How Erling Haaland’s game has transformed in the absence of Man City wingers – and why Pep Guardiola is loving his new ‘main character’

The look was perfect. Emile Heskey wore it so well, that strange cocktail of exasperated indignation. You’re asking me about Erling Haaland? Ah, come on.

Heskey, sat on upholstered leather to bring an air of authority to proceedings – those proceedings being to goad an ex-professional into saying something inflammatory on video for social media, all in the name of betting advertising – briefly weighed up the question of whether Haaland is ‘world class’.

He answered ‘no’ and then the edited footage cuts to the former Liverpool striker explaining why, presumably to somebody who raised surprise in an action that now had him all of a fluster. ‘World class? Tell me what he does apart from scoring goals. Tell me what he does apart from scoring goals.’

Heskey knows a thing or two about goals of course, having registered one in five games at club level and one in nine for England during a career that saw him clean up at Birmingham City’s Player of the Year Awards in 2005.

These days he spends a bit of his time flogging CBD online but here we are instead focusing on his suggestion that Haaland is selling snake oil to anybody who thinks he’s an elite striker.

Heskey’s sons, Jaden and Reigan, are both products of Manchester City’s academy and have regularly trained alongside Haaland, so are perhaps in a better position to determine the 25-year-old record-breaker’s skillset from the perspective of somebody who has seen him close up.

Haaland set up Nico O’Reilly for City’s second goal. The Norwegian has three assists since City’s formation switch

Their old man’s game was predicated on doing the donkey work, allowing others to grab headlines. He did this expertly by bringing midfielders into play, occupying defenders, creating channels for others, generally enjoying the physicality of the Premier League.

That description does bring a man to mind, actually. Long hair, Scandinavian. Fastest ever to 100 Premier League goals. Second in this year’s assist charts with seven, behind only Bruno Fernandes. Part of a leadership team handpicked by the great Pep Guardiola. Seems like a full package. World class, you might say.

Discussion around what Haaland does or does not do came back round last weekend, when City squeezed past Newcastle United. The best all-round performance of his career has been the shout from a section of observers and Wayne Rooney gushed over the nature of it. ‘It’s a performance I will never forget,’ Guardiola said, having already held Haaland up as an example to his team-mates in the dressing room after the 2-1 victory.

Basically the message was to remember what he put in for the cause, the commitment and desire, the sort of which is non-negotiable if City are to beat Arsenal to this title. 

Haaland ran, defended, hustled like a man possessed. He bundled Dan Burn about as if the giant defender was a rookie on the slight side. There he was, heading away a dangerous corner in the dying seconds. He didn’t score but assisted beautifully for Nico O’Reilly’s second, standing up a right-foot cross to the back post. Haaland admired it as O’Reilly headed in before darting off to celebrate with the scorer.

‘You can see his joy when other people succeed,’ Norway head coach Stale Solbakken has told Daily Mail Sport. ‘That is big proof of what a team player he is.’ Some City players have been somewhat surprised by his collegiate attitude over the years; that attribute is partly why Guardiola handed him more responsibility last summer.

His numbers against Newcastle paint a picture. A career-high 12 duels. His most touches in a Premier League match, at 43. No City player completed more clearances, albeit that is dependent on which source and what they determine a clearance to be.

His average position by the centre circle was about 20 yards deeper than fellow forward Omar Marmoush, which is a product of Guardiola going with two up front and a box midfield in recent weeks. ‘We’ll see what we do when the wingers (Jeremy Doku and Savinho) are back,’ the City manager said. ‘I think he adapted perfectly. I’m not telling Erling to play left back.’ 

It’s no coincidence that Haaland has three assists since the formation switch and is now only one from his league-best tally.

‘It’s a performance I will never forget,’ City manager Pep Guardiola said of Haaland’s efforts against Newcastle

Haaland’s average position by the centre circle was about 20 yards deeper than fellow forward Omar Marmoush (Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki and Abdukodir Khusanov were all substitutes)

These bits are significant indicators of a complete centre forward, more Harry Kane than Cristiano Ronaldo. And it is a trend. The conversations around how Haaland’s game has been transformed, doing more for the team and not ‘just’ scoring an inordinate number of goals, have now surfaced at least four times this season.

