That’s what Miles Jacobson, the man behind the Football Manager game series, said in an interview with a football website Target.

– We had some issues with Haaland during the development of the new game. He’s like a machine. He was a silly player, he said.

Miles Jacobson is studio director for Sports Interactive, the studio that annually releases the Football Manager game where you can fulfill your dream of becoming a coach of a club or national team.

A new game, Football Manager 23, will launch on November 8th, and then there will probably be a lot of people wanting to be the boss of one of the hottest strikers in the world: Erling Braut Haaland.

And maybe many are reluctant to play against him.

According to Jacobson, Haaland scaled it up.

Football Manager fan and Premier League commentator Kasper Wikestad has struggled with Haaland’s insane scoring averages in the previous edition of the game, Football Manager 22, and won’t be surprised if Norway takes a turn for the better in future editions.

– If he gets better than last time, it’s kind of boring. Because actually he was also very good there. Haaland provides an extra level of difficulty for those who play. He’s like a cheat code, Wikestad said.

Can influence other people

In the game Football Manager, the quality of players is divided into three categories: Technical skills, physical skills and mental skills. Below you will find a number of subcategories where skills are ranked from 1-20, with the last being the highest one can possess.

Players are evaluated on everything from finish to overview, determination and strength. And this is where the challenge comes in, according to Jacobson.

– The biggest problem with Haaland is power. He has changed what it means to be 20 in strength for footballers. It will be interesting to see how he develops as he is still very young.

And the fact that Haaland is so good now – at 22 – could, at least in the world of Soccer Manager simulation football, have consequences for everyone.

– Will he be so good at influencing every other player in the world? Is everyone going to be worse off because he is so good?, asked Jacobson, who also named PSG star Kylian Mbappe.

– Last week I was sent a screenshot for approval where Haaland scored his 60th goal of the season. I have to say no, because people wouldn’t believe it if it happened. But the amazing thing is that he’s on his way to that, Jacobson said.

Norway’s 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 those goals have come in the Premier League, while he has scored five in the Champions League.

Here you can revisit two of them:

– Define generation

Wikestad has only been able to play as Football Manager sporadically due to work and travel, but talks about a project he had in his previous game. He decided to manage Nottingham Forest with the aim of turning them into a top club.

It was not 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 said.

And Wikestad believes that Haaland’s wild game numbers, even if simulated, are not necessarily unrealistic.

– We’ve seen it before, because it’s kind of like that when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo develop to be as good as they are. But only these generational players do it, says Wikestad.

Norwegian, who? recently placed tenth in the Gullballen awardswill get another chance to add to his already impressive stats on Saturday when Manchester City take on Brighton at home at the Etihad Stadium at 4pm.