Trevor Steven: Anticipation is what makes Erling Haaland a goalscoring machine
I can’t remember anyone beginning life in the Premier League as well as Erling Haaland, who made it back-to-back hat-tricks and nine goals in five games for Manchester City in midweek.
Plenty of people will have been waiting for him to fail and burst the hype that has long surrounded him. Instead he has stunned everyone with his record-breaking start.
I like that he is unashamedly an out-and-out goalscorer and has an unshakeable belief in his own abilities. His hunger for scoring is of the highest level, up there with great strikers like Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Gary Lineker.
I think he’s got more to his game than just goals, but honestly who cares? He was always going to be judged on how many he scored and he has half-volleyed any doubts on that front right into the stands.
Yes, he’s physically strong and fast, but what really impresses me is his anticipation. Wherever he is on the pitch, he is always trying to guess where the ball will go and he moves a fraction earlier than the defender to get it.
He won’t always be right but he’ll be in there somewhere, sniffing out a chance. His first goal on Wednesday against Nottingham Forest, for instance, came from him anticipating that the ball would go to the near post.
His predecessor at City, Sergio Aguero, was all about penalty-box nous but Haaland can also steamroll opponents like Shearer used to. He holds off defenders with such ease, as in his third goal against Crystal Palace at the weekend, it’s like he is swatting flies.
The talk in dressing rooms now won’t be so much about facing City as about playing Haaland. But if rivals focus too much on him it affords more space for team-mates, so it’s win-win.
I’m not sure how you stop him, or whether it’s even possible. You have to hope he has an off-day. Then watch him go in the next game. He’s not someone I can see having a barren spell because he has such conviction. When he missed chances in the Community Shield it was just like a flesh wound; it didn’t bother him.
City are definitely more difficult to play against with Haaland in the side. The pass count may not be as high, but he allows them to speed up their attacks. I don’t think Phil Foden would have crossed it like he did for their opening goal against Forest had it been last season.
I can’t see past them for the Premier League title again and in Europe he’s a serious upgrade. There have always been doubts about City’s ability to go all the way in the Champions League but Haaland’s belief and track record in the competition change all of that.
Haaland is also great news for the Premier League. The quality of players arriving in the summer transfer window has underlined that squads are stronger than ever. In the Norwegian it has got a player in the same bracket of stardom as Kylian Mbappe.
Fundamentally, Haaland is a record-breaker and that’s how he sees himself. With the volume of chances he should get at City, he could probably score a hat-trick most games. And by his late 20s, if he stays free from serious injury, he could be challenging Shearer’s record of 260 Premier League goals.
He is an unusual mix of qualities and we probably haven’t seen all of them yet. We’re being shown what a modern top-level striker looks like.
Trevor Steven is a former England footballer who played at two World Cups and two European Championships. @TrevorSteven63.