Nunez 1-0 Haaland: Breaking Down The Details

The Community shield is often seen as the trophy that is “important” when you win it and not so much when you lose it. This may be the case for fans of the club involved but to the neutrals and lovers of the game, the 2022 edition of this encounter meant more.

It was a chance to see two of the best teams in England and indeed Europe go head to head in a heavyweight contest. Beyond that, a lot of attention was on the match to see “which kid had bought the shinier toy.”

Haven spent tens of millions of pounds to sign two new strikers, spectators were eager to see how Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez performed.

An extra spice was thrown in the mix as the Liverpool boss named his new Uruguayan striker on the bench. Haaland had the advantage in this unofficial bout, or so it seemed.

However, by the final whistle, Nunez had emerged the victor, immediately making his presence felt with direct runs in behind and scoring the last of Liverpool’s three goals.

With Haaland unable to score and his side losing by three goals to one, his disappointment was best captured by the look on his face when he crashed, what looked to be a routine tap in, off the crossbar from less than 10 yards out.

At the end of the game, it was no surprise to see posts of Nunez 1 Haaland 0, hinting at Nunez being the better signing. A closer look at the game however reveals some interesting details which suggest it might not be so clear cut.

While Nunez’s approach seemed to cause a bit of chaos to the Manchester City defense, Haaland didn’t seem to have as much impact.

This however wasn’t entirely down to the Norwegian, who made brilliant runs into the right spaces time and time again. The kind of runs that have proven productive in times past and helped make him the revered striker he is.

However, it seemed his teammates were not quite on the same wavelength, often trying to pass their way out wide before looking for cutbacks, the style that proved effective last season since they played without an out and out striker.

Little wonder City’s goal came when another new signing, Julian Alvarez whose more fluid style of play was more familiar, was introduced.

Haaland presents City with a luxury they didn’t have and how interesting it would be to watch as they slowly but surely figure out how to fully exploit his undoubted talent.

So far, Nunez seems to have had a more seamless integration but Haaland seems to be a bomb priming to explode. Both players appear to be excellent signings and would only need time to show their mettle.

As to whose signing pays off more, we’ll just have to wait and see.

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