40 minutes is not much in football. But they can still show quite a lot. When Erling Haaland made his debut for Manchester City against Bayern Munich in the USA on Sunday night, in a match where the halves were shortened by five minutes each due to bad weather, many wondered how he would fit into the team. Would he get back room? Would he fit in the box? What about the chemistry with the co-stars? Haaland scored one goal before he was taken off at half-time. It was just one of many events that showed the various functions he will have at City. In fact, Haaland’s contribution could be divided into five different roles. The finisher In the last 12 months, many people have sat on the sofa with Manchester City on the screen and said, “Haaland had been there”. Seconds before, a low cross has whizzed in front of the goal, without anyone having been there. These chances are the lifeblood of Haaland, who is raw at timing runs and breaking free in the field. City have played without a striker for more than a year, so they have used wings and top playmakers who have often lacked the flair to smell such situations. Thus, the math seemed simple: Now that City are bringing in Haaland, these goals should flow in. But is it that easy? According to this debut: Yes. It only took 12 minutes before winger Jack Grealish crossed low from the left in front of the box for Haaland, who slid the ball into the goal. It was exactly the kind of goal we’ve come to expect him to score. The same has been true for Haaland himself. – I have seen City a lot in recent years. Then they played without a striker. So I have envisioned myself in these situations. I’m not surprised, Haaland told TV 2 after the match. Several people got pets during the pandemic, but now several animal organizations are experiencing a large influx of people who want to relocate their animals. This was not the only case. Later, Grealish found him with a low ball in front of the defence. Haaland fired on the first touch, via an opponent and out to a corner. The chance was great. Riyad Mahrez then lifted a ball over the defense to Bernardo Silva, who served Haaland in front of the box. Bernardo Silva was offside, but again the dynamic was the same. City really are specialists in creating chances in this zone. In fact, City scored a number of such goals before, when Agüero and Raheem Sterling were on form. The team’s leading playmaker, Kevin De Bruyne, loved to hit hard balls in behind the defence. But in the last year Agüero and Sterling have played less and those goals have dried up a bit. Now that Agüero and Sterling have been sold, Grealish and De Bruyne will look more often for Haaland. These “simple” goals could quickly become Haaland’s trademark at City. The backroom threat One of the concerns surrounding Haaland is that he will not get enough backroom at City. He bagged goals via counterattacks and ran in behind the Dortmund defence, but City’s opponents often lay deep and close those spaces. Would City still be able to find him behind the defence? This was probably not the best test, as Bayern are much higher than City’s league rivals will be. Nevertheless: Every time City got space in the gap, Haaland ran. After only four minutes, De Bruyne could have played him through, but shot himself. Then Haaland made a rare run to the edge to catch a pass from Mahrez. A little later, he himself found Mahrez on the right and ran straight into the back room, before Bayern’s fast defense prevented it. So this part of Haaland’s game produced little here. However, the movements were good, and against faster stoppers it will quickly cause trouble. The play-off point City almost never go far under Guardiola, partly because they have played with top midfielders. Even when they had a striker there, either in the form of Agüero or Gabriel Jesus, he was 175 centimeters or shorter. Now they have a tip of 195 centimeters. Would they use him as a play-off point. HAALAND’S BOSS: Pep Guardiola. Photo: Jeff Hanisch / Reuters The answer was actually yes. It is difficult to say whether it was on the initiative of coach Pep Guardiola or the players themselves, but three times the defense went far against Haaland. These were not necessarily passes towards a wrong-facing Haaland, but rather a Haaland running in behind the defence. First, left stopper Nathan Aké sent a diagonal pass towards him. Haaland timed the race well, but just didn’t make it. When a similar pass came from left-back Josh Wilson-Esbrand, Haaland took a stopper with him on a trip along the left edge, before goalkeeper Manuel Neuer barely cleared. Then Aké again hit Haaland long, this time when he was facing the wrong way. Bayern accidentally kicked the ball into their own backroom, where Haaland intercepted it and sped off. Only thanks to the lightning-quick stopper Dayot Upamecano was Bayern able to block the cross. STRONG: Erling Braut Haaland was used as a play-off point at times in the match against Bayern Munich. Photo: Justin Casterline / AFP In other words, City will probably use Haaland’s speed via long passes. Many have talked about how Haaland has to change to adapt to the team. This game showed that the team will also change to adapt to him. The wall When City were not in a position to hit sticks or crosses, Haaland became a wall. He stood with his back to the defense, ready to receive passes and leave. It only happened twice. The most promising was when he stood the wrong way at 18 metres, just outside the box, and played a nice wall with Grealish. DUO: Jack Grealish assisted Haaland’s first goal for Manchester City. Photo: JAMIE SQUIRE / AFP This is something Guardiola has asked of his strikers before. Even if he is better at other things, Haaland will be no exception. This dimension gives both Grealish (left) and Mahrez (right) the chance to play a quick wall, pull into the pitch and shoot. Grealish in particular, who struggled hard last season, has found the tone with Haaland, both on and off the pitch. If Haaland can get the best out of Grealish, it will be a huge bonus for City. The pressing player A possible argument against Haaland is that he does not press as hard as the midfielders City have used at the top. When Guardiola arrived at City in 2016, the pressing game became an issue between him and Agüero. Here there were no signs of trouble. Haaland plunged under pressure straight from kick-off, and over the course of the match he forced Neuer to strike far more times. All in all, the debut was good. The five roles show how many different sides Haaland has, and that Guardiola will get as much out of them as possible. It goes without saying that Haaland was well away from top form – Guardiola said he needs several weeks before he is at his best. More answers about Haaland will come when City meet teams that are ranked lower. But this start was promising. The next match is in Saturday’s Community Shield against Liverpool – and Virgil van Dijk.
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