There’s no point trying to stop Erling Haaland, believes Noel Gallagher, who says opposition players would be better off focusing on Kevin De Bruyne instead.
The Norwegian striker has had a sensational start to life at Manchester City, scoring 17 goals in just ten appearances for them.
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Haaland is simply irresistible
He added three more to his tally in City’s 6-3 win over Manchester United at the weekend in a game that also saw Haaland provide two assists for Phil Foden, who himself netted a hat-trick.
And Gallagher thinks it’s futile for defenses in the Premier League and across Europe to try and stop the endemic 22-year-old, but can perhaps reduce his effectiveness by preventing passes from getting passed to him .
“I don’t think you were stopping him, you were stopping De Bruyne,” Gallagher said on Drive. “You have to prevent the ball from reaching him.
“We’ve seen the goals he’s scored before, some of them are hard to believe – the one against Borussia Dortmund and his second against United – no other striker in the world even tries that.
“We are witnessing something that is hardly believable. To say that he is nine goals short of winning last season’s Golden Boot and has 30 games left to play is a joke.
“You can’t see him go three games without scoring, you can’t see him.”
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Haaland lives and breathes goals
“Watching his movement is something else,” Gallagher continued.
“Even when he doesn’t get the ball back, he resets and starts again – you never see him throw his arms in the air. He’s beyond the real deal.
Haaland appears to have what it takes to become a Man City legend, a status De Bruyne has arguably already achieved.
Gallagher is obviously a huge fan of the Belgian midfielder but couldn’t choose who was Man City’s best player among De Bruyne or David Silva.
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De Bruyne has been a revelation during his seven years at Man City
But like Silva, Gallagher believes a statue for De Bruyne is inevitable.
On comparisons between De Bruyne and Silva, Gallagher added: “You can’t separate them, it’s like saying who is better John Lennon or Paul McCartney, they are equally talented.
“De Bruyne gets a statue, that’s for sure.”
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