Erling Haaland has already developed an elite mentality at Manchester City, after netting 13 goals in 8 games already. The striker made a huge leap in his career after joining the English champions from Borussia Dortmund this summer for a mere £54 million. Pep Guardiola was finally handed with a proper no.9 in Haaland and the City manager has evidently worked wonders.
However, his new boy came under the scanner after questions were raised about his involvement with the team throughout the 90 minutes. Haaland managed only 11 touches in the first half of his last game against Dortmund, ending the game with 26. Though he scored an absolute stunner to hand his side the win, this is the second time after the Community Shield game against Liverpool the striker has received criticism for his contribution in the build up.
Erling Haaland responds with revealing dream of scoring 5 goals with 5 touches
Erling Haaland was criticised on his debut with City against Liverpool, where Pep’s side was humbled 3-1 by the Reds in the Community Shield. Haaland played full 90 minutes, but was unable to score or assist as Julian Alvarez bagged the sole strike for City. However, the Norwegian received harsh words from fans and pundits after he managed only 16 touches throughout the whole game and a mere 7 passes.
Add to it, Haaland’s 8 touches and 2 passes against minnows Bournemouth too didn’t go well with the football experts who felt albeit his goalscoring abilities, he has to feel more involved in a City team which plays on the ‘passing’ mantra. His 11 touches in the first 45 minutes against his former side Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League received flak from the pundits as well, but the striker did respond to the criticism this time. He said:
“People maybe talk that I don’t touch the ball enough and this and that but I don’t care about this. I know what I’m going to do, what I have to do and this is exactly what I did today in a difficult match and this is exactly what I will keep doing. My dream is to touch the ball five times and score five goals. That’s my biggest dream.”
While his claims may seem a bit over the top, but given his exploits till now with his new team Man City Haaland is well capable of pulling off such a miracle. He already has breached the double figure mark for the season by netting 13 goals, and did score a sensational acrobatic goal against Dortmund to complete a come back win for City.
He also has two hat-tricks to his name in the Premier League, scoring one each against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest. Erling Haaland looks well set to win the Premier League golden boot in his debut season itself, with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane still languishing on 2 and 5 goals respectively in the league. However, his biggest task certainly will be leading Pep’s team to Champions League glory. Nonetheless, he already looks in the mood to accomplish the mission, scoring 3 goals in 2 outings in the tournament.