We know what everyone might think when seeing Haaland at first sight;
A tall and burly young man, perhaps no one would expect him to do anything on the field but wait for the cross in the penalty area to catch it with his head and score a goal, but what we see from him of speed, movement and confidence in both his feet, not just his head, suggests to us that there is more behind that appearance exterior.
"Find the finer details"
We don't know if this is the best description of Erling Haaland's uniqueness, but it seems that it was enough for his Red Bull Salzburg teammate, Maximilian Fauber, when he said that Haaland's main characteristic is "finding for the finer details", in an interview with Goal in 2019 Before the crucial match against Liverpool in the last round of the group stage of the Champions League 2019-2020 edition.
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For a moment, you imagine that Fober's talk here was about the uniqueness of Erling in scoring all these goals, as the man has so far scored 20 goals and assisted 3 in 13 games he played with Manchester City in all competitions, that is, he contributes an average of almost two goals in every match he plays with City, not to mention He scored 155 goals and assisted 39 others in 179 games he played during his career at Molde, Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City.
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But what Fober talked about above was the level of professionalism of the Norwegian striker, he referred to what Erling was doing when they traveled to play matches abroad, and said that when they spent their time playing cards on those trips, he chose to spend time reading scientific articles on improving sleep and diet.
Well, the most prominent point is not in the number of goals he scores, not even in how he scores them, as much as it relates to how he scores those goals, and more related to being with different teams in different leagues with different playing styles, and the matter is not only related to the extent to which he adapts to those teams, but Exceeding the expectations set by fans, analysts, and critics for him before he ever set foot on those teams' courts.
This requires not only superior technical, tactical and physical abilities, but similar abilities on a mental level as well.
Who does not like to lose
Erling Haaland (Reuters)
We do not think that Halland could ever live with the loss, perhaps no one can live with the loss, but there are those who make peace with it as a possible option, but Halland does not like to deal with it always and constantly, at least this was in the words of his coach during his childhood, a thousand Berntsen, when Erling was playing under him in the city of Bron in western Norway for 12 years, where he said:
"From the moment he kicked the ball he wasn't happy about losing. Erling taught me that not all players are alike. We learned early on that it was okay for him not to feel complacent when losing. People who win a lot hate losing."
This, in Berntsen's opinion, was a direct reason for the uniqueness of Haaland's mentality, and he was glad that the little boy at the time did not like to lose.
For this same reason, Haaland believed that adapting to the changes was inevitable, and perhaps this is what made Erling able to succeed with the teams he played for;
He can adapt to the transition from one style of play to another, keep pace with the variables of each style and understand the differences between them.
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The interesting thing is that he didn't acquire this with time, but was probably born with it, he was a winning mentality as we talked, and that always pushed him to work hard and keep improving according to Berntsen, he never felt afraid, he was always smiling and constantly practicing, and he definitely scored constantly .
Fauber was not the first to talk about Haaland's interest in working on his diet and sleep, but Berntsen himself spoke about what Fauber specifically mentioned about him, and about his maintaining healthy sleep habits and proper nutrition, stressing that Haaland is a first-class professional, humble and serious, and always ready. .
Here we must remind you again that we are talking about a young boy, who was not yet fifteen.
We are talking about a player who follows a strict and professional discipline in his life from an early age, so no one is surprised by what we see from Erling now. It now comes to mind that the raison d'être of this system is Alfie Haaland, Erling's father, but the truth is that it is not as some might think.
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role model
Erling Haaland scored two goals in his first game for Norwegian club Bron FK in 2013, which caught the attention of Berntsen at the time.
But what was interesting at that time when the journalist asked him after the match whether his father was credited with scoring the two goals, he simply replied no, but added that his father is credited with everything else.
When Berntsen spoke about it, he said that what Alfie Haaland did was that he did not interfere with his son's training at all, not once, and he did not interfere in the matches for sure, he just stood and watched quietly.
