Towering presence, rapid pace, freakish power: How Manchester City’s Erling Haaland terrorises defences
Towering presence, rapid pace, freakish power: How Manchester City’s Erling Haaland terrorises defences: It’s the first thing that comes to mind while watching Erling Haaland on the field for his football squad. Haaland’s nearly epic presence casts an aura that mesmerizes the globe when he stands next to his teammates, professional athletes who are themselves giants in the land of mortals.
After getting used to the Norwegian’s towering stature across the field, a defender unfamiliar with his game. He might assume that he commands the same kind of respect as any other tall striker who spends most of his time camped out in the penalty area, waiting for the ball to be swung in the hopes that it will rip the back of the net.
Just before the helpless defender realizes what’s happened, Haaland has already wheeled away in triumph.
Champions League
In the box, it’s as if he grows new appendages that allow him to score with his head, shins, or legs from any angle.
Recently, he scored a Champions League goal against Sevilla when his flying leg found a Kevin de Bruyne pass and gently caressed it into the net. One of his goals came against Aston Villa when he sprang above the defense, controlled a looping de Bruyne pass, and buried the ball in the far corner.
Since Sergio Aguero left, he has become City’s missing piece, and it is frightening how quickly the goal machine has adjusted to Pep Guardiola’s system.
While he may not have as many touches as his colleagues, whatever he does with the ball leads to an opportunity for his team.
A genuine symbiotic relationship between these two parties is inevitable. When it does, it will wreak havoc on defenses all over the world and maybe win City the Champions League.
Even though he’s mastered City’s mechanics, Haaland has only scored 12 goals in all competitions. What may happen if they played in perfect harmony is terrifying to contemplate.
If you were to design the ideal center-forward from scratch, he would probably look like Haaland. Because of his large stature, he is able to anchor the defense and get his teammates involved in the action. He can score goals with either foot and has the blistering speed to get behind opponents.
Defense
Sometimes he’ll come all the way back to assist in the link-up play, pass the ball to an open teammate, and then sprint back towards the goal to get a return ball in behind the defense.
Among his many deadly qualities, this is the most dangerous. His extraordinary speed routinely leaves his opponents in the dust throughout a game. He also doesn’t sprint in a straight line but rather swerves to get closer to where the ball is going. It’s a nightmare for the defense to have to cope with this constant motion.
Haaland is a striker who goes into space—no matter how narrow—and takes the ball while protecting it with his body.
He uses his hands to show his teammate exactly where to send the ball through. For instance, in the encounter against Crystal Palace, he indicated to Gundogan that he wanted the ball played between two centre defenders. With the defender pressing him from behind, he took the ball in stride, shielded it, and calmly completed his hat trick.
Goal keeper
The quality of his goal-scoring is another amazing quality possessed by this 22-year-old goal machine. Even while he can generate freakish power from his shots, his placement is usually the most impressive.
When a striker is given a one-on-one opportunity with the opposing team’s goalkeeper, he or she may often try to overplay the situation by trying to fool the keeper into a mistake so that the striker can score.
On the other hand, Haaland does not want to go the extra mile. Rather than spending a lot of time or touches inside the box, he typically finishes with a low, curling placement around the goaltender. As a result, the ball usually ends up in the back of the net because his opponents have no time to react to the shot.
Saturday, Man City will take on Tottenham, whose own center forward, Harry Kane, likes to drop deep, distribute the ball, and then rush forward in the channels down the middle in search of a shooting opportunity.
This matchup between two top-tier strikers promises to be delicious. Both teams are only one point behind league leaders Arsenal, so securing first place would be a bonus.