After all he has accomplished this season, Erling Haaland is entitled to the occasional quiet day, but those quiet days are occurring more frequently. The Norwegian has had a remarkable strike rate throughout his career, but notably since joining Manchester City, Haaland has notched an outstanding 33 goals in 33 games in all competitions this season, with a ratio of a goal per game as evident.
However, things have not been brilliant of lately for Erling Haaland. The stats are rather worrisome even though it is not precisely a goal drought. The center-forward has scored just twice in his last eight outings, after bagging a stunning 13 in first eight games of the season. He has only scored two goals and provided two assists since scoring a hat-trick against Wolves in late January, which is by far his poorest stretch of play since wearing a City jersey. So, what is the cause of Erling Haaland’s recent decline?
Less shots, less goals for Erling Haaland
It doesn’t take a rocker science to recognise that having shots is essential to scoring goals. And because of this, City fans should be worried about more than just Erling Haaland’s recent goal drought. Haaland has taken 14 shots over the course of his last eight games, but only three of them have been on target. In his most recent match against Newcastle, he only made two attempts—a poorly aimed header and an errant shot—neither of which put Nick Pope in the opposition goal to the test.
Even worse, he didn’t take a single shot in the 1-0 loss away to Tottenham. He had 25 shots in the eight games before his hat-trick against Wolves, including eight against Leeds, resulting in eight goals. Comparing his most recent efforts to his first eight games for City, they seem even worse. Haaland had 32 shots, scoring 13 goals between his Champions League home game against former team Borussia Dortmund and his Premier League debut against West Ham. So, Erling Haaland is not just missing opportunities; he is also receiving fewer of them.
Defenders keeping Haaland away from the penalty box
Haaland’s prolific nature is not unknown since he scored 29 goals in 27 games for RB Salzburg and 86 goals in 89 games for Dortmund. Although many consider the Premier League to be the toughest league in the world, he still managed to surprise everyone by scoring 18 goals in his first 12 games there. Despite the initial shock, it appears as though Premier League defences are gradually becoming more aware of him.
And allowing him as little access to the penalty box as possible is the greatest approach to try and reduce his power. In contrast to Tottenham, where he had zero touches on the ball in the box, Newcastle was able to do that by giving him only one effort in the area. Haaland is one of the deadliest players there is when facing teams that play a high line and attack frequently. His response abilities also mean that teams will be exposed if they allow City to keep hammering balls into the box.
Yet, teams can confine him if they stand back and stop him from running up behind them while keeping him as far away from their region as they can.
City not providing the usual service to Haaland
When asked about Haaland prior to last month’s away game against Bournemouth, Pep Guardiola was extremely careful not to blame his star scorer for his recently ‘meagre’ goal total. The fact that Haaland has missed 18 ‘big chances’ this season, more than any other player in the Premier League, was enlightened for Guardiola, but the manager insisted:
“It’s our fault. Not Erling, Erling has been impressive all season. I don’t need metrics. When I finish the game, one second later I know if he was involved or not and if he should be more involved or not. I know exactly. Of course [they need to involve him more]. But it depends on us, not him.”
Moreover, Erling Haaland’s decline has coincided with City’s recent relative decline in performance. Many players have not been authentic. With the apparent exception of the top-of-the-table clash against Arsenal, Kevin De Bruyne, their usual wizard, has lost his mojo and underperformed in a number of games. Although Phil Foden currently appears to be at his peak, he has been having difficulties since since the World Cup.
After Joao Cancelo departed the team on loan after developing a rift with Guardiola, City have also been forced to function without one of their most creative players. The upcoming weeks will reveal more about whether this is just a mini-slump or a far more concerning trend, even though Erling Haaland does have a great chance to regain his best form against a struggling Crystal Palace on Saturday night.