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Alfie was not as demanding as most parents whose children play many team sports, and why this is important, according to Sam Martin, who has a master's degree in performance psychology, is the tendency of these parents to see their children achieve what they could not do when they were young, as if they They try to realize their dreams through their children.
According to Martin, about 20 million children in the United States participate in team sports at a young age, and 70 percent of them end up leaving those sports by the time they reach the age of 13, and that's because they stop enjoying it, because of persistent parents.
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Alfie Haaland was only a supporter of his son and a teacher for him, and this appears from his words in the documentary "Haaland: The Big Decision". He was talking about the extent of his son's success compared to him, and that he reached a point in his career that he never reached, and he also talked about his happiness with Erling's relationship With his colleagues, and that he communicates with them and depends on them as much as they depend on him, as a natural human being and not as a machine.
It wasn't, then, how much pressure Alfie put on Erling, but on the contrary, Alfie Haaland's legacy was to let his son make his own decisions and without outside influence, and to give him the creative freedom that all children and teenagers his age needed, and that's what made him love to come to Bron training daily, according to Berntsen, and that this was precisely what was necessary with Erling to get him to continue what he is doing.
The matter was to provide the appropriate atmosphere for him to reach the extent of his capabilities, which we now see the extent of their paranormality.
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The ideal employee: the pride of the city of Brunn
Just check out the City Club shop next to the stadium, which looks like an Erling Haaland merchandise store.
Perhaps you should also sit down for five minutes with the club's chef, Torborg Haugen - or Tanti as they call her there - and let her talk about him for a few minutes.
Honestly, that would probably be more than enough to make her cry.
Erling is a national hero across town, so much so that at one point the store sold 120-130 of his own uniforms while he was in Borussia Dortmund.
That's a lot.
It was no different with Berntsen as well, he was proud of all the positive comments he hears about Haaland, specifically from his coach in Salzburg, Jesse Marsh, who - ironically - did not talk about what we might expect from him based on what we see at first glance, such as his height or strength Physically, Marsh didn't even talk about his talent or his uncanny ability to score goals on almost any circumstance. Rather, it was more about his work ethic;
He talked about his mentality and commitment, his quest for development, and his fun in general.
That's what made Berntsen happy. For him, it's always been that football isn't just about making a person a better player, it's about making him a better person.
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"Football is about life skills. For some, it is the only arena they can enjoy, the most important thing in their life. So we let them be part of the team. It is critical to their social life. We focus on raising good people."
(Alf Berntsen)
Marsh decided to continue what Bernstein had started. He continually nurtured Haaland's tendency, and it wasn't really that difficult, since the player was prepared for it because of his healthy athletic upbringing at the hands of Berntsen and his father Alfie, and Marsh always told him that whenever he helped the group, I worked. The group helped him constantly, and perhaps this was reflected somewhat in the increase in the rate of his creation of chances from open play in Borussia Dortmund every season, in the first season for Dortmund, his average creation of chances from open play was 1.27 chances per 90 minutes, and last season he made 1.84 Chance of open play per 90 minutes.
The difference is clear, and it widens when we know that he created 10 chances this season, and that this number can be increased.
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Haaland's optimism versus Werner's pessimism
Erling Haaland (right) and Timo Werner (left)
We are not comparing Erling Haaland and Timo here, but Haaland and Werner are not far from each other as players. Here it is not technical, but closer to being mentally or psychologically.
Isn't that what we usually describe as ending opportunities?
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During his digression about Halland's psychology, Sam Martin spoke about his reactions and body language after he missed an opportunity, and compared it to the body language of other attackers, such as Timo Werner in particular, and Martin described those reactions as the difference between frustration and despair, and both feelings come from disappointment. The result of not achieving the desired goal, but the difference between them is the feeling they leave inside each person.
