Erling Haaland, movement and why it does not matter that he has so few touches
By Sam Lee
There is a lot to be said for Erling Haaland’s mere presence on a football pitch.
The Manchester Citystriker has been criticised for his hold-up play in recent weeks, most notably when Roy Keane likened his contribution to a “League Two player”.
Haaland struggled to combine with his team-mates in important games against Liverpool, Arsenaland Real Madrid, but he has shown a higher level at City, which suggests his more recent efforts are a case of poor form rather than a major weakness.
What City have become used to during his two seasons at the club is for Haaland to be much more precise in his passing (although he is not as polished as his more technical team-mates) and more robust in his duels with defenders. That is the standard required of Haaland now he is back in the team following injury, with City hoping to win the Premier Leagueand FA Cup.
But even when he is losing possession or allowing defenders to take the ball off him relatively easily, his presence on the pitch alone often benefits his team.
“He helps us create more space in other areas and his contribution has been excellent,” Pep Guardiola said a few days after City’s 3-3 draw against Madrid, where Haaland struggled against Antonio Rudigerand Aurelien Tchouameni.
It was then suggested Haaland had actually contributed to City’s performance in a less noticeable way: by occupying two defenders, other players would have more space to work.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Guardiola agreed as the question was still being delivered. “That’s the point.”
The Madrid game itself may not be the perfect example of this because Carlo Ancelotti’s defence and midfield could marshall those spaces quite well, partly because of their organisation and partly because of the more cautious approach City deployed at the Bernabeu.
But it can be seen here how Phil Foden, when he was central rather than on the right, would always try to lurk in the space behind the midfield, with Madrid’s centre-backs keeping a close eye on Haaland.
With Toni Kroosdiligent enough to track Foden’s runs and Rudiger and Tchouameni comfortable enough to leave Haaland to engage another threat, they handled it well for the most part.
City scored twice from outside the area in the second half, though, with Foden in space for the first of those goals. That was more a result of City outworking the Madrid midfield by pulling them to the right, but Tchouameni — a midfielder by trade — does seem preoccupied with Haaland and he does not step up to impact the shot like Rudiger does.
A few days after that game, Guardiola said: “We scored 11 goals in the last three games and Haaland helped us by scoring some of them and by creating a lot of spaces for the other ones to score a goal.”
Other than Madrid, Haaland played against Crystal Palacein that run of three games mentioned by Guardiola, scoring City’s third at Selhurst Park.
The following week, City beat Luton Town5-1 and Guardiola noted how the visitors tweaked their usual setup.
“The fact we have Erling there means they adapted the man-marking,” he said. “Normally they use man-marking all the time, but they adapted in a deep position, 5-4-1, so deep, and it’s because Erling is there.”
And on Sunday against Nottingham Forest, there were some clear examples of Haaland changing the game simply by coming onto the pitch.
Previously, Julian Alvarezhad spearheaded City’s attack, but Forest’s three centre-backs had been comfortable handling him.
The middle of the trio, Murillo, would mark Alvarez, leaving Willy Boly and Moussa Niakhatefree on either side to jump and engage City’s attacking midfielders, such as Kevin De Bruyneand Jack Grealish, stopping them from receiving the ball in space.
Forest’s centre-backs were very aggressive with this — the example below shows Niakhate following De Bruyne deep into the City half and eventually winning the ball after Boly steps up to challenge Alvarez and Grealish.
In the next example, Murillo stays with Alvarez while Niakhate steps up all the way to engage De Bruyne as he receives the ball and turns on the halfway line. Boly sweeps in behind to follow Grealish’s run.
Once Haaland comes on, though, the dynamic changes immediately. As you can see from the first slide below, De Bruyne is free to receive in space. The second slide shows why: Niakhate is back helping Murillo cover Haaland.
On that occasion, Boly came around to cover, forcing De Bruyne back — but by this point, it was already a cat-and-mouse game to try to get De Bruyne on the ball in those spaces. That was made easier because teams are reluctant to leave a defender isolated against Haaland.
Five minutes later, De Bruyne took advantage. City posted the video of the passing move that precedes the goal on their X account, and if you keep an eye on De Bruyne the whole time, and the lack of pressure from the Forest defenders (other than a brief Boly jump), it helps explain how Haaland changed the game.
The GIF below breaks it down: Forest’s midfield do a good job of covering De Bruyne, but he is always in space behind them because Niakhate is much deeper, looking after Haaland.
City bide their time, waiting for the right moment, and they eventually find De Bruyne. Niakhate, in slide seven, can see there is a problem, but he is too late to react. By the time he moves up, he is too far away from De Bruyne and Haaland to make an impact and the Belgian actually slides the ball just behind him as he turns to retreat.
Haaland then does brilliantly to work the ball onto his weaker right foot and find the finish, scoring City’s second goal and killing the game.
Things like this are part of why focusing on how many touches Haaland has during a game can often miss the point. Usually, when he has few touches, it is because his team-mates have not found him well enough.
Recently, it has also been the case that he has not done enough to battle with a defender to get a touch and when he has received the ball, he has quickly lost it. That will have to improve.
But it is clear teams have to adjust their plan when Haaland is on the pitch, knowing if City can find him with a ball in behind or a cross or loose ball in the box, he will be there.
