Ex-Man Utd star Stam tells Premier League teams exactly how to defend vs Haaland
Erling Haaland has been terrifying defences ever since arriving in English football, but ex-Manchester United star Jaap Stam believes there's a way to stop him.
The Manchester City brute has netted 12 goals in eight games for already, including a couple of back-to-back hattricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, though Stam reckons that with the right amount of organisations and aggression, teams can keep him quiet.
"You need to be very aggressive," Stam told Bet365. "When the opposition has the ball, you need to go and play in City’s half.
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"You need to make sure someone is always very tight on Haaland and trying to take him out of the game, especially when you lose the ball. He can’t be allowed to get hold of it," the Dutchman added.
"You need cover, too, otherwise if you try and risk it to play against him one vs one, with a lot of space in your back, nine out of ten times, it’s going to be a very difficult situation. So you need to be very aggressive against him.
"Teams are changing how they set up defensively when he’s playing because of his threat, people are saying we need to put a midfield player in front of him as well, to give them more time on the ball. But you need to make choices now as an opposition to defend against him.
In his prime, would Jaap Stam be able to deal with Erling Haaland? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
"Speaking personally, sometimes when you play higher up the pitch, one needs to be aggressive on him and the other needs to cover you."
Stam was one of the most formidable centre backs in the world in his pomp and could give any striker a run for his money athletically. The former Holland international joined United from PSV in 1998 and helped guide the club to an iconic Treble in his first season.
He spent three years at Old Trafford in total, winning a Premier League title in each of them, before leaving for Lazio in 2001 following a fall out with Sir Alex Ferguson, though six years later, the legendary Scot admitted that selling Stam was one of the biggest mistakes of his career.
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