That’s what Miles Jacobson, the man behind the Football Manager game series, says in an interview with the soccer website Goal. – We have had some problems with Haaland during the development of the new game. He is like a machine. He is a ridiculous player, he says. Miles Jacobson is studio director for Sports Interactive, the studio that annually releases the Football Manager games where you can live out your dream of being a coach for a club or a national team. The new game, Football Manager 23, will be launched on 8 November, and then there will probably be many who would like to be the boss of one of the world’s hottest strikers: Erling Braut Haaland. And there are probably many who are reluctant to play against him. SUBSTITUTE: Erling Braut Haaland scores on order. Here he celebrates scoring against Nottingham Forest together with teammate Bernardo Silva. Photo: JASON CAIRNDUFF / Reuters According to Jacobson, Haaland blows the scale. Football Manager enthusiast and Premier League commentator Kasper Wikestad has already struggled with Haaland’s insane scoring average in the previous edition of the game, Football Manager 22, and will not be surprised if the Norwegian turns out to be even better in the upcoming edition. – If he gets even better than he was last time, it’s a bit boring. Because he’s actually boringly good there too. Haaland gives an extra degree of difficulty to those who play. He is like a cheat code, says Wikestad. FM ENTHUSIAST: Premier League commentator Kasper Wikestad. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB Can influence everyone else In the Football Manager games, the players’ qualities are divided into three categories: Technical skills, physical skills and mental skills. Under these you will find a number of subcategories where the skill is ranked from 1-20, with the latter being the highest one can have. The players are evaluated in everything from finishing to overview, determination and strength. And this is exactly where the challenge arises, according to Jacobson. – The biggest problem with Haaland is strength. He has changed what it means to be 20 in strength for footballers. It will be interesting to see how it develops because he is still so young. And the fact that Haaland is so good now – at the age of 22 – can, at least in Football Manager’s simulated football world, have consequences for everyone else. – Will he be so good at influencing every other player in the world? Is everyone else going to be worse because he is so good?, asks Jacobson, who also singles out PSG star Kylian Mbappé. – Last week I was sent a screenshot for approval where Haaland scored his 60th goal of the season. I had to say no, because people wouldn’t believe it if it happened. But the incredible thing is that he is on his way towards it, says Jacobson. The Norwegian top scorer has poured in goals since he swapped Borussia Dortmund for Manchester City this summer, and has 20 goals in 14 games in all competitions. 15 of the goals have come in the Premier League, while he has netted five times in the Champions League. Here you can get a look back at two of them: – Generation-defining Wikestad only gets to play Football Manager sporadically due to work and travel, but talks about the project he had in the previous game. He decided to manage Nottingham Forest with the aim of turning them into a top flight club. It was not so easy when Liverpool signed Haaland from Borussia Dortmund. – Then Liverpool won the league ten years in a row and Haaland scored an average of 50 goals per season. His best season ended with 68 goals, and Norway reached two EC finals in the same period, he says. IN RED, WHITE AND BLUE: If Erling Braut Haaland and Norway become as good as in the Football Manager games, it could be a lot of fun for the Norwegian national team in the years to come. Here from an away match against Slovenia in September. Photo: ANTONIO BRONIC / Reuters And Wikestad believes that Haaland’s wild, albeit simulated, game numbers are not necessarily unrealistic. – We have seen it before, because it was a bit like that when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo developed to be as good as they became. But it is only these generation-defining players who do it, says Wikestad. The Norwegian, who recently came tenth in the Ballon d’Or award, will get another chance to add to his already impressive statistics on Saturday when Manchester City take on Brighton at home at Etihad Stadium at 16:00.
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Erling Braut Haaland blows up the Football Manager scale – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
