Erling Haaland is fit and ready to return for Manchester City’s final five games of the season having spent two games out with a minor injury.
Erling Haaland was named on the Manchester City subs bench against Nottingham Forest
Had Erling Haaland scored 32 goals in 40 games last season, he would have been heralded as one of the signings of the season. Instead, he is an afterthought in the conversation for Player of the Season, and the noise over his impact at Manchester City has softened since last season.
Of course, Haaland’s numbers aren’t as good as his sensational 50-goal campaign last term, where he helped City win the treble and swept the board in the individual awards. He was unlucky not to win the Balon d’Or, and is seventh in the list for the 2024 award – still behind Lionel Messi.
Phil Foden and Rodri are ahead of him in the odds for the end of season accolades, but this is a player with more goals, a goal involvement every 87 minutes, and he needs just three more strikes in his final five games to equal Franny Lee’s 35 in a season from 1972 which had not been beaten until the Norwegian smashed that record last year.
Four goals would see him level Derek Kevan’s total from 1964, before which you would have to go back to before the war for a player who has scored more. So why has Haaland’s contribution this season been overlooked?
His ‘drop-off’ from last term is a significant factor, and the fact that he has strong competition from Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer for the Premier League Golden Boot is another reason there is less talk about his scoring pedigree.
Maybe, then, he can turn the narrative back in his favour with a strong end to the season after a run of three goals in 10 for club and country before his strike at Nottingham Forest at the weekend. One of those strikes was a penalty, and two blanks against Real Madrid didn’t help the narrative either.
Pep Guardiola’s mitigation when asked about Haaland’s ‘quiet’ outing at the Bernabeu last month was that he had Aurelien Tchouameni and Antonio Rudiger following his every move – but by dragging those two wide, Phil Foden has plenty of space to exploit, and Kevin De Bruyne did in the second leg.
The fact remains that Haaland has done everything for City – but his record in the final fixtures of the seasons and the crucial knockout games is not as prolific.
In the Champions League, he has one goal in seven appearances in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. He hasn’t scored in three Community Shield or Super Cup games, and didn’t score in either semi-final or the final of last season’s FA Cup. In the Premier League last season he got one in the last four games in a wider run of one in nine in all competitions to end the campaign.
Those games have caveats, just like the Madrid contests this season. They are up against better defenders, the games are often tighter and with less space, and opposition sides are less willing to give City space in a knockout fixture or final knowing what Haaland can do with even a yard to run into.
Having continued that big game drought against Madrid this year, Haaland showed his nerves to turn a chaotic clash at Nottingham Forest into a walk in the park, and City will need that clinical nature to settle nerves this season. As Guardiola said recently – despite statistics sshowing his side may win more points without Haaland – he would always choose having the striker over not having him. Five wins secures the double, and Haaland seems more determined than ever to help his team get there.
He also knows it’s a team game – he would take five blanks on his part if he gets two more winners’ medals at the end of the season.
The fact also remains that Haaland has a frankly ridiculous record of 84 goals and 15 assists from 93 games since he joined the club, at a rate of one every 75 minutes. If he plays every game this season and City win at least one of their two remaining competitions, Haaland could play his 100th City game on the opening day of next season, two years after signing. He needs one more goal contribution to pass 100.
Those goals have played a key part in propelling City to the verge of successive Premier League titles, two FA Cup finals, a Champions League final and quarter-final, and the Super Cup and Club World Cup. He doesn’t need to do any more, but it would get rid of any final question marks hanging over his head.