HOW do you stop Erling Haaland?
This is a question that has been pondered by every single manager and defender that has faced that prolific Norwegian striker.
At times, it seems as though it’s impossible.
Man City have played eight games this season in the Premier League.
Haaland has scored three hat-tricks, the quickest player to ever achieve this feat.
With his treble against Man Utd on Sunday, the 22-year-old became the first player to bag a hat-trick in the Manchester derby since Francis Lee in 1970, 52 years ago.
Read more on football
Haaland made easy work of an expensive backline in the 6-3 win over United, towering over Lisandro Martínez, out-muscling Raphael Varane and later Victor Lindelöf and putting three past David de Gea from very different situations.
Haaland has led the line in every game that Man City have played in the 2022/23 campaign, scoring in all but one.
The £52million striker scored another two goals against Copenhagen on Wednesday night to take his tally to an incredible 19 in 11 matches with his new club.
The only team he has failed to score against was Bournemouth, giving rivals hope.
Most read in Football
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
Haaland has been stopped before and he can be stopped again.
Haaland has proved too hard to handle for defenders from Man Utd, Nottm Forest, and Borussia Dortmund.
Here are three ways opponents can stifle Haaland up front.
Cut off the supply from the kitchen
To stop someone from feasting at the table, you must cut off the supply from the kitchen first.
Haaland is truly electrifying inside the 18-yard box, and even outside it at times.
Haaland can sometimes create magic from nothing, but more often than not, he needs help.
Guardiola touched on this recently in a post-match interview after the derby.
The two-time Champions League winner was asked whether Haaland was on Lionel Messi’s level of talent, given Guardiola coached the latter for four years from 2008-2012.
Guardiola said: “The difference is, maybe that Erling needs all his mates to do it. It is unbelievable. Messi had the ability himself to do it.”
This quote certainly has a lot of truth in it. It isn’t a dig on Haaland. Messi can be seen as otherworldly.
However, it does prove that one of the keys to stopping the £52million man’s feast is by cutting off the supply from the kitchen.
Let’s begin with potentially the greatest creator in world football right now: Kevin De Bruyne.
Given license to roam around by Guardiola, De Bruyne often finds himself out on the right, either in the halfspace or wider on the flank.
This season, seven of the Belgian’s ten assists in all competitions have come from these areas.
It hasn’t taken Haaland long to understand the threat that the creative maestro possesses and so adjusts his movement according to De Bruyne’s actions.
Recently, in a 4-0 drubbing of Julen Lopetegui’s lame Sevilla in the Champions League, the Manchester City duo displayed their lethal telekinesis in the final third.
Haaland stalled and stalled, holding his run so as to stay onside and in line with De Bruyne’s movement.
Once the ex-Chelsea man let fly, hammering it across the face of goal, the Norwegian sensation exploded forward, bursting away from the home side’s centre-backs to ease it home.
Nevertheless, City are not solely reliant on De Bruyne’s creativity and innovation in the final third to create chances.
On the left side, the tactically flexible Joao Cancelo and homegrown star Phil Foden tend to provide service to Haaland too.
The Cityzens aren’t one-dimensional. Chance creation comes from all over the team.
From the fullbacks to the wingers, the central midfielders and even Haaland himself, trying to stop every outlet is like playing a game of Whac-A-Mole; when one threat is suppressed, another pops up.
However, De Bruyne is the most dangerous City creator and stifling his ability to find Haaland in the final third and beyond will definitely help to nullify a large component of City’s gameplan, cutting off the supply from the kitchen for the marvellous frontman.
Getting physical to prevent creativity
Haaland has built a reputation for himself in English football for being heavily inactive during Man City’s spells of possession, only really coming alive inside the penalty area, sort of reminiscent of ex-Man United centre-forward Ruud van Nistelrooy.
In certain games this season, the 22-year-old has had very few touches of the ball but has had no issue putting it into the back of the net when it matters most.
