Erling Haaland is often portrayed as a fearsome Scandinavian football machine whose only purpose is to calculate the most efficient way to score goals.
That's a fascinating way to describe the 6ft 4in (194cm) Norwegian, whose goalscoring records are off the charts – you know, 97 goals in 102 appearances for Manchester City.
The vast majority of Haaland's goals for City have been one-touch finishes inside the penalty area, a result of him being in the right place at the right time – his excellent off-ball movement means he's always in the right position, which is complemented by his constant keen awareness of his surroundings.
These are the type of goals that show Haaland to be an inevitable cyborg, but that's not entirely fair: behind his precision, there is a wealth of skill and artistry in his finishing.
Erling Haaland has seven goals in three Premier League games this season, so it's inevitable (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
In his first season with City, Haaland only scored one goal from outside the penalty area, away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 2022. But that's not the importance of the goal, because what you score is more important than where you score it.
Here, Haaland receives the ball on his left foot with Maximilian Kilmann facing him…
Kilman expected Haaland to move the ball onto his stronger left foot, which is evident from the centre-back's body shape, but the City striker faked a move to his left…
…and then pushing the ball out to the right, forcing Kilman to rotate clockwise and reorient his body…
…And then I lost sight of the ball for a second.
In that split second, Haaland was able to kick the ball into the bottom corner.
Interestingly, he shoots towards the far side where Kilman has just turned, as the defender's rotational force pushes him in the opposite direction, making the shot harder to block.
Another often overlooked feature of Haaland's game is his ability to use both feet to create optimal shooting angles and quickly finish chances.
In this example, from a game against Nottingham Forest last April, Kevin De Bruyne finds Haaland near the penalty area and Murillo positions himself to play Haaland onto his weaker right foot. The City striker dribbles into space with his left…
…But before the Forest goalkeeper could close the angle, Haaland quickly fired a shot with his right foot, giving him a sub-second advantage because he can use both his left and right feet simultaneously compared to dribbling with his left foot and then shooting with the same foot.
In a more recent example, against West Ham United last Saturday, Haaland was waiting in the penalty area to receive a pass from Rico Ruiz, with Emerson Palmieri the closest defender to the City striker. Ruiz played the ball to Haaland…
…And Emerson moves towards him, but the Norwegian controls the ball with his right foot in the opposite direction to the left-back's movement…
…and curls the ball into the top of the net. Again, by receiving the ball on his right foot and immediately shooting with his left, Haaland saves just a split second compared to using just his left foot.
Another important thing here is that his first touch moves the ball in the opposite direction to Emerson's movement, making the shot harder to block as the left-back's weight is on his left foot and he looks to block with his unbalanced right foot.
Haaland takes the risk of controlling the ball towards the middle where there is less space, rather than rolling it to his side, as the former option gives him a better shooting angle, and it works well because using both feet allows him to run faster, as well as beat Emerson by shooting against the left-back's movement.
Whether Haaland controls the ball with his left or right foot depends on the situation and where he is shooting from. In this example, from a match against Leicester City in April 2023, De Bruyne places the ball into Haaland's path in attacking transition.
Against a disorganised defence, Haaland used his first touch with his left foot to push the ball into space, away from Leicester centre-back Harry Sutter and the goalkeeper…
…and then he kicked the ball over the goalkeeper's head to score yet another goal. The difference is subtle, but when Haaland pushes the ball forward with his right foot, it's more likely to get the ball closer to Sauter and the goalkeeper as he takes his shot.
In another example, in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool in November, Haaland was positioned between Virgil van Dijk (number 4) and Joel Matip (number 32) when Nathan Ake passed the ball to him.
Firstly, Haaland is positioned outside the goalpost when he receives the ball, meaning his shooting angle is already narrow, meaning he can't push the ball away from Van Dijk and Alisson with his left foot.
Instead, Haaland controlled the ball on his right instead of his left, moving it away from Matip and allowing him to immediately use his left in his next action…
…so he sets up the shot…
…and kicked the ball into the bottom corner.
A final example comes from City's 2-0 win over Chelsea last month, where Bernardo Silva flicks the ball to Haaland inside the penalty area…
…and the Norwegian controls it with his right hand…
…but instead of shooting, he dribbles to his left…
…and again you can use your right hand to quickly shoot with your left…
… He ended up chipping the ball into the back of the net for the goal.
The shot was delayed because Haaland expected Robert Sanchez to stay on his line.
“Last year, Sanchez made a great save to deny me a shot because he usually stays on his line,” Haaland told Sky Sports after the match, “so I had two or three extra touches of the ball and then he came rushing out and I knew exactly what to do.”
Most of the time, Haaland is in an ideal position and that's all he needs to score with one touch, but there are situations where more effort is needed and the City striker knows exactly what to do in those situations.
Haaland's finishing can sometimes look robotic, but look a little closer and the artistry becomes apparent.
(Top photo: Henry Nichols/AFP via Getty Images)
