ERLING HAALAND chose the Enrique Iglesias classic ‘Hero’ for his initiation song when he joined Manchester City.
And that is exactly what Pep Guardiola needs the Norwegian to be over the next few weeks.
The ex-Borussia Dortmund striker awarded himself top marks for his rendition of the Spanish crooner’s classic at the team hotel in Houston on a pre-season trip in July 2022.
Fellow new arrivals goalkeeper Stefan Ortega and midfielder Kalvin Phillips also took the mic but Haaland stole the show — at least in his own opinion.
He said: “Performance-wise I was the best. Maybe with the voice Kalvin was the best as he really got into it.
“But I always think performance is the most important thing.”
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Yet his performance in Sunday’s 0-0 home draw with Arsenal was not up to scratch by his standards.
Haaland wasted one of the game’s best chances late on as he drew a blank for a third match in a row.
With just Gunners keeper David Raya to beat and just two yards out he completely missed the ball.
And Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane said the £51.4million striker’s all-round game was “so poor” — even comparing it to a “League Two player”.
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Singing Hero to launch himself in England seemed an appropriate choice throughout his incredible debut campaign.
The Etihad certainly had a new favourite as he banged in 52 goals for Guardiola’s men.
He also helped to deliver the first Champions League that the club craved as part of an historic Treble.
It was always going to be difficult for him and his team to live up to those incredible heights this season.
His tally of 29 goals is by no means a disaster, particularly when you consider he missed two months due to a foot injury.
And when you think Man City have at least 12 games remaining — and possibly as many as 16 — you would expect him to finish with another huge total.
Yet after back-to-back draws — albeit against fellow title contenders Liverpool and Arsenal — they need to get back to winning ways against Aston Villa tomorrow night.
Guardiola would love nothing more than seeing Haaland be the Hero against the Villans, who won the reverse fixture 1-0 in December.
Maybe Haaland needs to turn to his bonsai tree just as he did at a key moment last season.
Together: Treble Winners is released on Netflix today and tells the story of their remarkable season.
The bonsai tree is exactly where we get the energy from. We drag the energy out of the bonsai and bring it into the body.
Erling Haaland
It shows how Haaland brought a bonsai tree into work with him last season as he hoped it would help the team’s mindset.
In many cultures, especially Japan and China, bonsai are seen as a symbol of peace and harmony with those who take time to nurture them given a long life.
The small plant was given a home in the physio room and all players who went in were asked to take good care of it.
Haaland was convinced it gave the players a boost when they needed it the most.
The forward is known to practice meditation to ensure he is in the right frame of mind.
He says in the upcoming documentary: “The bonsai tree is exactly where we get the energy from.
“We drag the energy out of the bonsai and bring it into the body.
“It’s a tree that brings us good luck — so we joke a lot about that one.
“The bonsai loves humidity so I had to bring it into the office to get some.
“I’m having a bit of responsibility for the bonsai — to give it the water it needs. You have to get the right light and everything.”
Team-mate John Stones said: “Erling wanted it. He thought it would be nice for the physio room.
“Sometimes it went in the steam room, too, which was also Erling’s suggestion.
“Everyone bought into it and took care of it. It became a bit of a thing — if you came in and you had not watered it, then you were a bit angry with yourself.”
There is little time for peace and harmony for Haaland and his City team-mates.
They have games against Villa and then Crystal Palace looming before heading out to face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final.
Carlo Ancelotti’s in-form men beat Athletic Bilbao on Sunday night and can now put their feet up — they do not play again until City visit the Bernabeu in seven days time.
Together: Treble Winners shows Guardiola addressing his players ahead of the showpiece final against Inter in June.
He told them: “But I know how you dream about it. I know how good you are all together.
“It’s happened once in 150 years of English football — just one team did it.
“It’s once in a lifetime guys — this situation, we are not going to live it again.”
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Incredibly, it is not out of the question they could live it again between now and June 1 — as unlikely as it may be.
If they can pull this one off then Haaland and his mates really would be heroes.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
