9 | Erling Haaland - 2022/23 Performances

[BlueBanger]

He's amazing...never once had any doubt. Truly elite.

 

[mccity]

His link up play is unexpectedly good.

He does seem to favour his left foot quite a bit, which surprises me a bit, based on his stats.

Haaland wasn't always such a giant. So I'd theorise that he likely would've had to learn to play the game the same way every other normal-sized player would have.

So now he has that with the benefit of being huge.

 

[Itd]

 

[Cambijao]

Haaland's full interview with FourFourTwo in their latest mag

Spoiler: Haaland's quotes from the interview

Haaland on that day in 2012 and Aguero's 93:20 goal:

"I remember that day so well. Like it was yesterday. It was crazy. The day had been all about winning. This was our moment, this was the day the club became league champions. I remember we settled down to watch, my dad was just as excited as me, but things went crazy. City are losing to 10-man QPR. We’re massive favourites, and we’re losing. United have already won. It’s despair. But then, after 91 minutes I think it was, Edin Dzeko scores. There’s hope, but there’s so little time."

"The winning goal felt so strange. Mario Balotelli on the ground, but somehow getting the ball to Sergio Aguero. The striker shuts his eyes and hits it, then it’s madness. Me and my dad, we’re up off our seats, we’re running around the living room screaming. The top comes off, and it’s spinning around the head. Special. What a moment."

Haaland on if there was an inevitability that he would one day play for Man City

"That’s a good question. I’m not sure about that. Of course, there was a lot of speculation, there were a lot of rumours, and as a footballer, a footballer playing well, you have to live with it. There was plenty of talk, but I couldn’t control any of that."

"If I thought about the rumours, my head would explode and it wouldn’t help me on the pitch. It’s on the pitch that I have to be at my best, I have to perform. To do that, I have to be relaxed. That’s important to me. Rumours are part of football, I get that, but they’re out of my control. If I can’t do anything about it, then I ignore it."

"But with Man City, I don’t know, you’re right,there was something there from the start. I like the club very much, I always have of course. I know a lot about the place from my dad’s time here. But also, just as importantly, I like how they’ve played since Pep Guardiola arrived. From that point of view it was a club and team I always had my eye on. Inevitable, I don’t know, but yes, there has always been an interest from me to be here."

Haaland on his career path, playing different clubs in different countries

"It’s part of the job now. You move on, and I like being out of my comfort zone – that’s something I’ve done a few times and, yes, I enjoy it. It’s so nice to be at Manchester City, to be working. It’s nice to get to know new people, to get used to a new country. I’ve been the new boy several times now - it’s something I enjoy."

Haaland on if his dad (Alf-Inge) being an ex Man City player was a reason for him to join Man City too

"I don’t think my dad’s history here will directly help me to settle in or to score goals (Erling was born 1 month after Alf-Ine joined Man City from Leeds). It’s nice to have that link, though. You know, I remember being young and knowing that my father did something special at a club, and he went on to become my role model, so my dad has always been very important. I grew up knowing he’d been a professional, and I wanted to do the same. That’s a great thing. It’s triggered me."

Haaland on his new teammates

"I like the vibe here already. The dressing room feels great. What strikes you is how hungry everyone is. I like the way people are around the place and I’ve already received so much support from the people in the city and beyond, so it makes things a bit easier."

Haaland on the player-fan relationship

"I love that close bond with the fan. It’s important. We are all just normal human beings – it’s about treating everyone the same and knowing that the people who come to watch us, and the people who will support me every week no matter what, are just like me. That’s how you get a bond, and you keep that in the back of your mind. I’m no different to them. I play, they support. We are the same. I know I’m lucky to be able to play, and I’ll try to thank the fans by scoring and getting them success."

Haaland on his friendship with Jadon Sancho and when he made fun of Man United during his presentation

"Jadon Sancho and I had a great connection on and off the pitch at Dortmund,” he continues. “He plays for the other lot now though, so maybe we’ll have to meet in secret!"

"Look, it’s all about banter and I enjoy that. I’ve already met some United supporters here in the city, and we’re always joking with each other. It’s about not taking everything too seriously. There are a lot of United fans in my home town in Norway, so I’ve always had to have a go at them. I’m used to this and I love it. Don’t take things too seriously. I want to be able to talk a bit like the fans, otherwise it gets a bit boring, doesn’t it?"

Haaland on his first impression of Man City from inside

"It’s huge. The facilities around us, the staff, all the people around the club, it’s an enormous organisation. It’s a very professional club – it does everything in a good way to help their players, which I really like."

Haaland on Pep Guardiola

"Well, he didn’t have to sell the club to me, that’s for sure. He didn’t have to sell anything. For starters, he’s a special trainer and that was so important to me. We all know what he has done for his clubs, but also for players and for the game in general. That’s something I want to be part of. I think we can have a lot of fun together."

