Erling Haaland, the scorer of the 22nd century

Straight

Kevin de Bruyne was an individualist finisher rather than an altruistic organizer.

His superb shooting earned him the financial recognition associated with goalscorers: his annual salary of €17m net is the highest in the Manchester City squad.

However, this season, at 31 years old, he has worked a miracle.

With four assists on goal, the Belgian has become a devoted supporting actor.

He is the biggest assistant to Erling Haaland, who in his first year of contract earns 15 million net.

MNCM.

City

4

Ederson Moraes, Cancelo (Sergio Gómez, min. 69), Aké, Rúben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Mahrez (Cole Palmer, min. 69), Bernardo Silva (Rico Lewis, min. 77), Foden (Grealish, min. 57) , Rodrigo, De Bruyne (Julián Álvarez, min. 69) and Erling Braut Haaland

SOU Southampton

0

Gavin Bazunu, Kyle Walker-Peters (Juan Larios, min. 78), Romain Perraud, Mohammed Salisu, Armel Kotchap, Joe Aribo (Sékou Mara, min. 78), Ibrahima Diallo, Armstrong (Moussa Djenepo, min. 65), Ward -Prowse, Che Adams and Armstrong (Mohammed Elyounoussi, min. 65)

Goals

1-0 min.

19: I cancel.

2-0 min.

31: Foden.

3-0 min.

48: Mahrez.

4-0 min.

64: Erling Braut Haland.

Referee

Andy Madley

Yellow cards Kyle Walker-Peters (min. 20)

“I know that Kevin will put the ball there for me,” says Haaland, “and he knows that I will be there, behind the central defenders and in front of the goalkeeper.

The most difficult pass to defend in football.

The order of things is subverted around the most decisive scorer in world football, the man who has scored 15 goals with 36 shots in his first nine Premier days.

Almost a goal every two shots, well above the effectiveness standard of Lewandowski (one goal every 3.5 shots) or Mbappé (one every five).

WE'RE ALL HERE!

💥

Erling Haland.

The man who on his worst day ... he scores too!

🎯#PremierLeagueDAZN ⚽ 🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴

– DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) October 8, 2022

Alessandro del Piero opened his eagle eyes when he heard the name of the Norwegian associated with the question that sizzles in all the huddles: is there any statistical data that explains how it is possible to be so effective?

The Juventus legend, the man who knocked Germany out of their World Cup before lifting the Cup, paused and conjured up another conundrum.

“If it were up to

, Pippo Inzaghi would never have played in the First Division,” he says.

“If they gave him ten balls he controlled three, but with those three he was lethal.

His movements always mocked the offside”.

The magic of the unquantifiable also presides over the performances of Haaland, called to sweep all the scoring records in the history of the Premier.

Only Micky Quinn, with 10 goals in eight games for Newcastle four decades ago, comes close.

Nobody scored 15 goals in their first nine matches in the championship and nobody defined with more economy of gestures.

Of the 20 goals he has scored between the Champions League and the league this season, Haaland scored 18 at one touch, three of them from a header and one from a penalty;

and two with two touches.

Those who have analyzed his progression in recent years indicate that his effectiveness in front of the goalkeeper is a consequence of three virtues that help him gain time to refine the last shot.

physical power;

the most acute sense of unchecking that exists;

and a control of the body and the space that enables him to look at the goalkeeper and the defenders without losing sight of the ball.

"What determines his aim is not his physique but his way of reading what happens in the match," explains Rune Bratseth, former Rosenborg sports director who was international with Norway alongside Alf-Inge, Haaland's father.

"He's 6-foot-4, his height, his speed and the power of him are exceptional," he observes, "and yet we see a lot of strikers at the top tier who can be just as fast and as strong as he is."

Kevin De Bruyne was @ManCity's top scorer in the #PL last season with 15 goals...

Erling Haaland has equaled that tally after only nine matches this campaign!

pic.twitter.com/FAeo0RdB5T

– Premier League (@premierleague) October 8, 2022

“But Erling,” Bratseth warns, “sees it all so quickly that he doesn't need to start breaking out very early.

