that hardly enough. In fact we did for 10 mins against Fulham, Haller was an inch away from scoring, it looked like it would be another 4-0 thumping, then we stopped doing it and reverted to tying to tippy tap in through an 8 man wall.

Arthur can sometimes cross, but 80% of the time he is abysmal and just because he has some twinkle toes, more often than not it is for no avail.

Bowen doesn't cross, he always cuts in, runs along the back line then tries to shoot through 6 bodies or passes to the left wing.

Which leaves Cresswell and Coufal/Fredericks and that is where a lot of our success has come from.

Re fast strikers, problem is Vardy seems to be the exception and they tend to break a lot, like Antonio, Aguero, Jesus, Ings etc because they are just so highly tuned. And I strongly dislike players like Kane & Salah who top up their goal scoring numbers because they dive a lot.

[h69]

Haller is here and we have to make him work while he is because Antonio is going to be out regularly. However poor the opposition, he was new to the squad, was not on the pitch very long but managed to score - because as far as I can see from the 1970's quality footage they put a cross in the box. We dont do that hardly enough. In fact we did for 10 mins against Fulham, Haller was an inch away from scoring, it looked like it would be another 4-0 thumping, then we stopped doing it and reverted to tying to tippy tap in through an 8 man wall.

Arthur can sometimes cross, but 80% of the time he is abysmal and just because he has some twinkle toes, more often than not it is for no avail.

Bowen doesn't cross, he always cuts in, runs along the back line then tries to shoot through 6 bodies or passes to the left wing.

Which leaves Cresswell and Coufal/Fredericks and that is where a lot of our success has come from.

Re fast strikers, problem is Vardy seems to be the exception and they tend to break a lot, like Antonio, Aguero, Jesus, Ings etc because they are just so highly tuned. And I strongly dislike players like Kane & Salah who top up their goal scoring numbers because they dive a lot.

You cant make Haller work consistently in this league IMO unless he can find some way of shaking off a centre back consistently. It is futile. We need to offload him to another country and buy someone who is young energetic and quick. Get a couple if you are worried about injuries. Of course they get injured easily, they burst with speed and that is what makes them effective.

You mention Agüero but he is getting on now but there had only been two seasons he didn't reach at least 30 games at Man City so that is not so bad.

Yes, Haller did very well against Madagascar but I suspect the central defenders of that country are probably League one standard (he scored against Hull if I remember right ?)

Even Southampton managed to offload their disastrous forward Gabbiadini (who cost a fair bit) and got in Ings who is quick and difficult to mark.

Just relying on crosses is not enough although Antonio scores from a fair few of these, why was Haller not ?....yes Liverpool do it but Sane and Salah are very quick as well and while I agree that they are all too often diving, they have two dimensions to their game. Antonio does too whereas Haller is just too predictable.

What would you prefer to mark ? A Beanpole Center forward or a player that runs at speed at you while you are backpedalling ? I know what I would rather have.

Each to their own though. Below the number of games Aguero played each season in the League. I would take that from any player if he was scoring more than a goal every other game Of course we cant get anyone that good unless we hit pot luck but a similar Drogba like player is the answer

[BCHammer]

What would you prefer to mark ? A Beanpole Center forward or a player that runs at speed at you while you are backpedalling ? I know what I would rather have.

I dont disagree. Im just trying to say that Haller is here, he is our only striker and when Antonio is not available we need to at least try and improve our chances of helping him and winning the game. As I say he did almost score in the first 10 mins, it was good positioning from him. But after that there were no crosses and you are not going to get it to him against a team like Fulham who put 8 behind the ball. There are very few who are going to do what Antonio does.

[Towie]

He is more than good enough for the premier league, it is our system that does not suit him.

If that is the case, we could have bought a traffic cone and saved a fortune. I have yet to see any evidence he is good enough to be honest. Ive seen more mobility and energy in a lampost.

Maybe if the opposition start buying players from Madagascar then he will shine....a bit like Gervinho also in the team with him....what a player he was at Arsenal.

He is a goalscorer, give him the right service in the right system and he will score.
He is more of a natural goalscorer than Antonio and technically much better.

I would play the system we did against Southampton, where the pair of them ripped Soton apart 3-1.

[terrya1965]

Haller is here and we have to make him work while he is because Antonio is going to be out regularly. However poor the opposition, he was new to the squad, was not on the pitch very long but managed to score - because as far as I can see from the 1970's quality footage they put a cross in the box. We dont do that hardly enough. In fact we did for 10 mins against Fulham, Haller was an inch away from scoring, it looked like it would be another 4-0 thumping, then we stopped doing it and reverted to tying to tippy tap in through an 8 man wall.

Arthur can sometimes cross, but 80% of the time he is abysmal and just because he has some twinkle toes, more often than not it is for no avail.

Bowen doesn't cross, he always cuts in, runs along the back line then tries to shoot through 6 bodies or passes to the left wing.