And so the threat of what he might do can be just as big a weapon as what he actually does.
https://theathletic.com/5458626/2024/05/01/erling-haaland-movement-man-city/
Erling Haaland, movement and why it does not matter that he has so few touches
By Sam Lee
There is a lot to be said for Erling Haaland’s mere presence on a football pitch.
The Manchester Citystriker has been criticised for his hold-up play in recent weeks, most notably when Roy Keane likened his contribution to a “League Two player”.
Haaland struggled to combine with his team-mates in important games against Liverpool, Arsenaland Real Madrid, but he has shown a higher level at City, which suggests his more recent efforts are a case of poor form rather than a major weakness.
What City have become used to during his two seasons at the club is for Haaland to be much more precise in his passing (although he is not as polished as his more technical team-mates) and more robust in his duels with defenders. That is the standard required of Haaland now he is back in the team following injury, with City hoping to win the Premier Leagueand FA Cup.
But even when he is losing possession or allowing defenders to take the ball off him relatively easily, his presence on the pitch alone often benefits his team.
“He helps us create more space in other areas and his contribution has been excellent,” Pep Guardiola said a few days after City’s 3-3 draw against Madrid, where Haaland struggled against Antonio Rudigerand Aurelien Tchouameni.
It was then suggested Haaland had actually contributed to City’s performance in a less noticeable way: by occupying two defenders, other players would have more space to work.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Guardiola agreed as the question was still being delivered. “That’s the point.”
The Madrid game itself may not be the perfect example of this because Carlo Ancelotti’s defence and midfield could marshall those spaces quite well, partly because of their organisation and partly because of the more cautious approach City deployed at the Bernabeu.
But it can be seen here how Phil Foden, when he was central rather than on the right, would always try to lurk in the space behind the midfield, with Madrid’s centre-backs keeping a close eye on Haaland.
With Toni Kroosdiligent enough to track Foden’s runs and Rudiger and Tchouameni comfortable enough to leave Haaland to engage another threat, they handled it well for the most part.
City scored twice from outside the area in the second half, though, with Foden in space for the first of those goals. That was more a result of City outworking the Madrid midfield by pulling them to the right, but Tchouameni — a midfielder by trade — does seem preoccupied with Haaland and he does not step up to impact the shot like Rudiger does.
A few days after that game, Guardiola said: “We scored 11 goals in the last three games and Haaland helped us by scoring some of them and by creating a lot of spaces for the other ones to score a goal.”
Other than Madrid, Haaland played against Crystal Palacein that run of three games mentioned by Guardiola, scoring City’s third at Selhurst Park.
The following week, City beat Luton Town5-1 and Guardiola noted how the visitors tweaked their usual setup.
“The fact we have Erling there means they adapted the man-marking,” he said. “Normally they use man-marking all the time, but they adapted in a deep position, 5-4-1, so deep, and it’s because Erling is there.”
And on Sunday against Nottingham Forest, there were some clear examples of Haaland changing the game simply by coming onto the pitch.
Previously, Julian Alvarezhad spearheaded City’s attack, but Forest’s three centre-backs had been comfortable handling him.
The middle of the trio, Murillo, would mark Alvarez, leaving Willy Boly and Moussa Niakhatefree on either side to jump and engage City’s attacking midfielders, such as Kevin De Bruyneand Jack Grealish, stopping them from receiving the ball in space.
Forest’s centre-backs were very aggressive with this — the example below shows Niakhate following De Bruyne deep into the City half and eventually winning the ball after Boly steps up to challenge Alvarez and Grealish.
In the next example, Murillo stays with Alvarez while Niakhate steps up all the way to engage De Bruyne as he receives the ball and turns on the halfway line. Boly sweeps in behind to follow Grealish’s run.
Once Haaland comes on, though, the dynamic changes immediately. As you can see from the first slide below, De Bruyne is free to receive in space. The second slide shows why: Niakhate is back helping Murillo cover Haaland.
On that occasion, Boly came around to cover, forcing De Bruyne back — but by this point, it was already a cat-and-mouse game to try to get De Bruyne on the ball in those spaces. That was made easier because teams are reluctant to leave a defender isolated against Haaland.
Five minutes later, De Bruyne took advantage. City posted the video of the passing move that precedes the goal on their X account, and if you keep an eye on De Bruyne the whole time, and the lack of pressure from the Forest defenders (other than a brief Boly jump), it helps explain how Haaland changed the game.
The GIF below breaks it down: Forest’s midfield do a good job of covering De Bruyne, but he is always in space behind them because Niakhate is much deeper, looking after Haaland.
City bide their time, waiting for the right moment, and they eventually find De Bruyne. Niakhate, in slide seven, can see there is a problem, but he is too late to react. By the time he moves up, he is too far away from De Bruyne and Haaland to make an impact and the Belgian actually slides the ball just behind him as he turns to retreat.
Haaland then does brilliantly to work the ball onto his weaker right foot and find the finish, scoring City’s second goal and killing the game.
Things like this are part of why focusing on how many touches Haaland has during a game can often miss the point. Usually, when he has few touches, it is because his team-mates have not found him well enough.
Recently, it has also been the case that he has not done enough to battle with a defender to get a touch and when he has received the ball, he has quickly lost it. That will have to improve.
But it is clear teams have to adjust their plan when Haaland is on the pitch, knowing if City can find him with a ball in behind or a cross or loose ball in the box, he will be there.
And so the threat of what he might do can be just as big a weapon as what he actually does.
https://theathletic.com/5458626/2024/05/01/erling-haaland-movement-man-city/
