It seems a distant memory now, but there were a few weeks in the summer when some doubted that Erling Haaland would fit in at Manchester City. They were clearly wrong, and Julian Alvarez has now given more evidence of that.
After a disappointing debut in the Community Shield loss to Liverpool in which Haaland struggled to get involved in the game, the critics were temporarily silenced by two opening-day goals at West Ham.
However, they returned when in a 4-0 defeat of Bournemouth Haaland set up one goal but only had eight touches of the ball and completed just two passes in 74 minutes. They said he doesn't get involved in the play enough to satisfy Pep Guardiola, and that sooner or later something would have to change.
READ MORE: What Lionel Messi said about Man City ace Julian Alvarez after 'extraordinary' World Cup performance
Twenty-three goals in 18 games has disproved that myth, and if further evidence that a striker can thrive in a Guardiola team without collecting lots of touches and completing plenty of passes, then Alvarez has provided it.
City 's other 22-year-old striker was superb in Argentina's 3-0 defeat of Croatia in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, winning the penalty from which Lionel Messi opened the scoring before scoring a brace himself.
Goal involvements aside, his impact on the game was obvious; when Argentina pressed he was at the front and energetic as ever, and when Croatia attacked he always made sure to get back and help out.
However, the 'on-the-ball' stats he put up were the kind of figures Haaland critics might scoff at. Alvarez was arguably the most influential player on the pitch - bar Messi - but his tally of 28 touches was bettered by all of his teammates. Just 12 completed passes isn't exactly a lot either.
But as Haaland has shown himself, touches and passes aren't everything when you're playing up front. Yes, Argentina aren't City, so there's less of an expectation to rack up touches and passes. But the point stands that a striker doesn't have to act like a false-nine, or be involved in every phase of play to be successful in a top team.
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