Man City’s Erling Haaland became the earliest striker to reach the 50-goal mark in Premier League history with 48 matches. Looking at Haaland’s goal ratio and number of matches, it can be seen that this young striker’s scoring efficiency is very high.
However, that record came on a day when Man City was stripped of the top spot in the rankings. Arsenal took advantage of Man City and Liverpool’s rivalry to take the lead in the championship race. Although that position is only 1 point higher than Man City and Liverpool, it also says many things.
Man City and Haaland are not too sad by this temporary usurpation. Remember, last season, Arsenal led Man City until the last month of the season but still could not reach the final peak. Therefore, a 1-point difference when the tournament has just passed 12 rounds does not mean anything.
They still have the goal of setting a new tournament record: winning the Premier League 4 times in a row. However, this is also Man City’s third defeat (if a draw is considered a failure as a defending champion) when facing main competitors, against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Haaland’s record also loses its sparkle. However, he went down in history with his record. 50 goals in 48 games is something terrible, because it’s only 10 more games than a season.
Andy Cole will be shocked to see his record broken by a young player. But right in his first season in harsh football, Haaland was able to win the most prestigious titles at the club level: Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup. Even Cole couldn’t do that.
However, Haaland himself will also feel sad because of his record. Yes, at the club he played extremely well, but on the national team he was a complete failure. For the second time in his career, Haaland missed a major tournament. First was World Cup 2022 and now EURO 2024.
This shows that the essence of an individual’s excellence in football is the excellence of the whole team. Obviously, the quality of Man City’s team is much higher than the quality of the Norwegian team. That difference has created a superior Haaland and a mediocre Haaland.
For that reason, maybe at Man City, Haaland will continuously create scoring records and win titles. But in the national team, he is just a round number 0. That created bitterness for Haaland in his own record.
Last weekend, the top spot in the Premier League changed positions. It takes place by players with opposite circumstances, positions and levels of expectations. A Mohamed Salah who is on form with extremely good scoring performance has been silent. A Haaland set a personal record but did not help the overall achievement. A Kai Havertz who was criticized for everything scored a goal to help Arsenal rise to the top of the Premier League.
So, what is the most important value? An individual’s record or a team’s achievement? Haaland certainly understands this better than anyone!