"Off the pitch I'm a calm guy that just wants to have fun and enjoy my life," Erling Haaland told Time Magazine in July. "On the pitch I want to attack like a Viking." The Manchester City striker's love for the Scandinavian seafaring conquerors is well known. He dressed up as a Viking at a Halloween party just a few months after joining City. And while speaking to the prestigious American current affairs magazine, he zeroed in on his fascination with them.
"First of all the history is incredible," Haaland said of the Vikings, while being quick to point out "Of course a lot of things that they did were not good". Leaning in to his subject of interest, he explained: "I like the mentality, like 'I don't care about anything, we're just gonna go there and get the job done'.
"Also that they were stronger and better than everyone, literally. That's what I love. And also the togetherness, they had an incredible bond between each other when they were sailing across the whole world. The Vikings were inspiring."
And right now Haaland is in full Viking mode. He has 12 goals in his last seven games for club and country and is fresh from conquering Manchester United and pillaging another Champions League record with his header against Napoli. And it is in this ransacking mood that he charges into battle against Arsenal, with vengeance on his mind…
Getty Humbling experience
Haaland will not need reminding of what happened on his last visit to the Emirates Stadium. City were thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal, suffering their worst away defeat in almost eight years. Haaland was far from the worst performer in a City shirt and he had scored their equaliser before a second-half onslaught from the Gunners.
And yet his name was associated with the thrashing more than any other City player as Arsenal fans had mockingly chanted "Stay humble" at him in reference to him saying the same thing to Mikel Arteta after City's last-gasp equaliser in the previous fixture between the two sides.
To make matters worse, 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly had mockingly imitated his 'lotus' pose after scoring Arsenal's third goal, payback for Haaland asking 'Who the f*** are you' amid the ill-tempered scenes at the Etihad.
AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'They got me'
He may not come up against Lewis-Skelly as the left-back is yet to start a game this season after being usurped at left-back by Riccardo Calafiori, but the image of the upstart teenager mocking the world's best striker, which went around the world, will be fresh on everyone's mind on Sunday.
"They won the game 5-1, so yeah, they got me," he said to Time of that day. The mocking he received from the fans and his younger opponent, however, did not make him regret uttering 'stay humble' in the first place. He insisted: "I think it’s an important phrase, which a lot of people should use, including myself. It’s one of the most important things, as individuals, to do."
And in keeping with that stance, he had no issue with Lewis-Skelly mocking him as Neymar and PSG had done in 2020, his first season in the limelight. "If he wanted to use that moment to mock me, that’s fair enough for him. Whatever he wants to do, he can do."
GettyBecomh a goal 'expert'
Another interesting insight from Haaland in the Time interview was when he explained how he got so good at scoring. "I remember when I scored one goal, it was such a good feeling in me that I was like, ‘I want to become an expert on this'. Get this feeling again and again."
Haaland quickly honed his expertise. At the U20 World Cup in 2019, before most fans knew who he was, he scored nine goals in one game against Honduras. Yes, nine. And he was disappointed that it was not 10. He has barely slowed down since then, netting eight times in his first six Champions League games with RB Salzburg. He left the Austrian side in January 2020 with 29 goals in 27 matches.
He has continued to find the net with remarkable regularity. He plundered 86 goals in 89 games for Borussia Dortmund and although his strike rate has slowed down ever so slightly for City, the numbers are still frightening. His header against Napoli took him on to 130 goals in 151 games. He has 90 goals in 101 Premier League games while he is averaging more than a goal per game in the Champions League.
AFPUnderstanding his team-mates
And yet he claims there is no real method to his goalscoring madness. "For me the most important thing is to be free in the mind and not think too much," he told last week. "I cannot think of scoring goals, it's not how it works. I don't visualise, I don't think that's good. People ask me about celebrations and all of that, I don't plan anything because you shouldn't plan anything. You should try and be free in your mind and try and be ready if you get a chance."
One thing Haaland does try and do is think about how to get chances, which means getting in the mind of his team-mates. "The most important thing is to get a chance as a striker. If you're not coming to chances that's a problem," he said. "For me the most important thing for me is to get the chances. When I come to chances there's a big chance I will score goals."
"It’s about trying to understand which player is on the ball and try to be clear in your mind. When it's [Kevin] De Bruyne I just need to think where he's gonna shoot in and I have try to be there so he can hit me. If Bernardo is on the ball I have to think like him, if it's someone else I think like them."
