Why Erling Haaland’s best years are behind him

Erling Haaland has accolades for days. He’s broken all sorts of Premier League records in just a couple of playing years and is, perhaps prematurely, the greatest striker of all time. But there has been suggestion that Haaland might not actually be that hot.

At just 23, the Norwegian superstar striker has not only scored the most goals of in a single Premier League season (36), he’s also scored the fastest 50 goals in any Premier League season (48 games), and the most goals across all competitions by a player in the England’s top flight (52). We could go on…

And let’s remember he did this all on the back of his first season at Manchester City. 2022/23 was an incredible year for the striker, so efficient at his job he earned himself the nickname 'The Cyborg'. He finished in the league as the top scorer with 36 goals and 8 assists in 35 games – breaking Alan Shearer's 30-year-old record, as reported by The Guardian.

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2023/24 was great too, and he would once again finish as the league’s top scorer with 27 goals and 5 assists in 31 games… But we did see a noticeable drop-off in the latter part of the season, scoring just 6 goals in 13 appearances, as covered by the Premier League’s official website.

It was here that analysts, both professional and armchair, started speculating about Haaland’s prolificity, and whether the Norwegian himself was that good or whether he was just benefiting from the system around him.

As Kian Shayegan from the Badger points out, Haaland tends to be a little one note with his goal scoring and usually doesn’t have to work too hard for it. "...do you remember any of Haaland’s goals having curl on them, or using the outside of his foot, or being scored on the volley using his laces? Or even a time when he skilfully wiggled his way round a group of defenders?"

City’s first rout of the 2024/25 season against Chelsea on Sunday (18 August) has arguably done little to silence the dissenters either, as Haaland was limited to "three passes" for the whole game, as legendary commentator Martin Tyler told The Football Authorities podcast.

 "He had one touch of the ball between the 18th and the 52nd minute, completed three passes throughout the game, one dribble, one goal," Tyler said.

While that sounds like a minimal work rate – it is also a highly efficient work rate. One would have to think that if Haaland had more involvement, he would probably have more goals. 

But that’s not City’s – or coach Pep Guardiola’s will or want – as Tyler explained: "Haaland, he’s such a good player and he gets so few touches because of the way Manchester City play."

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Indeed, Man City’s possession-based style regularly leaves Haaland with little time on the ball, something the Cyborg himself is aware of.

He told Sky Sports after Sunday’s (18 August) game, "When you see today, all the defenders and how good they play to the midfielders. Pep will not like me saying this, but they don’t need me in this team, so I can just stand there and watch!"

"I want to get more involved, that's what Pep wants. But in games like this, do I need to be that more involved? That's the million-dollar question. I want to get more assists and become a better player," Haaland said.

Ultimately, Haaland is doing exactly what he needs to do to execute Pep’s style of football. Everyone has their role, and they are doing it to a tee. Haaland is usually there when he needs to be, so any perceived slump is merely a side effect of City’s season-long master plan. 

And while it's certainly not the most entertaining style to watch, you can't argue with the results. Not only have they won the last four league titles, they also took out the 22/23 FA Cup and the Champions League title as well. The system is working as it's supposed to.

Or as Martin Tyler put it: "I don’t know how he manages on this. The goals and the medals and the money all make it work – but it’s no way to play football."

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