Haaland on wanting to become a better footballer

"Yes, of course. I don’t know what will happen, but it must always be about learning, about developing. You can never stop looking for new ways to become better. Look at Karim Benzema at Real Madrid. He’s 34 now, and suddenly he’s developed into an even better player over the last couple of years – that’s insanely good. I want to always do that."

Haaland on out-and-out strikers being a rarity due to false nines

"I was watching the Premier League a lot before I arrived here, and I think over the past few years the big No.9 has become more and more rare, but that’s why it’s even better to be one now! It’s the final position and I always wanted to be a striker because of that. I love my position."

Haaland on his desire to show his versatility as a player

"In the modern game, of course there’s lots of play, play, play and that’s fine, I like it, I can contribute to that. But I also love a wideman going down the wing, crossing the ball in and me scoring. It can be that easy sometimes. I think the No.9 today needs to be able to do both and enjoy doing both – hopefully I will."

Haaland on people debating how he'll adapt to Premier League and Pep's Man City team

"I don’t listen to all of that. When I’m here I train, I work hard, then I go home and switch off. I have to. My head is very important – it needs to be in the right place so I can play at my best, so all the outside noise about systems is nothing to me. I work with the coach, I work with the team, for the team. That’s it."

Haaland on Virgil van Dijk and if there's a rivalry between them

"I’m not sure about that. It’s not me versus Virgil. It’s not one against one. It’s 11 versus 11. I know he and I will be up against each other, but I’ll also be against Alisson and the rest of their defence. This is modern, top-class football – it’s about more than good individuals. We have to be great as a team, working together. It’s important not to look at individual battles too much."

"It’s always nice to face the best and that’s what Van Dijk is. I’ve played against him a few times, and he’s a really good guy as well as an exceptional footballer. I like to play against him because he may be the best in the world. But I have scored at Anfield and for Norway against the Netherlands..."

Haaland on rivalry between Pep's Man City and Klopp's Liverpool

"From the outside looking in, it was so high level. I’ve watched many games between the teams, and I think the level has probably been the best in the world. They were pushing each other to the absolute limit, winning, winning, winning, until the very last game when either of them could have won the title. I mean, after 60 minutes, if Liverpool score against Wolves, they might well have taken the title. That’s special. It’s great to be involved in it now. I’m very excited."

Haaland on if he has set goal targets for the 2022-23 season

"If I had them I wouldn’t tell you, but I don't. What’s important is that while I want to score as many goals as I can, if I’m in on goal but, say, Riyad Mahrez is in a much better position, I’ll be passing to him. That is normal for me."

Haaland on the Champions League

"I love the Champions League. I love the anthem, I love the occasion, and I hope to help the team, the fans and, yes, the coach win it with Manchester City."

Haaland on Flo Perez saying he'd be a bench warmer to Benzema at Real Madrid & Alex Mitrovic calling him a whore

"It happens in football. I like to have a laugh myself, but I don’t think too much about outside talk. I can’t. It means I'm not focusing and not at my best. It’s good to have some fun, though. Talking is fine and we’re friends in the end. It’s good."

Haaland on the Brittish press

"I wonder if the British media are looking forward to me? It’s going to be interesting. We’ll see how it is."

Haaland on his enormous fame and if he'll change as a person

"It’s true, I’m not a normal looking man on the street. I’m tall, have long hair, blonde; everyone sees me, so that is different, but I’m not complaining about it at all. My dad knows the game, he knows lots of things about being a footballer and he’s helped me, but I take all the fame stuff in my stride."

"If I ever changed, I have enough people, not just my dad, to tell me. The people in my home town are really important to me, and I’ll always remember where I’ve come from. I’ll never change. I’ll never change who I am, or how I behave."

 

[shevtheblue]

So i saw a couple things last night about Haaland only taking 4 or less touches when he gets the ball and then moving. This is great, but it's simply not how Pep wants to play, it's from his time at Dortmund and obviously it works great for him. But in terms of City, he will slowly adapt and we can't expect for him to be able to understand immediately the nuances. Pep mentioned a couple press conferences ago that he doesn't want his strikers to just be at the end of it but also be involved in the play. When Haaland drops deep he will be expected to be involved how Aguero started to become towards the end when he understood what was required. Take more touches of the ball, be involved in moving the opposition around and then transition into the box for a tap in. Haaland is used to those slide rule passes through the back of the CB where he makes those amazing runs, i think we'll still be doing that but City are predominantly a team that is built to provide tap ins. He has shown enough in the first few games that he'll be able to adapt, and Pep has said as much.

