Erling Haaland is one of the best footballers in the world right now. The Manchester City striker has been ripping apart every league he’s been to and giving defenders nightmares, as shown but his remarkable goal tally at just 23 years of age. Whether it’s been in his homeland, Norway, in Austria, in Germany or, as of June 2022, in England with Man City, one thing has always been inevitable with Haaland, goals, lots and lots of goals.
As a result of his relentless thirst for goals, Haaland has won a whole host of trophies, including two Premier League titles, a Champions League, an FA Cup and a DFB-Pokal. Read on, to learn more about why the Norwegian is so good at sticking the ball in the back of the net.
Scoring Goals his Whole Life
The Norwegian was made to find the back of the net
The son of former Manchester City and Leeds United defender Alf-Inge Haaland, the Leeds-born Norwegian has been scoring goals for fun his whole footballing career. Haaland first shot to global attention when he scored a remarkable nine goals in the FIFA U19 World Cup for Norway against Honduras in May 2019. By that point, though, he had already been scoring a hatful of goals in Norway, netting four in the opening 21 minutes for Molde against Brann as a 17-year-old. Many scouts had swiftly taken notice.
He caught the attention of RB Salzburg and sporting director Christoph Freund could see immediately what a talent Haaland was. He told Goal:
“We watched him live and analysed countless videos of him. At that time he was in a phase of massive development and therefore attracted attention simply by his presence on the pitch.
“His positive energy and charisma and his unconditional desire to score goals in every game were the most eye-catching.”
From there on, his story of goalscoring success is well known, from an astonishing 29 goals in 27 appearances for RB Salzburg which included eight in his maiden Champions League campaign, to his two-and-a-half-year goal fest stint at Borussia Dortmund, the pieces were falling into place for Haaland to become a global superstar.
Erling Haaland’s Statistics in Norway & Austria | |
|---|---|
Appearances | 77 |
Goals | 49 |
Hat-tricks | 6 |
Assists | 13 |
Honours | 2 |
Devastating Pace and Power
Defenders just cannot handle him
At 6 ft 4 ins, Haaland’s height often fits the bill of a target man forward, one that will be hugely threatening in the air, dominate defenders with his hold-up play and look to get on the end of crosses. While many claim, correctly, that Haaland can do all of those things, it’s his devastating pace and power that makes this centre forward a truly unique striker in the modern game. These are traits that CFO at Borussia Dortmund Hans-Joachim Watzke knew would set Haaland apart from so many strikers that have gone before him. He told Goal:
“There are not many who are 1.94 metres (6 ft 4 in) tall and that fast. Actually, nobody else comes to mind. It was just an opportunity that you don’t get very often.”
His teammates at Dortmund soon noticed it too, as he scored 86 goals in 89 appearances, swatting away defenders and goalkeepers alike. Midfielder Emre Can, who couldn’t have had a better angle for Haaland’s goals, said:
“Erling’s got everything an outstanding striker needs. He’s unbelievably quick, is big, is good in the air, has a good shot and he knows where the goal is. He’s also extremely mature for his age.”
Haaland’s power has made him a perfect fit for the Premier League, as he is so often seen bullying defenders off the ball before eventually coolly slotting into the net. Similarly, he clocked a remarkable 36.22 km/h in his debut season, making him one of the fastest forwards in the league.
Erling Haaland’s Borussia Dortmund Statistics | |
|---|---|
Appearances | 89 |
Goals | 86 |
Hat-tricks | 4 |
Assists | 23 |
Honours | 1 |
Mentality Monster
Haaland looked for any advantage to make him the best
“I like to be under pressure, I like to be challenged.”
The great man said it himself, he needs to be challenged. It’s exactly that kind of attitude that has made Haaland one of the most feared strikers in the Premier League. He may now be a force to be reckoned with but that wasn’t always the case for Haaland. When playing in the youth levels above his age category, he stood out as a gangly, slight forward, according to Gunnar Halle, who was part of the Norway youth set-up and friend of Haaland’s father.
Gunnar Halle told Goal: The first time I saw Haaland playing football was at the age of 15. At that time he was quite small and narrow before his growth spurt and physically at a disadvantage.
“He was without a doubt a good player who scored many goals, but was by no means outstanding. His physique and coordination still had to develop at that time. That he would one day become a superstar was still a long way off.”
Haaland meticulously trained, planned and focused on his own game in order to be the very best and gain any kind of advantage he could. Halle continued:
“He is not afraid of anything. He often trained alone as a child, doing exercises over and over again because he always had this big goal in mind to make it to the top.
“He is someone who never had to be pushed by his coaches or the people around him. He always knew: I will become a professional footballer.”
Maximilian Wober, a former teammate at Red Bull Salzburg, revealed how Haaland is always looking for the fine margins to win any game he turns his hand to. He told Goal.
“He is an absolute top professional. While we are playing cards on trips away, you can only see him reading some scientific articles on how he can improve his sleep or diet. He is always looking for the smallest details that he can improve to take another step forward.”
Erling Haaland’s Manchester City Career | |
|---|---|
Appearances | 98 |
Goals | 90 |
Assists | 15 |
Hat-tricks | 9 |
Honours | 6 |
Record Breaker
Haaland’s goals in England have made history
A reputation preceded Haaland before his arrival on English shores. All the signs pointed towards a match made in heaven alongside the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden but questions still remained as to whether he could cut it in the Premier League.
The questions were quashed almost immediately, netting twice in his first game against West Ham United before scoring an unprecedented three successive home hat-tricks against Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
In his debut campaign, he scored the most goals ever seen by a single player in a Premier League season, 36, breaking Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s record of 34. Those goals helped Haaland to an incredible 52 goals in 2022-23, enough to steer City to a famous treble.
On the night of his record-breaking 35th goal vs West Ham, Haaland’s manager Pep Guardiola told the press:
“He is a joy. Everyone is happy to have him with us. This record will be broken sooner or later, maybe by him in the future, because he will score a lot of goals. But Andy Cole and
Alan Shearer
are incredible strikers and I think he deserved it.”
A year later and although not scoring quite as many as he did in 2022-23, Haaland still managed to net 38 in just 45 games as City retained the Premier League title. The 27 he netted in the league helped him to a second Golden Boot in as many seasons, the first time any player has done that in their opening two campaigns in the league.
His teammate and captain De Bruyne believes the Norwegian’s exploits in 2023-24 went undervalued despite continuing to break records.
“The season he had last year and the numbers were so incredible and ridiculous.
“When you have a season where it’s a little bit less, people don’t appreciate what you’ve done.”
Quotes courtesy of Goal. Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and the Premier League (as of 18/07/24).