With fans waiting for each round of the Premier League to see more super goals, Erling Haaland talks about how he has developed into one of the best strikers today.
Haalandwas praised and given many nicknames from the beginning of his career. The Norwegian striker was called a “monster” by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, current Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp called a “supernatural force” while European media compared him to a “superhero in cartoons”. picture” or “Mike Tyson at its peak”.
The 22-year-old striker was described by Spain’s Marca as a “robot”, the New York Times called “a malfunction in the system” and the British Guardian compared it to “a goal-hungry Viking”.
Haaland’s scoring videos went viral, including when the Norway international scored nine goals against Honduras at the U20 World Cup – an achievement that made many opponents cry. The hat-trick on his Champions League debut or the situation that nearly broke the world record in the 60-meter sprint against PSG was also watched over and over again.
Haaland was the best player in Norway at the age of 18, was voted the best player in Germany at the age of 20. A year later, FIFPro ranked Haaland among the 11 best players in the world. Such potential at such a young age is difficult to predict. Haaland is so good that the developers of the Football Manager video game had to tweak the stats to prevent him from breaking them!.
When coming to the English Premier League – the toughest league in the world, Haaland continued to conquer the same scoring records as in video games: 18 goals in the first 13 matches, including 3 consecutive hat-tricks at home. He currently has 25 goals in 20 Champions League matches – a number no one has touched.
Coaches, teammates and even opponents struggle to put into words when it comes to the goalscoring ability and physical strength of the Man City striker. Peter Crouch – a former England striker who played for Liverpool – said simply: “I have never seen such a parameter in a player of his age.”
Haaland quickly settled into life in Manchester. The $63 million transfer from Dortmund to Man City in June was like a trip back home. Haaland was born in England. Haaland’s father, Mr. Alfie, played for Man City in 2000 and retired in 2003. At that time, Haaland was just a toddler, too young to remember much. “I remember a little bit when I saw the photos, but not much,” Haaland said.
Moved to Norway with his family at the age of 3, but Haaland still feels a connection to Man City. “My parents know England, so that’s a good thing. For me, it’s special to play in the same club as my dad,” he said.
The rapid integration at Man City came in part from his successes on the pitch, where Haaland’s impact was both powerful and devastating. After a rough start in the Community Shield (England Super Cup), the Norwegian striker scored twice on his Premier League debut and has so far scored 28 goals in 25 matches, averaging over 60 minutes. got a goal. At one point, Haaland alone scored more goals than half of the clubs in the Premier League.
Not only parameters, Haaland also owns a special scoring style. He pushed off the 1.91m-high center-back Adam Webster and then shot into an empty net, opening the scoring in the 3-1 win over Brighton in October 2022. With a goal against his old club Dortmund in September 2022, when he received Joao Cancelo’s pass, Haaland did not head but hit the ball with the outside of his left foot.
Countless comments and articles have dissected everything about Haaland – why is the striker so prolific, healthier than many other players, at such a young age? Is it Haaland’s innate athletic quality, natural finishing instinct? Many people briefly say Haaland is a comprehensive striker, agile, strong, skillful when holding the ball as well as when turning his back to the goal. Even among the top strikers in the world, Haaland is still a rare goalscorer. He was always able to find a space beyond the reach of the goalkeeper’s outstretched fingers, or toss the shot in a strange position that made the opponent unexpected.
If you watch the matches closely, what’s really remarkable about Haaland is his ability to hide and wait for an opportunity. For 90 minutes, he wandered beside the opposing centre-backs, lurking in blind spots and patiently waiting for an opportunity, then suddenly reappeared like a ghost. At that time, Haaland was often half a step faster than the opponent to put the ball into the goal. Many top strikers have the same style but Haaland has raised the technique to near perfection. Many elite central defenders were shocked to see Haaland, as if they had forgotten the tall Norwegian striker was still on the pitch.
As a child, Haaland followed other strikers obsessively. He mimics their movements, figuring out what makes them unique and different. “From Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Van Persie. From Jamie Vardy to Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi. Even Alvaro Negredo, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli,” he listed and shared a little bit of the qualities from each. Haaland does not start as a striker. With natural talent and diligence, Haaland only played with children a year or more older than him. Unlike many other former professional athletes, dad Alfie avoids putting pressure on his son’s burgeoning football career.
At the age of 15, Haaland has grown tremendously physically, developing both on the field and playing his first professional game for Bryne FK. A year later, he signed with Molde – a club in the Norwegian first division. At that time, Molde was led by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – one of the best strikers in Norwegian history. Here, Solskjaer helps Haaland develop the habit of a top predator, focusing on the smallest details in finishing and movement. After a slow start, Haaland scored 16 goals in 30 games in his second season with Molde. Not long after, he was on the radar of Europe’s top clubs.
