Erling Haaland: Why FWA Footballer of the Year award must go to Manchester City’s unique scoring phenomenon
Applauding a player is not the done thing in the press box so to feel compelled to do it twice in a season is unusual. Both times were for the same player.
The first was when Erling Haaland was substituted late in the game against RB Leipzig in March. An act of mercy by Pep Guardiola were it not for the fact that the striker had scored five times already.
The second was upon the announcement that he had just broken the Premier League’s single-season scoring record with his goal against West Ham. Number 35 for Manchester City.
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Watch the historic moment when Erling Haaland broke the Premier League record
On both occasions, there was a sense of seeing history, something that might not be seen again. And an awareness that if it is, Haaland is likely to be the man responsible.
Watching Haaland live is genuinely an experience like no other. It has been a privilege to witness 22 of his goals this season. And yet, even if the eyes had been locked on the ball throughout, he has totalled only 270 touches in those appearances.
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You could see Lewis Dunk touch it more times inside a week.
That combination of few touches and many goals might lead one to conclude that Haaland is a player better suited to highlights packages than the live experience. In fact, the opposite is true. To study Haaland without the ball is to see the full story.
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There is always a temptation to dazzle with numbers when it comes to the Norwegian but here is a statistic that is rarely discussed. Haaland has made the fifth most runs of any player in the Premier League this season.
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On the face of it, given that he tops so many other metrics, that does not immediately jump out as evidence of his greatness. But consider the fact that so few of those runs are made with the ball at his feet and a picture emerges of his off-the-ball movement.
It is a key difference between him and the other players on the list. Only 8.5 per cent of Haaland’s runs have been while in possession of the ball. That is the lowest percentage of any of the 50 players to have made the most runs in the Premier League this season.
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Indeed, the only player among the top 150 with a lower percentage is Jamie Vardy. There are so many natural advantages that Haaland enjoys – his size and his speed, his touch and his technique – that it is easy to overlook the movements that he makes.
Gary Lineker, a three-time golden boot winner with three different clubs, has expressed his frustration with the idea that he himself just happened to be in the right place at the right time. People did not see, he argued, the times that the ball did not come his way.
So it is with Haaland. Glance away from the ball and there he is, probing the defence for weaknesses like a velociraptor, stretching the back line just to buy slightly more space for his team-mates. And then moving back into position to try it again seconds later.
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In the press conference after Haaland broke the record, Pep Guardiola spoke about what made him so good. It was the praise for his patience that stood out. In that game against West Ham, the ball did not find him at first. Others might have panicked.
He did not. He kept going.
Eventually, the very first time that Jack Grealish was given space to turn, according to David Moyes, Haaland finally had his reward.
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Record-breaker Erling Haaland was given a guard of honour by Man City players and staff
This patience has been essential at times. Kevin De Bruyne looks for him often. Others at Manchester City have been a little cautious, a little too aware, perhaps, of the importance of retaining possession, ideas that have been indoctrinated by their coach.
Speaking to Guardiola earlier this year, he recognised it.
“Everyone has to know he is there,” said Guardiola. “But at the same time, you cannot rely on just one player. Everyone is involved. I know the quality of Kevin is unique, extraordinary, so that is why we can find him better through him. But he cannot be the only one.
“I have spoken many times with him. The biggest contribution he makes for us is to score goals, definitely. But in our process, I would like also to see him more involved. That does not just depend on him. Every player has to ask, ‘Is Erling there?’
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Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Erling Haaland following his record-breaking feat
“If it is possible, pass him the ball. If it is not and there are three or four players there, OK, play another option. But sometimes when we are playing our passes, we do not look to him. This is what we have to improve … be more conscious that we have this player.”
It is an odd thought. The eyes of the spectator are so often drawn to the hulking Haaland, how could anyone – especially his team-mates – not know he is there? At City, there are two games going on – the one played out on the ball and the one played by Haaland.
Image: Erling Haaland's Premier League goal map for Manchester City this season
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The player least involved is the player most involved. And so the energy is palpable when supporters sense that moment is drawing near. There are audible gasps when he begins to gallop through, an expectancy unmatched when he actually receives it.
Haaland is almost never in possession but always present. Rotation, for him, happens within games, when they are won, rather than within the season. His place in the starting line-up has been non-negotiable, a near constant, as the greats so often are.
“He has been consistently playing every three days,” said Guardiola. “It is not easy, I would say. It really is not easy in this competition. For him, in previous seasons, he could not have this regular consistency, especially last year in Dortmund.”
It has been an astonishing season that will be defined by what happens next. It could end with a historic trio of trophies or none at all. But his own numbers are a matter of record now and the truth is already obvious – this, truly, is a player like no other.
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