There was a moment in Erling Haaland's Manchester City debut in Green Bay where he was presented with a decent opportunity to score, but opted to square the ball to Jack Grealish, with a block seeing the chance go begging.
It felt uncharacteristic for a player who has scored so many goals from exactly the position he declined to shoot: on the angle, about 10 yards out, having been played in on the shoulder of the defender. However, Haaland's latest interview as a City player has perhaps explained why he didn't shoot - and why he might not shoot in future.
It comes after weeks of questioning from fans and pundits outside of City, trying to convince themselves that Haaland won't continue his goal-a-game form from RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund. The main theory to support that hope has been that Haaland will need time to adapt to Pep Guardiola's patient build-up.