 

[Craig]

So i saw a couple things last night about Haaland only taking 4 or less touches when he gets the ball and then moving. This is great, but it's simply not how Pep wants to play, it's from his time at Dortmund and obviously it works great for him. But in terms of City, he will slowly adapt and we can't expect for him to be able to understand immediately the nuances. Pep mentioned a couple press conferences ago that he doesn't want his strikers to just be at the end of it but also be involved in the play. When Haaland drops deep he will be expected to be involved how Aguero started to become towards the end when he understood what was required. Take more touches of the ball, be involved in moving the opposition around and then transition into the box for a tap in. Haaland is used to those slide rule passes through the back of the CB where he makes those amazing runs, i think we'll still be doing that but City are predominantly a team that is built to provide tap ins. He has shown enough in the first few games that he'll be able to adapt, and Pep has said as much.

It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how it all develops. There were games when Foden played false 9 last season but in reality he played upfront like against Palace where he only had 8 touches. He stayed on the full 90 though which must have been because he was following Pep’s instructions by actually staying up top and being in the box all the time. Suppose a similar example was Haaland against Bournemouth where he had limited touches, on another day with a bit of luck could have had a couple of goals but also occupied the centre backs helping create space for others.

If Pep wanted the ideal striker for that role he’s on about he’s just been sold to Arsenal. Ironically he’s been having far more touches for them because he’s been allowed to drift all over and has stated he wasn’t given that freedom when upfront for City and then ended up playing more as a winger last season.

The great thing is we’ve signed one of the top 2 strikers in the world who’s already bagged 3 in 3 and it’s not all fully clicked yet. Great season and few years ahead watching a truly elite striker again play for us.

 

[shevtheblue]

It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how it all develops. There were games when Foden played false 9 last season but in reality he played upfront like against Palace where he only had 8 touches. He stayed on the full 90 though which must have been because he was following Pep’s instructions by actually staying up top and being in the box all the time. Suppose a similar example was Haaland against Bournemouth where he had limited touches, on another day with a bit of luck could have had a couple of goals but also occupied the centre backs helping create space for others.

If Pep wanted the ideal striker for that role he’s on about he’s just been sold to Arsenal. Ironically he’s been having far more touches for them because he’s been allowed to drift all over and has stated he wasn’t given that freedom when upfront for City and then ended up playing more as a winger last season.

The great thing is we’ve signed one of the top 2 strikers in the world who’s already bagged 3 in 3 and it’s not all fully clicked yet. Great season and few years ahead watching a truly elite striker again play for us.

I think pressing-wise Pep has always said Jesus is the best he's ever seen from a 9. But it does seem like Alvarez could step up in that respect as well.

 

[lazza]

What I like about him is when he runs onto those balls. Iv never seen anything like it. ‘I’m coming through’ as he bustles every defender out of the way.
It’s frightening how good this guy can become. Especially when team mates find him with more regularity

It's incredible. Like watching Jonah Lomu when he first came on the scene, just brushing opponents out of the way.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

So i saw a couple things last night about Haaland only taking 4 or less touches when he gets the ball and then moving. This is great, but it's simply not how Pep wants to play, it's from his time at Dortmund and obviously it works great for him. But in terms of City, he will slowly adapt and we can't expect for him to be able to understand immediately the nuances. Pep mentioned a couple press conferences ago that he doesn't want his strikers to just be at the end of it but also be involved in the play. When Haaland drops deep he will be expected to be involved how Aguero started to become towards the end when he understood what was required. Take more touches of the ball, be involved in moving the opposition around and then transition into the box for a tap in. Haaland is used to those slide rule passes through the back of the CB where he makes those amazing runs, i think we'll still be doing that but City are predominantly a team that is built to provide tap ins. He has shown enough in the first few games that he'll be able to adapt, and Pep has said as much.

Can I ask what makes you think Pep would want haaland to take more than four touches every time he touches the ball? I'd be surprised if Pep wants any player in to take as many as four touches when they get it ('Take the ball, pass the ball'). Being involved in the play doesn't necessarily mean someone takes loads of touches when they get the ball

 

[shevtheblue]

Can I ask what makes you think Pep would want haaland to take more than four touches every time he touches the ball? I'd be surprised if Pep wants any player in to take as many as four touches when they get it ('Take the ball, pass the ball'). Being involved in the play doesn't necessarily mean someone takes loads of touches when they get the ball

To be clear, i don't mean keep the ball for himself for more than 4 touches. I mean building with the ball, putting it back to the 6 or the 8 and then moving to receive the ball for another touch which positionally causes overloads in other areas. Haalands game right now, and it's not a criticism at all, is the Dortmund fast counter play of laying off and immediately charging into scoring positions - he's probably the best in the world at that. I would probably say Pep doesn't want to completely take that away, but he would want him to be part of the way we build up into the final 3rd rather than just be at the end of it every time.