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What Haaland’s eight touches say about Man City’s striker, Guardiola and his team-matesby Stuart James
Eight touches.
Only two of the eight were passes, and one of those was the kick-off at the start of the second half.
As home debuts go, Erling Haaland’s for Manchester City was curious to say the least. On average, he came into contact with the ball against Bournemouth once every nine minutes and 15 seconds – roughly the time it takes to get from Piccadilly Station in Manchester to the Etihad Campus on the tram (according to City’s website).
Essentially, Haaland spent most of his time on the pitch running about while watching his team-mates pass to one another. At one stage in the second half, he went 27 minutes without touching the ball. It was almost as if the game was taking place around him. Even Rico Lewis, the 17-year-old City debutant who came on for Kyle Walker in the 82nd minute, saw more of the ball than Haaland (12 touches).
That does not mean Haaland played badly or, for that matter, that he and City are a bad match. As my Athletic colleague Mark Carey highlighted in a broader article on this subject last year, having fewer touches in a game does not necessarily mean a forward is less likely to score, or indeed that their performance is worse than others.
Haaland assisted the game’s opening goal by Ilkay Gundogan, made some intelligent runs, as we highlight in analysis later on in this article, and would have scored inside the first 10 minutes had Phil Foden done the right thing and squared the ball to him.
“He has to pass,” Guardiola said afterwards when asked about Foden’s decision to shoot instead. “We have to know that Erling will be there all the time. In the past, with a false nine or another type of player, maybe we don’t know. But this guy will be there.”
Perhaps City need time to adapt to playing with an out-and-out striker again as much as Haaland needs time to adapt to playing for them.
Either way, there is no getting away from the fact that it was strange to see City have so much possession (67 per cent) against Bournemouth but Haaland have so few touches of the ball.
It is too simplistic — and not true — to say that it will always be like this for a No 9 in City’s team.
On average, Sergio Aguero touched the ball once every two minutes during his time playing under Guardiola at City — a figure that Haaland was closer to on his Premier League debut against West Ham United the week before but nowhere near on Saturday.
Looking at Haaland’s touch map below, it is difficult to believe that he was on the pitch for 74 minutes.
Bournemouth’s setup clearly made it difficult for him.
Scott Parker’s team made themselves deep and narrow, highlighted in the image below, where Haaland is circled. There was rarely any space for him in behind — something he will probably need to get used to, especially in games at the Etihad — and Bournemouth made it nigh on impossible for City to play balls into his feet.
“He cannot drop, because there are five players there and spaces are tight, so you have to adapt from how the opponent defends,” Guardiola said when asked about Haaland and Bournemouth’s tactics. “If they (opponents) press high, we will create more chances for him. Just in that position, in one or two actions, we have to look at him.”
Haaland will not be overly concerned about touches of the ball (he averaged only 32 per league game at Borussia Dortmund). The only currency that Haaland trades in on the pitch is goals. Or, to borrow a line from my Athletic colleague John Muller, “his whole purpose in life is to score”.
In many ways, that shapes how Haaland plays the game, too. Passing is not really his thing, other than assisting in front of goal, and it’s certainly not why City signed him this summer.
Analysing Haaland’s performance against Bournemouth involves a lot more than going through his eight touches.
One theme that emerged in the early stages was how close Gundogan was to him at times — arguably too close.
As Rodri receives the ball from Joao Cancelo here, the Germany midfielder is standing directly in front of Haaland.
Three minutes later, when the same thing happens, you start to think how conditioned City have become to playing without a centre-forward.
With Nathan Ake on the ball at the back, Haaland, left arm outstretched, gestures to Gundogan as the two again occupy the same space.
The game is now nine minutes old and Haaland’s first touch of the afternoon should be a goal. City are in behind the Bournemouth defence and he has a tap-in if Foden squares the ball.
Instead, Foden chooses to shoot and his shot is saved. Haaland reacts with disbelief, signals to the England international that he had an open goal and is a picture of frustration as he drops to the turf.
Finally, with 18 minutes on the clock, Haaland touches the ball – and creates the opening goal in the process. Crucially, he and Gundogan have some healthy space between them on this occasion.
Walker receives possession infield (typical of how Guardiola asks his full-backs to play) and Haaland can already see what is developing. He points to Gundogan, who is in a pocket of space.
Walker feeds a pass into Gundogan’s feet and the midfielder finds Haaland with a dexterous flick.
As Gundogan spins on the outside of his marker, Haaland holds off Jefferson Lerma and scoops a pass into the path of his team-mate. In a way, it is a trademark Haaland move, albeit he would expect to be the one on either end of the give and go.
Perhaps most significantly, three Bournemouth players are drawn to Haaland, almost as if a siren is going off from the moment he touches the ball, and that leaves more room for Gundogan. Indeed, the extent to which the Norway international will occupy defenders (plural) this season cannot be overlooked.
The pass that becomes an assist is not the most refined piece of play — Haaland is falling over at the time — but it is certainly effective.
Gundogan runs clear and dispatches a left-footed shot into the far corner.