The draw at Arsenal. Beating United in September’s derby – before which Haaland was a central figure in a team meeting about raising standards and when he completed more defensive actions than that Newcastle match. And after a home win against Bournemouth. Each display prompted discourse about his style, the sort of which that has that guy at the end of the bar earnestly offering that Haaland’s not just about goals anymore, you know.

That this talk about an improvement outside of his recognised zone, between the posts, happens periodically and presented as new begs the question: has he actually always been like this?

The answer is yes and no, although it certainly looks to the naked eye that he has grown into a main character of City’s build-up play. And often that is more instructive than the raw stats. Heading and City relying upon his size is the main upturn – and a drastic one. This has been an area that Haaland’s worked on for a long while, particularly with Marco Rose at Borussia Dortmund, and one he knew needed elevating.

While the number of aerial duels he battles in is only up marginally per 90 minutes, 3.9 now compared to 3.55 last year and 3.2 during his first season, City are seeing far better results. Haaland now wins 64 per cent of those, up from an average of around 50.

His dribbling statistics are on an upward curve, one deft slalom against Newcastle given the slow-motion treatment by City’s video team this week. He takes on more of those per game and completes 40 per cent.

But then there are the others. Winning back possession in the final third is better than last year but not as prevalent as in 2023-24. Passes played into the box is half of the Treble year. Expected assists are broadly the same as his other three campaigns, chances created from open play are actually lower than ever – even if through-balls are now far higher than his normal average.

Average number of touches – the metric that detractors became obsessed by – are lower than his first two seasons, 24 now and 27 in that blistering first term when plenty mocked his lack of general involvement. But this takes into account the whole season, not just the period that City have been wingerless. Anyway, it’s a funny old game. He’d not felt the ball once before a 15th-minute opener in Monaco and nobody mentioned it.

Haaland is now winning far more of his aerial duels: 64 per cent up from an average of around 50

Haaland’s stats for winning back possession in the final third are better than last year

Often the sheer weight of goals distract from everything else and perhaps the amazement of those feats wearing off has seen pundits look for other things in his game to highlight.

Certainly working for the team is nothing new, Haaland particularly pleased with a decoy run to distract Juan Foyth, allowing Bernardo Silva to score, away at Villarreal in October as a recent example, even if dropping deep is.

Roughing up William Saliba and Gabriel in the 2023 title showdown with Arsenal is a memorable display of force and doing the dirty stuff, while Norway marvelled at the way he pressed, ran channels and held up possession as they secured a vital World Cup qualification win over Italy in June. 

Tactically, they are seeing him have a greater awareness of what is required, especially against supposedly superior opposition. And that is maybe where this year’s difference comes: the statistics are similar but it’s learning how best to utilise those opportunities to the betterment of players around him.

Even as the league’s top scorer on 22, there have been struggles. A barren spell in front of goal either side of new year is being worked through and he is still not entirely out of that yet. Coming out of the dressing room at Anfield in his sliders, Haaland insisted there was ‘no excuse’ for his form and he has still only scored one from open play in his last 10 league games.

He has refused to put this down to fatigue, even if Guardiola has labelled him ‘exhausted’ and attempted to give rest where possible, Haaland benched for victory over Wolves last month. Haaland is between houses at the moment, the family temporarily moving down near Crewe, and spent some of his three days off after Newcastle in Paris.

Leeds United next, the city of his birth, as the first half of the run-in starts motoring. City undoubtedly need him to start scoring regularly now and Guardiola has spoken candidly about the pressures the club’s No 9 places upon himself.

Haaland celebrates scoring against Fulham with Phil Foden but he only has one goal from open play in his last 10 league games

‘The problem with Erling is that he has to deal with his own numbers and expectations,’ Guardiola says. ‘We won the Treble because he scored I don’t know how many goals’

‘The problem with Erling is that he has to deal with his own numbers and expectations,’ Guardiola said. ‘That is the challenge for him. When your expectation is five goals a season, you can improve. We won the Treble because he arrived, he scored I don’t know how many goals (52), and the expectations are there.

‘When you go four or five games without scoring, it is like “Oh what happened, what happened?” He puts a lot of responsibility on himself. He is a guy who desperately wants to help the team and the club. I always say to him not to put too much pressure (on himself).

‘He knows how much we need him, he doesn’t want to leave the team disappointed. That is a big attribute. I would prefer that to somebody who doesn’t care. He’s completely the opposite, he suffers when he doesn’t score a goal. Don’t suffer, you do your best.’

The best will never be enough for some.