Erling Haaland has admitted that he did not play well enough in a certain game for Manchester City last season.
A poor performance was a rarity for Haaland during his first campaign at City, as he seemed to gel with his teammates and the club’s style of play from the very get-go, scoring a brace against West Ham United on his Premier League debut.
The Manchester City striker expressed his desire to win the Champions League after signing for the club while being in conversation with Ruben Dias and managed to win the treble.
Erling Haaland admits he was “not good enough” against Liverpool in the Community Shield last season
As far as perfect first seasons go, the Norwegian had that at the Etihad Stadium, much like how Samuel Eto’o won the treble in his debut campaign as an Inter Milan player.
It seemed like the footballing world was rightly stunned to witness the rate at which Haaland was scoring goals, as he truly surpassed all expectations, despite being backed to succeed in the Premier League.
But after Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-1 in the Community Shield, Erling Haaland admitted in the first episode of Netflix’s Together: Treble Winners documentary that he was far from his best in that game.
“It was a tight game. But we were not good enough. I was not good enough”, he said.
Notably, Erling Haaland missed an open goal in the contest against Liverpool in the second half, which prompted questions about whether he was the right fit for English football, as several goalscorers from other leagues have struggled after making their way to the Premier League.
How Erling Haaland reacted right after his miss was a sign of his confidence
Often, when strikers miss sitters, one sees them reacting angrily or looking distressed and understandably so.
However, Erling Haaland cracked a smile after his howler of a miss against Liverpool.
It seemed like Haaland was aware that the miss was appalling and he had largely been marked out of the game but he also realised that he was just having an off day.
And as they say, the rest is history from then onwards.