Ahead of this weekend’s clash with Manchester City, Leeds boss Big Sam has revealed his plan to stop Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian striker has scored a record-breaking 35 goals in the league and 51 across all competitions. In the pre match press conference on Friday, Sam Allardyce says he has a plan to stop the 22-year old:
‘Supply. Stop the supply and stop the big man getting as many chances and then you limit his chances of scoring. Stop the supply but keeping an eye on him at all times particularly in the final third.
‘I’m more interested in supply. If we can cut the supply down more first and then when he when it does come to him and we limit the amount of times the ball it does come to him, we’ll have a better chance of dealing with it.
On Haaland: "It's also supply. Stop the supply, stop the big man getting as many chances as he gets. But keep an eye on him at all times, particularly in the final third." #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) May 5, 2023
‘Obviously the players who are there at the time, in close proximity, don’t play with fear, play with a positive attitude. So do your job.
‘If you can just stop him scoring a goal you don’t need to do anything else in that game on Saturday, you don’t need to contribute in any other way. Just stop him scoring and you will have had a fantastic game.
‘I dealt with lots of centre-forwards like that when I played, they didn’t quite score as many goals as that of course. But the big ones are all around like Joe Jordan here with no teeth in and Joe Royle players like that.
‘I’m not sure I could mark him and when I played, I was the most physical player in the league. I think that you have to be strong enough to deal with him because he can use his bodyweight brilliantly as well as his talents and skills.’
