Pep Guardiola could hardly be stopped in his praise for Erling Haaland. The fact that the former Dortmund player put together a hat-trick for the fourth time this season in Manchester City’s 3-0 home win against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday also delighted his coach.
“He lives 24 hours for his profession, work, passion, love,” said Guardiola. This is exactly what the 52-year-old Catalan, who has recently been very critical of his team, actually wants from all his players.
Since moving to the Premier League last summer, Haaland has been delivering as reliably as before in Dortmund and Salzburg. “The numbers are unbelievable,” observed Guardiola.
Haaland has been on the pitch in 19 of 20 league games so far this season and has already scored 25 goals. Mohamed Salah and Heung-min Son were top scorers last season, each scoring 23 goals in 38 games.
Never before has a player scored four hat-tricks in as little time as the 22-year-old Norwegian. Only the legendary striker Alan Shearer scored three goals in five games in a season.
The game is partially tailored to Haaland, Guardiola explained. He is not a striker who needs the ball ten meters from the penalty area or who can be used as a so-called wrong number nine.
However, the ex-Bayern coach refused to always pin success or failure on his centre-forward, whose composure impresses him: “He is not very stressed when things are going well or badly. He’s stable.” (dpa)
To home page
