Erling Haaland was in sensational form for Manchester City against Manchester United this weekend, giving former Red Devil Luke Chadwick the chance to see the prolific Norwegian up close.
Haaland scored a brilliant hat-trick against Man Utd in a 6-3 Manchester Derby victory for Pep Guardiola’s side, taking his total for the season to 17 goals in 11 games in all competitions.
Watching Haaland play, it’s not always so obvious why he’s an elite striker, as he isn’t nearly as quick or skilled compared to other recent greats like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
However, Chadwick says that Haaland more than makes up for it with his sharp focus on the pitch, helping him get his move when City’s creative players have the ball.
“His numbers are frightening since he came to the Premier League, and they were exceptional enough at his previous clubs,” Chadwick told CaughtOffside.
“I think with him it’s not that he’s particularly quick or skilful, but he has a great hunger and determination to score goals. We’ve seen great goalscorers in the past who want to get more involved in the game, but he just wants to get into the box.
“You can see his movement every time the ball goes wide, it’s fantastic, every time a Foden, a Silva or a De Bruyne gets the ball in dangerous areas, his movement is perfect, he always knows where he needs to be.
“He’s also such a powerful runner, and once he pinpoints where he wants the ball to be, there’s only one guy who gets there first. He looks like the top scorer so far – there was that stat about how long it took the likes of Ronaldo, Lampard and Vardy to get to three hat-tricks in the Premier League and he’s done it in just eight games, it’s ridiculous. .
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“And let’s not forget that he holds the ball perfectly well and can also create goals, as we saw with two assists against United. He is the missing link for City, since they had Agüero. He is an absolute machine and it is clear that he will suit City perfectly with the creative talent that they have in this team.”
Haaland joined from Borussia Dortmund this summer and you can find out more about his long-term future at City, including details of a future Fabrizio Romano release clause via CaughtOffside’s Substack.