One of the advantages of having a dad who was a former player at the time, was that Haaland and Alfie thought strategically about potential moves. When asked by many clubs, including Leverkusen and Hoffenheim in Germany, Brugge and Ghent in Belgium, or even Leeds – Alfie’s former club and Haaland’s birthplace – in England, the striker knew he needed to choose his next destination. in a smart way.
In January 2019, Haaland joined RB Salzburg – an Austrian club with a Champions League spot, giving many opportunities to many young players and coincidentally missing a striker. Here, Haaland exploded, scoring 25 goals in 23 matches in attack including the Asian duo, Takumi Minamino and Hwang Hee-chan.
But the match that really changed everything came only that fall, on his Champions League debut against Genk. Haaland “fired up”, making his debut on the club’s biggest stage with a hat-trick right in the first half. This seems to be a sign that Haaland will destroy many of this tournament’s records. The Norwegian striker seems to be “obsessed” by the Champions League, even taking the song of this tournament as an alarm ringtone.
Haaland views the match against Genk as the turning point in his career. A lot of players score three goals on their Champions League debut like Haaland, but the difference is that the Norwegian striker continues to do it at new clubs and new leagues. On his Dortmund debut, Haaland came on in the second half and scored three goals in 23 minutes. Similarly, he scored twice on his Premier League debut. In total, he has scored in seven club debuts.
Premier League history has no shortage of expensive, cult and top rated strikers in the world, but then they could not adapt to the new environment, struggled to score goals and then left. With Haaland, he is not afraid to face pressure.
A few years ago, Haaland “stormed” with a celebration of sledding and then taking a lotus position and closing his eyes, as if in a meditative state. This celebration was imitated by many players, appeared in the video game FIFA and aroused many people’s curiosity about Haaland. In everyday life, Haaland often wears blue-light filters at night to prevent screens from interfering with sleep, and turns off wi-fi at night. “I really focus on sleep. The most important thing in life is sleep. Not only sleep a lot, but also sleep well,” he explained.
The Man City striker also did not review the video or analyze in-depth like many colleagues do before important matches. “I don’t think too much about the game, before the ball kicks in,” Haaland said. “I live in the present, not trying to think about what happened yesterday or what will happen tomorrow.”
As one of the most watched, highest-paid players, expected by millions of fans and the whole country, but Haaland has always kept his composure. That is the mentality that Man City wants to supplement when recruiting and paying Haaland an amount of nearly 1 million USD per week, including salary and bonus, sponsorship in the summer of 2022. Etihad Stadium owner dominates English football, but cannot claim to be king at Champions League. Appointing Pep Guardiola – one of the greatest coaches in history – from 2016, Man City also failed to accomplish this goal, with the best achievement being in the final in 2021.
The signing of Haaland is said to be the final piece – a sharp, brave striker lacking in an almost perfect team of expensive stars. When asked if City were missing something at key moments, Haaland replied: “Honestly, I don’t think so. Like against Real last season, sometimes I think there’s really a God there. This is a psychological problem, can Real get that by winning the Champions League? I don’t know if that’s realistic. Maybe.”
That, usually, doesn’t upset Haaland. “I will try my best to win titles with Man City and become a game changer,” he emphasized. “My goal is to win the Champions League, hopefully.”
Haaland currently has 22 goals in the Premier League, seven more than England captain Harry Kane – who is behind – to seven. Maintaining this form, he will hold the advantage in the race to win the Golden Shoe and be in the election for the Golden Ball – the most prestigious individual award in football.
As Crisiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi draw close to the end of their great careers, Haaland and Kylian Mbappe – two of the best strikers of their generation – are expected to create a rivalry and dominate the next decade of the Ballon d’Or. The duo even scored more goals than Messi and Ronaldo at their respective ages. For now, Haaland’s goal is simply to maintain top form for more than a decade.
Possibly, the only real threat to Haaland in breaking all Premier League goalscoring records is injury – something the striker has experienced on multiple occasions. Alfie himself had to retire from his digital career due to a series of knee injuries. “I don’t think you should worry about everything,” Haaland said. “I’m not worried about getting injured. Injuries are part of football. I’ll probably get injured again, but hopefully not.”
Haaland says this with the usual composure he does most things, with his wry smile, big, clear eyes, shiny hair like in a ’90s commercial. That’s the power of a ’90s commercial. Haaland – a robot running smoothly.
