The Norwegian forward has made a blistering start to his Premier League career, scoring fifteen goals in his first nine matches, including three hattricks. Premier League defenders appear terrified of the threat the 22-year-old holds. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s clash with Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp has nothing but praise for the striker.
“When you play, at the moment, the best striker in the world you have to make sure he doesn’t get that many balls”.
Haaland first appeared on the managers radar during his Salzburg days where he netted 27 times in 29 matches. The striker first announced himself in England when he scored in a 4-3 thriller at Anfield.
“When he was very young, even younger than now, you could see the potential, it was insane.
“I don’t think he started against us at home but we were already pretty busy thinking about him. How to close him down, shut him down: he scored anyway.”
Tactics can only account for so much when the player you’re defending holds such quality. With his father having played in the Premier League, and his mother being a national champion heptathlete, the Premier League top scorer certainly has genetic advantages.
“Physically he sets a new standard. The combination of being really physical, technical and sensational is always rare.”
So, how do Liverpool go about stopping him? Haaland scored 95% of his goals from inside 18 yards last season. Liverpool are a team who like to compress the pitch and ideally keep the opposition away from their penalty box.
Liverpool’s high line could be the solution to keeping Haaland away from goal. Alternatively, it could allow him to run riot given his blistering pace and ability to time runs to perfection. And of course, the focus can’t be just on Haaland.
“With City the problem is if you close Haaland down with too many players then you open up gaps for all their other world class players.”
Liverpool also have to find ways to score themselves. Confidence should be high coming off the back of a 7-1 victory over Rangers in midweek.
For many Liverpool fans, a change in system to a 4-4-2 at Ibrox has renewed hope that this season can be salvaged. Particularly promising was the role Mohamed Salah played when he came on and scored a hattrick, with the Egyptian playing noticeably closer to goal.
“He can play that position no doubt, but he can also play wide as well.
“You need to be flexible; you need to be able to fill up the spaces.”
Despite injuries to several first team players, most notably Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jurgen Klopp still has some selection dilemmas, particularly in the forward line. With Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah all vying for a place in a potential front two, Klopp’s selection in those positions could be indicative of Liverpool’s attacking approach.
