Erling Haaland’s spell at Manchester City is one that will remembered for decades as one of the greatest in Premier League history as he continues to set new standards season after season.
However, an aspect of Haaland’s time in England that could also be revisited is the constant questions asked about him as a player.
Jamie Carragher once claimed Haaland “picked the wrong club” — a claim that has aged poorly to say the least.
This season, the Manchester City striker became the joint-fastest player to score 100 goals in all competitions (in 105 games) for a single club in Europe’s top five leagues alongside Cristiano Ronaldo — who set the record for Real Madrid — as per Squawka.
As a player who has played with both goalscorers, Kalvin Phillips claimed Haaland is superior to Harry Kane due to his unique eye as well as hunger to get on the scoresheet.
Yet, Ally McCoist recently made a claim about the Norwegian that goes to show that he is still underrated.
Ally McCoist recently said Erling Haaland is not “world-class”
McCoist claimed Haaland is still not world-class in his view, when discussing players like Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer and whether they are worthy of such a title as well.
The pundit said: “Yeah, that’s an interesting one. He is the nearest one of the lot of them, for me at this moment in time which is incredible to say.”
“Still got a little bit to go, in my opinion, to be held up with the greats as world-class. But out of the lot of them, he is probably the nearest.”
“And it’s amazing because he is world-class or will be world-class, I think, will be remembered as world-class putting the ball in the back of the net, which is completely different to most of the others that we mentioned.”
Previously, Ally McCoist brandished Haaland’s all-round game as “bang average” as well.
The Scot is not the only pundit to have slated the remarkably consistent striker.
In April, Jamie Carragher claimed Haaland is “not a great player” and merely labelled him as a “great goalscorer.”
Dwight Yorke also claimed Haaland was “failing” last season because the 24-year-old did not equal his tally of 52 goals in all competitions during his debut campaign.
McCoist comments show Haaland is still so underrated
Ally McCoist’s comments in particular about the two-time Premier League winner still not being world-class demonstrate why he can still be considered underrated.
The former Rangers icon was a striker himself and yet, in his claim about Haaland, he has managed to undermine the fact that he is an outstanding goalscorer.
A number nine’s primary task is to put the ball in the back of the net — a skill he has mastered at 24 years of age already.
Since signing for Manchester City, the Leeds-born marksman has won back-to-back Golden Boot awards in the Premier League — an accomplishment only achieved by legendary strikers such as Kane, Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, Alan Shearer and Michael Owen.
Haaland is also the only player out of the aforementioned names to not just win the league but also the Champions League at the same club.
Yet, Ally McCoist surprisingly feels the decorated goalscorer is still not worthy enough of being considered one of the best players in the world. Here is a statistical breakdown of Haaland’s tally of goals and assists in comparison to other elite forwards across world football since he signed for City.
| HAALAND G/A VS OTHER FORWARDS SINCE MAN CITY MOVE | |
| PLAYER | GOALS AND ASSISTS |
| ERLING HAALAND | 115 |
| KYLIAN MBAPPE | 113 |
| HARRY KANE | 109 |
| VINICIUS JR | 90 |
| ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI | 80 |
Haaland has managed to outperform the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Kane, Vinicius Jr and Robert Lewandowski in terms of his total goal contributions since signing for Manchester City.
Kane, who played in the Premier League in one of those three seasons has since left English football to play in the Bundesliga, which is an inferior division in comparison.
The other aforementioned players in question also play in La Liga, which is no longer considered a superior league to the Premier League which hosts the best players and managers in the world.
Yet, Ally McCoist still feels Haaland is not a world-class player — which exemplifies why his greatness remains underappreciated by many.
