Garth Crooks has said that Erling Haaland does not strike the ball as cleanly as Trent Alexander-Arnold.
As the pundit was full of praise for Alexander-Arnold in his Premier League Team of the Week for BBC Sport, he compared his ball-striking technique to that of the Norwegian superstar.
Interestingly, Gary Neville went to the extent of claiming that the Liverpool right-back is on the same level as Kevin De Bruyne when it comes to his striking of the ball and delivery.
Garth Crooks says Erling Haaland does not strike the ball as well as Trent Alexander-Arnold
The £51 million (Metro) man opened the scoring for Manchester City against the Reds on Saturday but the truth is that perhaps Alisson Becker should have stopped his effort from beating him.
On the other hand, Alexander-Arnold’s equaliser was drilled into the bottom corner, as Ederson simply had no chance of saving such a phenomenal strike.
However, Garth Crooks has gone as far as to say that Erling Haaland is simply not a better striker of the ball than Trent Alexander-Arnold.
“With the exception of Kevin De Bruyne, there can’t be a cleaner striker of a ball anywhere in the Premier League than Trent Alexander-Arnold. Erling Haaland will almost always find the corner of the net but his strikes are nothing like as clean as Alexander-Arnold’s”, he told BBC Sport.
Not the best comparison
Considering Erling Haaland takes a lot more shots in comparison to Trent Alexander-Arnold, Garth Crooks’ judgement has likely been skewed.
There is no denying that the way the Englishman strikes the ball is sublime.
But then again, only the 25-year-old’s finest attempts at goal would likely be remembered as one does not expect a full-back to test the goalkeeper as often as a striker.
In Haaland’s case, the best and worst of his finishing come to light much more due to how many shots he averages per game as well as the constant expectation upon him to score goals.
As a result, this comparison is not the most accurate to say the least.
Lastly, Erling Haaland’s belters against Young Boys in the Champions League and Brighton in the Premier League prove that his ball-striking is on par with any and every player in the world.
