He would be rendered useless by game 20 hockey is an explosive sport so the endurance required for hockey and futbol is different
This is actually Ovechkin erasure. Håland is a useless as they come aside from tapping in easy goals. Ovechkin is a complete player and will always be considered one of the best ever in his sport, Håland won't.
He's a level below Messi in his prime. But he's definitely the best in the box striker in the world. He demolishes bottom feeders. Against physical centre backs he runs into more issues (Arsenals cb duo of Gabriel and Saliva kept him to 0 goals last season and 0 shots on target in both games). Man City also have such an advantage team wise compared teams ranked from 9-20. Most small teams once that first city goal goes in its pretty much open season after that. That's why you will see a resilient team later into the season do well against them for 67 minutes and then all of a sudden city is up 4-0 and it's not all down to haaland. He's definitely better than the penalty master Harry Kane. Is he better footballer than Aguero it's debatable. He's definitely better in the box and in the air but that's what happens when your 6'5.
It's an unfair comparison between a sport where a player is expected to be complete over 200 feet (Ovechkin is a terrible example of a complete hockey player BTW!) and a sport where scoring from close range is literally a position.
It's also completely unfair to Haaland to say "useless as they come aside from tapping in easy goals." Calling all Haaland's finishes "easy" is like saying "well, all Ovie does is pump them from the same spot on the PP, so it's not that impressive." The best scorers make it look easy, both of them do that.
You also have to take into account that a center-forward in football, with ten outfield players, is just inherently way more specialized than a wing in hockey, with five skaters. The wing is going to score in more diverse ways than the striker. I would argue they're both equally imposing within the rules of their respective sports. Haaland has no defensive role to speak of and Ovechkin is one of the worst defensive players of the last 15 years, so that's also kind of a wash. Ovechkin is easily the better playmaker, so he has that, which perhaps makes Hull a better comparison.
Yet Kvicha Kvara has no teammate like Odegaard and still got Georgia to the round of 16 and even a lead over the euro winners Spain
Dortmund has always been a good team. The honest truth is Haaland needs good playmakers to score, if he doesn't get the ball in the box he is absolutely useless.
People keep saying it’s early days. He’s been doing this for two+ seasons now.
