‘Four-booger level’ Holland sparks class controversy

“Elling Holland is a world-class finisher, but not a world-class player”

Legendary Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher wrote in the Telegraph on Wednesday that Elling Holland (Manchester City) is “without a doubt one of the best finishers in the world, but he’s not a world-class player yet.”

Called a “monster striker,” Holland is arguably one of the best strikers in the world. He scored a whopping 52 goals in all competitions last season, helping City win a triple treble (Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League). He was the top scorer in both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.

Based on his dominance for City last season, he recently finished second in the 2023 Ballon d’Or voting in Paris, France, behind the “God of Soccer” Lionel Messi (Inter Miami). Instead, he was awarded the Gerd Muller Trophy, which is given to the player who scores the most goals in a calendar year.

This season, Holland has already scored 18 goals in the league to lead the league in scoring and is on track to become the top scorer for the second year in a row. Born in 2000, he is only 23 years old and has been touted as a future Ballon d’Or winner alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe (PSG) and Judd Bellingham (Real Madrid).

Recently, however, Holland has been criticized by soccer pundits. They claimed that while Holland’s goal-scoring ability is excellent, other aspects of his game are not up to par with his reputation.

Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane recently criticized Holland, saying he was “almost like a League Two player.” The English Football League 2 is the fourth division. He criticized Holland as a fourth-tier player.

Following Keane, legendary Liverpool defender Carragher joined in on the criticism. Carragher acknowledged Holland’s goal-scoring ability, but argued that he wasn’t yet a world-class player, given his other abilities.

“To be truly world class, you need an all-encompassing quality,” says Carragher. Think about Thierry Henry, Luis Suarez and Harry Kane, the best strikers in the Premier League over the last 20 years,” he said. “They have a huge impact on the game regardless of their goals, and all of them could go to any team in the world and put in an impressive performance.”

“In terms of general play, Holland is not yet at the same level as them,” he adds, “Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), William 메이저토토사이트 Saliba (Arsenal) and Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid) have troubled him recently, and a good striker should not be so easily overwhelmed.”

To prove his point, Carragher pointed to City’s win percentage with and without Holland scoring. Not only did City win 88% of the time when Holland scored, but they never lost. On the other hand, when Holland doesn’t score, the win rate plummets to 49%.

This led Carragher to conclude that Holland is a strictly goalscoring striker, saying, “He is an old-fashioned, traditional No. 9 who doesn’t press high, doesn’t keep the ball well, doesn’t show great physical ability from deep, and doesn’t link up with the midfield.”

In other words, Holland is a player who has scored a ton of goals in his career, but who fades into obscurity when his teammates don’t create scoring chances for him.

As such, Carragher and Keane argued that, aside from his goal-scoring ability, Holland’s level of play is far below that of other world-class strikers.

Lastly, Carragher mentions legendary strikers Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Alnasr). Both players were the best attackers in the world in their prime, splitting Ballon d’Or. Both were the best goal scorers in the world, but in addition to their scoring prowess, they were also playmakers, making their presence felt even on goal-less days.

“There is no better finisher than Holland, but he needs to become a more complete player to be mentioned in the same breath as Ronaldo and Messi,” Carragher advised Holland.

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