Remember when all the critics were coming after Erling Haaland for his less than inspiring performance against Liverpool in the Community Shield? Seemed pretty silly at the time, didn’t it?
Actually, no, it didn’t seem ridiculous, it was totally ridiculous, to write off the Next Big Thing in global football, simply because he badly skied a sitter in a glorified friendly. The games started counting yesterday, and the Nordic Meat Shield (see the Tweet below for explanation) responded by netting a brace in his Manchester City debut.
?GREETERS GUILD? ‘Welcome to Training Camp!’ @ManCity #troyhawke #greetersguild #justiceforjan pic.twitter.com/3hetCiOpCS
— Troy Hawke (@milocomedy) July 17, 2022
And thus, he was the man of the match in a 2-0 season opening win over West Ham United. The 22-year-old Norwegian, who came over from Borussia Dortmund for £51 million at the start of the summer, will look like a tremendous bargain by the time the season is through.
City manager Pep Guardiola maintains that the team will not be too overly reliant on Erling Haaland however.
“All the team were amazing, but for Erling to score the first two goals is good for him and for us,” Guardiola said in his post match press conference.
“He is a threat for us now, but he is not going to solve all our problems. He will add something to our team. But if we just rely on him, we will be making a mistake.
Pep then addressed the issue of all the Haaland naysayers who were out in full force just one week ago.
“One week ago [after the Community Shield], he could not adapt in the Premier League and now he is alongside Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo, so…I’m so happy for him. Two goals, the debate is over,” Guardiola said.
“He scored goals in Salzburg, Dortmund, so hope he can do it here.”
For Haaland, the individual goal this season must be the Golden Boot award. For Haaland, Guardiola and the rest of the team, the main goal is to win the Champions League. No reason to think both can’t be accomplished.
One of the things that makes Erling Haaland so dangerous is his ability to quickly accelerate to the point of attack. He’s just so explosive, especially so for a man who is 6’4″.
He’s like a fast, more svelte version of Ivan Drago, and as he showed yesterday, he doesn’t need space behind him in order to score.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.