At times, Haaland must have wished he could have dragged the Bournemouth defence 20 yards up the pitch to create some space in behind. Yet even without that room, he still made clever runs.
With Rodri on the ball, this curved dash in between two defenders could easily have led to a goal.
You can see the run better from the angle below, as Rodri tries to pick Haaland out with a straight pass from deep.
Strong as well as quick, Haaland holds off Lloyd Kelly with ease — the central defender bounces off him — but he is unable to control the ball cleanly and it comes off his knee, enabling goalkeeper Mark Travers to smother at his feet.
Haaland spent a lot of time working the width of the penalty area without getting the ball, often because of Bournemouth’s low midfield block.
But Walker’s diagonal run, highlighted in the picture below, helps create some space for him in this passage of play.
Riyad Mahrez sees Walker’s run as an invitation to come inside on his left foot and clip a ball into the space that has opened up for Haaland behind Kelly. Guardiola views that touch inside from Mahrez, or any other player for that matter, as a trigger for forward runs.
Although Haaland takes the ball on his chest, he is a little careless afterwards.
Possession is squandered after a misunderstanding with Mahrez and Bournemouth are able to counter.
Haaland’s fourth touch of the ball is a header in his own box from a corner.
With half an hour now gone, you would love to know how much Haaland’s lack of direct involvement in the game is playing on his mind.
Some players overthink that kind of thing, while others are unfazed, partly because it is totally normal for them. John Muller wrote a fascinating piece for The Athletic last year about the “no-touch All-Stars”, which among other things highlighted Jamie Vardy’s off-the-ball attacking movement for Leicester.
Haaland was certainly trying to make things happen on Saturday, but the phase below, which shows Bournemouth with 10 men behind the ball, is fairly typical of the game. Ruben Dias steps forward and Haaland, circled, is showing to feet, but the passing lane is partially blocked and, again, complicated by Gundogan’s presence.
Dias is forced to pass wide because of Bournemouth’s shape.
Haaland slides across the penalty area again to give Mahrez an option to play forward. Instead, he elects to pass inside and Haaland turns on his heel again.
None of this will have come as a surprise to the City manager.
“We have to adapt and need a little time,” Guardiola said. “I am Erling Haaland, I have three players here (around him), two players in front of me, it is difficult, and no space behind because they are in the 18-yard box. It is a question of patience, and in the right moment we will find it.”
Occasionally, City played longer from deeper.
In the example below, Walker spots Haaland’s run and tries to pick him out with a lofted pass…
… the striker gets in between Chris Mepham and Lerma…
… but the ball is slightly overhit and runs through to Travers.
There was actually a lot to admire about Haaland’s movement on Saturday, especially against a team playing so deep.
In the example below, he sees Cancelo on the ball and bends his run to stay onside, creating a shooting opportunity for himself…
… he gets in between Mepham and Lerma again and…
… with his fifth and final touch of the first half, connects with a left-footed shot from an acute angle that Travers pushes over the crossbar.
There is still time for one more City foray forward before half-time, if not one more touch of the ball for Haaland.
Interestingly, this is one of the few occasions where he drops slightly deeper, which gives him the time and space to really attack the penalty area with his movement.
Haaland, circled below, sets off as soon as he sees the ball being transferred to Foden wide on the left.
He runs beyond the Bournemouth defence…
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… but despite being at full stretch is unable to get a touch to Foden’s cross.
Haaland’s second and final pass of the afternoon was nothing like as important as his first: the second half’s restart.
He makes two runs early in the second half, both for inswinging passes from wide areas — again, that trigger for movement after the City player comes inside. The first pass is from Mahrez…
… and Haaland ends up battling to control the ball with his back to goal.
The second pass, from Cancelo, has more weight on it and almost sets him free, helped by the fact Bournemouth’s back line has moved slightly higher.
The timing of Haaland’s run is excellent and for a moment it looks like he’s in on goal…
… but Travers, to his credit, is off his line quickly and manages to palm the ball away.
It seems remarkable to think Haaland had to wait so long — the best part of half an hour — for his next and final touch of the ball.
It should have been a goal, too.
Kevin De Bruyne feeds Jack Grealish wide on the City left (just out of picture below) and Haaland — his movement is intelligent here — darts into the area, seemingly on a diagonal path to the six-yard box.
As the ball is transferred to Grealish, Haaland checks his stride, allowing the Bournemouth players to sprint back towards goal as he holds and then slightly curves his run.
That little deviation enables him to find space despite the presence of five red and black shirts.
Unfortunately for him, his connection with the ball is poor. He looks to sweep his shot into the far corner but seems to strike it more with his heel.
The ball screws wide and Haaland covers his face.
[img][img]https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2022/08/13210643/8GrealishHaaland2.png[/img]
That turned out to be his final contribution of the afternoon — Guardiola substituted him straight afterwards and you don’t need to be a body-language expert to see he is disappointed.
On another day, Haaland could easily have scored a couple of goals on Saturday — and he will get them in the future.
As for the rest of his game, as Guardiola said, it is a question of patience and time.
by carl_feedthegoat » Wed Aug 10, 2022 2:57 pm 