Since the beginning of the 2011/12 campaign, no centre-forward has had fewer touches per goal than City’s new no9 who is averaging 13.6 touches before scoring.
Jamie Vardy is in second place with 50 touches per goal, almost four times as many.
Regardless, Haaland is a menace when receiving with his back turned to goal. Not only is he a goalscoring machine, but the Norway international has also played a helping hand in creating several chances for his teammates this season too.
One way that Haaland displays the more creative side to his game is by calling for the ball to feet. Using his imposing frame, the striker backs into defenders before getting it out his feet and slipping a teammate in behind the backline.
Recently, in the 4-0 Premier League victory over Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium, Haaland gave Manchester City fans their first glimpse of his ability to create chances instead of just tucking them away.
Upon receiving the ball on the deck, the Bournemouth centre-back stepped out of the defensive line to close him down and attempted to prevent the colossal frontman from turning and facing goalward. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain.
The Cherries’ centre-back failed in execution but actually had the right idea. You cannot leave Haaland free.
He is far too dangerous. Erik ten Hag tried this tactic on Sunday in the derby which failed miserably for the hosts.
At the beginning of the match, Martínez was getting tight to Haaland but after what was a complete physical mismatch, the United defender began dropping off when the Norwegian would receive the ball. This was an even worse idea.
Again, this is much easier said than done but defenders must step up and get touch-tight to Haaland, using their own physical imposition to try and nick the ball off him.
Square the centre-forward up, follow him into deeper areas if necessary; just make sure that he doesn’t turn you as Haaland can either create an excellent opportunity for teammates when bearing down on goal or else fire a shot away himself. Chances are, we know how that will end.
England international Tyrone Mings, despite his critics this season, performed admirably against the prolific target man.
Mings was able to match Haaland for size and strength, getting extremely tight to the City striker whenever he looked to receive the ball to feet.
Stopping his running power
The principle of getting physical and tight to Haaland is even vital from crossing situations, including set-pieces.
On Sunday, Manchester United’s marking structure from corners had an enormous flaw.
Whether it be a tactical mishap or an organisational error, Christian Eriksen was tasked with trying to block Haaland’s run.
Lo and behold, to the disbelief of nobody at home or in the ground, the latter won that battle, bullying the Dane and firing the ball over the line from a powerful header.
In any crossing situation, marking defenders must stay very close to Haaland, impeding his ability to make the explosive runs he so often does.
This will ensure that the 22-year-old cannot get a head-start, using his running power to hoist himself into the air to latch onto a cross with immense might as he did in the derby to bag City’s second of the afternoon.
Of course, there will be times when getting touch-tight to Haaland isn’t plausible.
When these situations arise, the defender must pray that their body position is optimal in order to cut out the pass or the cross before it reaches the potent No9.
Again, let’s use the Manchester derby at the weekend as a prime example of how not to defend against Erling Haaland, focusing in particular on Varane’s substandard body position for the third goal.
De Bruyne had possession of the ball in one of his favourite areas of the pitch, the right halfspace.
Looking up and shaping his body to cross the ball, it was obvious who the intended target was.
Varane, having scanned over his shoulder, maintained his position in line with Diogo Dalot and the other defenders instead of dropping deep by a couple of yards.
The World Cup winner’s rationale was to hope Haaland was offside. However, this turned out to be poor decision-making.
What does all this mean?
There is bad news for defenders. Regardless of whether each of the three points listed have been adhered to, chances are, Haaland will still put the ball into the back of the net.
Even if the ball supply to the Norwegian is curtailed, even if centre-backs get touch-tight, or have the perfect body position, Haaland needs just one lapse in concentration from the opponent to get himself on the scoresheet.
Read More on The Sun
To stop the most prolific man in world football right now, the opposition must be flawless with their defensive display in every single scenario. Haaland only has to get lucky once.
If you enjoyed this analysis, the October Total Football Analysis Magazine is on the digital shelves now – get your copy by heading over to Total Football Analysis.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