He catches defenders by surprise and once he gets into the box he wins their back and it's almost impossible to stop without grabbing him or pushing him and giving him a penalty.

Many times he starts towards a post, brakes and turns 45 degrees at full speed and is left alone in front of the goalkeeper.

To top it off, when he contacts the ball he always hits it clean.

This is very difficult.

He never bites him and he does it with both his left and his right, which was always his bad leg, but now he uses it completely naturally.

This coordination in the placement of his body makes him even more unpredictable for the goalkeeper and central defenders”.

Normally, you don't even need to check before you hit.

When the touch occurs, 90% of Haaland's work is already done.

Michael Reschke, former Bayern sports director, points out that the most significant moment of Haaland's actions is the spill: “Physically he is a beast.

No one is faster on his first stride – he goes from zero to 100 in a tenth of a second.”

"Cognitive activity"

Against Southampton on Saturday, he had four chances from close range and hit the post.

He was able to score his fourth consecutive

at the Etihad.

He seemed determined to beat his own all-time record but, uncharacteristically, he scored just one goal and caused chaos.

With each movement he unleashed such nervousness in the central defenders that Cancelo, Foden and Mahrez entered the spaces he freed up to make it 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0.

"A player like Haaland has no economic value because his movements cannot be stopped," explains a prospector who worked for a Premier club that unsuccessfully negotiated the Norwegian's signing.

“You can't stop a guy who moves like that if you don't take a penalty.

His cognitive activity is impressive, and his changes of direction, his turns and his trajectories are lightning.

That is pure talent.

The future lies in unchecking: what Pelé, Villa or Di Natale did.

Haaland is the football of the 22nd century”.

On the rare occasions he does drop into midfield to set up plays, Haaland shows he has a scalpel in his left foot and the judgment of a midfielder.

But unlike Mbappé, who spent years trying to reproduce what Neymar was doing, the Norwegian is clear that his priority is to attack depth.

If Mbappé touches the ball 52 times for every goal he scores, Haaland gives 13. "I'm a shooter and I want to be in the area as long as possible," he said a week ago;

“I don't want to go out and play a lot outside my zone.

For that there are others who do it better”.

There are hammers that dream of being violins.

Haaland is a hammer determined with all his soul to be a hammer.

“Why does the ball always end up where he is?

Why, if there is a rebound, does the ball go to him?” Guardiola asked himself, after seeing his striker score two goals against Copenhagen in the Champions League this Wednesday.

“This is a gift.

What can I teach you?

How can I tell him to move one meter further or more here?

He has the instinct to know a second in advance where the ball will end up.

He did it at Salzburg, at Dortmund, and he does it here.

That is impossible to teach.

I can only thank him that he has chosen to play for City”.

The De Bruyne Enigma

The most grateful of his companions is De Bruyne.

Against Southampton this Saturday, the veteran left Haaland alone in front of the goalkeeper in a brilliant play that did not end in a goal because the goalkeeper, Gavin Bazuno, rushed to catch the ball a foot before the forward's arrival.

Haaland's 20th goal for City, however, came from a pass from Cancelo, after an opening from De Bruyne, who is more generous and administrator than ever.

Gradually losing the power that allowed him to change pace and direction in the final meters, De Bruyne no longer sees himself as a self-sufficient player.

Given the evidence of physical decline, the Belgian has warned that his association with Haaland not only ensures the well-being that derives from good results.

Above all, it allows his shortcomings to be hidden.

Where he can no longer arrive to be the protagonist of the culmination of the play, the Norwegian arrives with all the energy of his 22 years.

Resigned to the role of secondary actor, De Bruyne plays better every day because where he used to attack, he now gives the ball to the specialist.

He has discovered in Haaland the kind of partner who, as they say in football jargon, "feeds him".

This is how a coach who has had access to City training warns: “Haaland is an artist of unchecking;

It is he who, with his unchecking, marks the pass to the passer, and not the other way around.

Haaland is a creator of goal assistants."

For six years, Guardiola's Manchester City played exquisite but academic football.

With Haaland he has incorporated the wild element.

The piece he needs to cross the threshold of the sublime.

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