Frustration is a state of anger, while despair is a state of hopelessness, and the latter is the worst;
It sucks the energy inside you in Martin's opinion, let doubt creep into you, and makes you vulnerable to experiencing the same failure over and over again, and it shows when we talk about Timo Werner, for Martin, Werner shows reactions that express despondency, making him miss opportunities time and time again.
Quite the opposite when we talk about the anger expressed by Erling's body language;
The indignation he feels when he misses an opportunity motivates him so that he does not repeat the same mistake next time, and various studies have talked about the phenomenon of anger, and that it is a negative subconscious stimulus that we must curb, but at the same time it can increase our desire, and provide us with the energy needed to reform. ourselves.
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It has to do with Haaland's ability to be cautiously optimistic, in Martin's opinion.
No one feels happy when he misses one opportunity after another, but there are those who give in to that reality, and there are those who - like Haaland - use it as a motivator.
In psychology, this is called "rational optimism," which is to be confident in your ability to achieve desired goals, while not losing your realistic view of the world and the circumstances around you.
It's as if you remain positive in all cases while not ignoring the truth, so you can be optimistic and honest at the same time.
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What may the future hold?
No one can be sure of the future, no one even expected that Erling would be so productive within the Manchester City system, which is self-evident when we think about the differences between the different teams he played for, but he succeeds in silencing us all in the end, right?
This in itself raises an important question: Is this the end of Haaland's development?
In a sports blog called Felites, which blogs about how to improve athletes' performance, Polona Fonda talks about teamwork, and that it's one of the things that not only makes you a better athlete or a better person, but also improves your physical performance, citing Speaking of Phil Jackson, the famous Chicago Bulls coach in the late 1980s, who transformed Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman from just talented basketball players into sports superpowers, through teamwork that in turn affected their physical performance.
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Fonda says that although load exercises are individual exercises in nature, our performance can be improved through shared goals induced by teamwork. When people work as one unit and a team, they are able to achieve more than they achieve while training alone.
Fonda explains this by the harmony and interdependence that occurs between them when they work together.
Fonda goes on to explain some of the factors that can improve your performance and performance through teamwork.
The first of these factors is physical health, as some research has shown that good communication and relationships that result from teamwork strengthen the immune system.
Teamwork also develops other feelings such as self-confidence through bonding with colleagues, and it nurtures some qualities such as altruism and mutual support, and these are things that Jesse Marsh and Alf Berntsen talked about.
There are also other factors as well, such as the presence of a healthy competitive environment that increases the mental performance of athletes, building a character that adapts to various strenuous pressures, and also a healthy relationship with the coach in the context of team sports.
Almost all of these qualities are possessed by Erling.
When someone sees Haaland, he may not like what he sees, it is like watching a robot playing football, and this does not match the fans' love for the improvisation shown by players such as Ronaldo Nazario da Lima, Ronaldinho and other legends of the game, but at least we can agree that this The young man impresses those who see the game as it is now;
They require a certain level of commitment and work ethic and strive to constantly improve, and this is what makes Haaland the ideal employee for them.
And if you do not see that this is enough, just remember that this young man could have depended on the traits with which he was born, and be satisfied with the expectations that everyone drew for him, but he was not satisfied with that, and decided to rebel against those traits, and what makes him automatic in the eyes of all. ;
Because he didn't see himself that robot, and he didn't want the world to see him like that.
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Sources:
1- An interview with Red Bull Salzburg’s Maximilian Fauber ahead of their match with Liverpool in the 2019/2020 UEFA Champions League – Goal.com
2- Erling Haaland numbers - Transfermarkt website
3- Erling Haaland industry - Sky Sports
4- How I became...Erling Haaland - DW Kickoff YouTube channel
5. The Psychology of Erling Haaland - Sam Martin's YouTube channel (Peak Performance)
6- Erling Haaland Statistics - FBref
7- A comparison between the statistics of Erling Haaland and Timo Werner - FBref
8- Seven benefits of anger - Spring
9- Why you should become a rational optimist
10- How can teamwork improve your physical performance?
– Velites sports blog