It is one of football’s dirty little quirks that Erling Haaland can go from the Premier League ’s lethal weapon to eight-touch flop within a matter of days.
To be more specific, it is one of football Twitter ’s dirty little quirks. The knee-jerk reactions that were once confined to whichever stadium the 90 minutes were being played in are now published for the world to hyper-scrutinise and debate in 240 characters of reflexive hot takes.
It would too simplistic – and incorrect – to conflate Haaland’s eight touches with a poor performance. The Norwegian provided Ilkay Gundogan with an assist. His mere presence on the pitch was that of a vortex, sucking Bournemouth ’s defence to him and opening spaces around him for his teammates to exploit. And, if we’re being picky, Haaland would have likely had a ninth touch, and more significantly a goal, if Phil Foden had done the proper thing and squared to his No. 9 instead of gunning for glory.
All of this, however factual it might be, is peripheral. That is the tax paid for being the Premier League’s marquee signing of the summer. Scrutiny to the max, wherever it can be mined.
Haaland’s signing represents another chapter in the ever-evolving story of the Manchester City dynasty. The squad will need to adjust to playing with an out-and-out No. 9. Haaland will need to adjust to playing with the squad. But six points from six with no goals conceded lays down a foundation to a season that suggests adjustments won’t need to be anywhere near as big as some have implied after an interesting summer transfer window.
The loss of key attacking players in Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus to rivals Chelsea and Arsenal respectively always carried the threat of schadenfreude, particularly with only Haaland and 22-year-old Argentinian forward Julián Álvarez to fill the voids. But the last two matches suggest that no such schadenfreude will revel in itself, at least not yet.
The left-back conundrum left by the exit of Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal has been solved with the addition of Sergio Gomez from Anderlecht, providing competition for Joao Cancelo and reinforcements for another hectic season. Whether or not the £50m splashed for Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United will guarantee the England international will adapt to Guardiola’s style after the swashbuckling Bielsa approach will be interesting to monitor, but his class is evident and the strength already at Guardiola’s disposal means Phillips will not have to face a toss in the deep-end.
Bernardo Silva’s future at the Etihad Stadium remains embroiled in uncertainty, though Manchester City fans made their desire for the Portuguese playmaker to stay clear as he was brought on against Bournemouth. Silva’s silky dribbling and clever passing is an enticing prospect with Haaland’s clever runs, but Silva’s desire to leave the club is no secret, though Barcelona ’s current financial state has made the situation particularly tricky.
Have your say on Manchester City’s summer transfer window with our Good Deal or Bad Deal widget, and make sure you leave your comments explaining your verdicts.