Which leaves Cresswell and Coufal/Fredericks and that is where a lot of our success has come from.

Re fast strikers, problem is Vardy seems to be the exception and they tend to break a lot, like Antonio, Aguero, Jesus, Ings etc because they are just so highly tuned. And I strongly dislike players like Kane & Salah who top up their goal scoring numbers because they dive a lot.

You cant make Haller work consistently in this league IMO unless he can find some way of shaking off a centre back consistently. It is futile. We need to offload him to another country and buy someone who is young energetic and quick. Get a couple if you are worried about injuries. Of course they get injured easily, they burst with speed and that is what makes them effective.

You mention Agüero but he is getting on now but there had only been two seasons he didn't reach at least 30 games at Man City so that is not so bad.

Yes, Haller did very well against Madagascar but I suspect the central defenders of that country are probably League one standard (he scored against Hull if I remember right ?)

Even Southampton managed to offload their disastrous forward Gabbiadini (who cost a fair bit) and got in Ings who is quick and difficult to mark.

Just relying on crosses is not enough although Antonio scores from a fair few of these, why was Haller not ?....yes Liverpool do it but Sane and Salah are very quick as well and while I agree that they are all too often diving, they have two dimensions to their game. Antonio does too whereas Haller is just too predictable.

What would you prefer to mark ? A Beanpole Center forward or a player that runs at speed at you while you are backpedalling ? I know what I would rather have.

Each to their own though. Below the number of games Aguero played each season in the League. I would take that from any player if he was scoring more than a goal every other game Of course we cant get anyone that good unless we hit pot luck but a similar Drogba like player is the answer

Augero plays in a top side,that create chance after chance since his been there..Coarse,his world class,but I think the likes of Kane and Salah would have scored similar,if not more.

[Whiskyman]

I've always believed that with the exception of being born abroad to parents of whatever nationality, both of whom were there for work purposes...cricketers Colin Cowdrey and Ted Dexter for example, you play for the country of your birth.

So John Barnes would have played for Jamaica, Nasser Hussian for India and Mo Farrah, let's be honest, didn't acquire high altitude running stamina in the Peak District did he.

That would solve the Rice / Grealish argument. Andy Townsend didn't play for Ireland for any other reason other than that he wasn't good enough to play for England irrespective of his ancestry.

When I moved in here I saw that the built-in cooker was an AEG.

I'm still waiting for Jogi Low's phone call.

After watching the game tonight and reading some of the reports in the German press I'd say you're more likely to be getting a phone call from the DFB asking if you're interested in taking over from him.

Amazing record. Been doing the job for 14 years but looks like he'll be gone very soon.

[andyginbrasil]

Haller was taken off today after 91 mins.......not substituted........maybe an injury,,,?

[Flairon]

Sadly I do not believe Haller is equipped or has the mentality to adjust to playing the sole striker role. He does not intimidate defenders and his hold up play is simply not good enough.

There is no doubting his season with Eintracht Frankfurt, but that was playing along side another very good striker. We simply do not set up to play with 2 established strikers.

I wish I knew what the answer is, but I simply do not. There talent appears to be there, I just wonder if he has the heart or desire. He seems to be what we would call back in the day; "a fair weather player".

Notwithstanding that, I do wish the lad success.

[h69]

You cant make Haller work consistently in this league IMO unless he can find some way of shaking off a centre back consistently. It is futile. We need to offload him to another country and buy someone who is young energetic and quick. Get a couple if you are worried about injuries. Of course they get injured easily, they burst with speed and that is what makes them effective.

You mention Agüero but he is getting on now but there had only been two seasons he didn't reach at least 30 games at Man City so that is not so bad.

Yes, Haller did very well against Madagascar but I suspect the central defenders of that country are probably League one standard (he scored against Hull if I remember right ?)

Even Southampton managed to offload their disastrous forward Gabbiadini (who cost a fair bit) and got in Ings who is quick and difficult to mark.

Just relying on crosses is not enough although Antonio scores from a fair few of these, why was Haller not ?....yes Liverpool do it but Sane and Salah are very quick as well and while I agree that they are all too often diving, they have two dimensions to their game. Antonio does too whereas Haller is just too predictable.

What would you prefer to mark ? A Beanpole Center forward or a player that runs at speed at you while you are backpedalling ? I know what I would rather have.

Each to their own though. Below the number of games Aguero played each season in the League. I would take that from any player if he was scoring more than a goal every other game Of course we cant get anyone that good unless we hit pot luck but a similar Drogba like player is the answer

Augero plays in a top side,that create chance after chance since his been there..Coarse,his world class,but I think the likes of Kane and Salah would have scored similar,if not more.

Kane and Salah are also examples of players that have strength and pace. Kane is actually quite quick for a lump, very strong and is a great finisher. Son. is another that is super quick. Salah is quick. I agree he ruins this all by diving constantly but he is a good player who IMO does not need to do so especially with Mane with him.