sport news Erling Haaland is ready for his next step up in Pep's Manchester City team, ... trends now
When did I first realise that Erling, the son of my former team-mate Alfie Haaland, was a phenomenon? Was it from all the talk of Alfie’s boy among our group of old Norway players? Or when I first saw him play at Molde at 16?
Was it when he scored nine goals in one game for Norway’s Under-20s? Or when he texted to tell me I’d gone to the wrong game after I missed him hit a hat-trick on his Champions League debut aged just 18.
Erling moved to Molde from his home-town club Bryne, a small place in Rogaland county on the west coast of Norway. Don’t make the mistake of saying he is from nearby Stavanger, or he won’t talk to you again!
Striker Erling Haaland (above) will have to adapt and learn at Manchester City after his move
Byrne is farming country, with down-to-earth people. The caricature in Norway is that they don’t speak much. In fact, they speak if they have something to say. Otherwise, they keep quiet. They don’t suffer fools. You can see a bit of that in Erling.
But we had heard about the Haaland boy a little before then. I played with Alfie at the World Cup in 1994, a golden era for Norway. We hadn’t qualified for a World Cup since 1938 but we’d made it by knocking out Graham Taylor’s England in qualifying.
Most of the squad were playing in the Premier League. I was at Swindon and then Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Barnsley, Alfie at Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and Leeds. There were about 20 of us Norwegians in England and we would get together every year for a big lunch with our wives. We were like our own special club and loved playing for our country together.
Haaland is pictured in his Manchester City shirt as a young child
We would all end up going our separate ways, but we stayed in touch. And there was some talk about Alfie’s boy. Alfie is proud of all of his family. But in football circles, it was this young Haaland we kept hearing about.
We didn’t really see him properly until the move to Molde, where he played under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, another of Alfie’s former Norway team-mates. He was a thinner, lighter version of what he is today. All arms and legs, still growing.
Why Molde? They’re big in Norway but they’re not exactly a European giant. Maybe some people thought Alfie let sentiment get in the way, because Ole was the coach? That’s just not how it works with Team Haaland, as I have christened them. They make calculated decisions.
Solskjaer was a finisher. Who better to school a teenager who still had much to learn? They could have taken him to the top clubs in Europe. But Alfie and his family are too smart for that. They wanted him to develop. As a striker, I knew the value as a teenager of sometimes playing against slightly weaker opposition, where you get lots of chances. Some coaches think it’s too easy. I say you’re learning your craft, practising your finishing at a level where you’ll get plenty of scoring opportunities.
I guess Norway discovered him a year into his time at Molde. They went to Brann Bergen and Erling, still looking like a college kid, scored four in 17 minutes. Watching it on YouTube, you will recognise those distinctive runs from deep, the powerful stride, the defenders embarrassed and the familiar cool finishing. Everything we have become used to now. That made everyone sit up and take notice. It was a little like when Wayne Rooney scored that goal against Arsenal at 16. Except that Rooney was almost a man at 16. Erling wasn’t.
Haaland scored nine goals in one game for Norway’s Under 20 against Honduras in 2019
When did the world begin to notice? Maybe it was time a couple of years later when he scored nine goals against Honduras in the Under 20 World Cup. Even in Under 20 football, that is something else. In Norway, we knew and by the time he was 18, all the important scouts knew. But for most people he still stayed under the radar.
There was a chance to move at 19 and by now the big clubs were mobilising. There was a big offer from Juventus on the table. I’m sure there were other big clubs. His choice? Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. It is the Bundesliga of sorts, but they will say as they look down their noses in Germany: ‘It’s Austria!’ But I had played in Austria so I could understand what Team Haaland were doing. Salzburg are by far the strongest, richest team so he would have lots of chances and score plenty of goals. Again, he could develop his goalscoring skills. And they would be in the Champions League. So it was a step up, but in a secure, controlled environment.
So when did I know for sure that he was something special? When he made his Champions League debut against Genk, Liverpool were in the same group and we debated with my TV producers which game I, as a Norwegian, should be at. Liverpool at Napoli was the bigger game but there was already interest in Norway in this prodigy. I went to Naples. And Erling had scored a hat-trick by half-time and they won 6-2! I got a text from Erling at the final whistle: ‘You went to the wrong game!’ I don’t think I’ve missed a game of his since.
Erling’s father Alfie has always been key in planning his son’s progression in football
Salzburg played Liverpool in the next game. Erling only came on after 56 minutes and was up against Virgil van Dijk. Of course, I was keeping a special eye on him and this was the night I truly realised how good he might be.
The runs he was making, against top-class defenders, were unbelievable. He was drawing them out of position, creating space. He was 18! This is a craft it usually takes years to develop. And he had come on as a sub in what was already a high-scoring game. He scored after just four minutes to make it 3-3. Salzburg lost 4-3 but what an impact he had had made. In 30 minutes, he could have scored a hat-trick.
Norway became aware of his phenomenal talent a year into his time at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Molde
He was running into space with ease past Van Dijk. I asked the Liverpool defender afterwards about Erling. ‘We won the game, which is the main thing. I didn’t see a lot of him,’ he said. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I guess for a striker it’s good if a defender doesn’t see him a lot!’ I didn’t get another question!
But it was true. He has these ghost-like runs which seem to blindside defenders. He can create space for himself because he will make a feint and draw the defender and then change direction. He was doing it at Anfield against Van Dijk and Joe Gomez. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The defender is always on the back foot, reacting to what he striker does. He doesn’t know where the striker will run. But Erling can exploit that almost like no other striker.
His timed runs are unbelievable. He never goes offside. Defenders hate this kind of
