Erling Haaland's secret: "I just stand there and watch!"
91 goals in 100 games: Erling Haaland is astonishing the Premier League. Following the departure of Julián Álvarez, he is the sole ruler of Manchester City's attack - and can afford a miserable stat.
If Erling Haaland's prospect of scoring even more goals wasn't enough to whet his appetite for the new season, his opposite number Marc Cucurella may have encouraged him with a little cheekiness at the start of the summer preparations. After winning the European Championship title with Spain, the Chelsea FC left-back probably took his mouth a little too full when he exuberantly sang a chant at the victory celebration about eating paella, drinking Estrella - and concluded his shaky rhyme by saying that Haaland was trembling because he, Cucurella, was hot on his heels. The song could have been a reference to the European Championship qualifiers: Haaland's Norwegians had lost all chances of taking part in the tournament in October 2023 by losing to Spain; even though Cucurella was not in the Spanish squad at the time.
At the time the video clip was released, it was clear that the Premier League season opener would see a reunion between the two players, who knew each other well from previous duels in England. This was because Cucurella's Chelsea FC were hosting Haaland's Manchester City. However, in Sunday evening's clash at Stamford Bridge, it did not appear as if Haaland was afraid of Cucurella - rather the other way around.
In the 18th minute, the City striker received the ball in the penalty area and found himself between the last Chelsea defenders Levi Colwill and Cucurella. With three quick touches of the ball, right, left, right, Erling Haaland first shook off Colwill and then used his body so skillfully against Cucurella, who rushed to his aid, that he lost his balance as if he had drunk too much Estrella beer. The striker completed the move by lifting the ball on the turn and slotting it past goalkeeper Robert Sánchez. Haaland thus began the season as he had ended the previous one: with a goal. The lead paved the way for City's 2:0 (1:0) victory.
Haaland's record is similar to that of Ronaldo and Messi, says his coach
After the game, Haaland gave Cucurella a similar rebuff as he did during the match. Last year, Cucurella had asked him for his jersey, and now he was starting to sing about him, the 24-year-old wondered. In his opinion, there wasn't much to say about this “interesting song by this guy”, who could do whatever he wanted. Haaland deliberately omitted Cucurella's name. And there was another thing he put right in his analysis: last year, he had failed against Chelsea in a one-on-one duel with Sánchez due to the latter's strategy of waiting as long as possible on the goal line. Haaland took an early shot and failed - which “irritated him for a while”, he now admitted. This time, he delayed the shot as long as possible, standing in the five-meter area as he took his shot.
The high quality of the goal sweetened an anniversary game for Erling Haaland: He has now scored a sensational 91 goals in 100 competitive games for City since his move from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester in the summer of 2022 - although nobody would have doubted that he had scored 100 goals in 91 games. That is the level of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have dominated everything in the past decade and a half, his coach Pep Guardiola marveled. The movement of Haaland's goal was reminiscent of the two, mixing Ronaldo's power with Messi's elegance.
Erling Haaland only plays three successful passes
Guardiola said that he himself did not know how Haaland managed to score so many goals, especially in England, presumably the most demanding European league. Haaland provided an explanation. However, it was one that his coach would not like, he said with amusement: He just stands there and watches! If you look at the defenders and how well they pass the ball to the midfielders, he doesn't need to be involved in the build-up play, Haaland joked self-deprecatingly - something his teammates would probably confirm behind closed doors. In contrast to them, the attacker, who is not overly supple and has the ball, has found it difficult to integrate himself into City's demanding combination soccer due to his immature understanding of the game.
He wanted to comply with Guardioal's wishes and participate more in the game, Haaland assured, but at the same time he questioned whether he needed to be more involved in games like the one against Chelsea. In his view, this is the one million dollar question. The 24-year-old seems to have taken a liking to the current style of play. He doesn't mind the fact that he only played eight passes in 90 minutes against Chelsea despite his team's dominance, only three of which arrived - a record-breaking statistic for a Pep player. Under Guardiola, only Haaland can afford such a record without being immediately replaced and sold.
Because Erling Haaland is set, his rival Álvarez leaves the club
The highly talented rival striker Julián Álvarez suffered most from this. The Argentinian world champion, who had already won all the relevant titles with both the club and the national team at the age of 24, played the most games for Manchester City in pre-season, but was consistently left out of the important games of the season. He was Guardiola's noblemen's helper, the twelfth man so to speak. But he no longer wants to be that. For this reason, Álvarez decided last week to leave the club after two years and move to Atlético Madrid in the Primera Division - for a transfer fee of €75 million, which could rise to up to €95 million depending on bonus payments, making Álvarez the most expensive footballer of this transfer window so far.
With the departure of Álvarez, Erling Haaland is now the sole ruler of Manchester City's forward line. He also let his opponent Marc Cucurella feel his status again shortly before the end of the game. When the latter suffered a cramp and went down, Haaland ran past him with a smug smile.