‘Enigma’ Haaland offers too much threat to be left out, says Mills

Former Manchester City defender Danny Mills believes Erling Haaland is an “enigma” which is why it is so difficult to leave him out of the squad.

Haaland has been a revelation since joining City in July 2023, winning the Premier League Golden Boot in both seasons so far, while also winning the Premier League Player of the Year award in his debut season. kept watch.

He has scored 105 goals in 114 appearances in all competitions for City and has scored 16 times already this season.

Haaland is averaging 1.09 goals per game in the Premier League this season, after a record start to the campaign in which he scored ten times in the first six matches.

Mills, who played for City between 2004 and 2009, believes the 24-year-old's high score is down to the efficient way he approaches matches.

“Erling Haaland is a bit of an enigma,” Mills told Stats Perform. “He's not the usual striker.

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“We expect our centre-forwards to either drop deep, be a bit of a playmaker and create chances, or press high, work the channels and have a lot of ball contacts, which closes people down.

“Haaland stands in the middle of the pitch, makes the runs when necessary, is very efficient and puts the ball in the back of the net more often than not. He puts himself in good positions.

“We can talk about the fact that he missed big chances, but he also scored a lot of goals. That's the point: a striker will always say that you are better off if you are in the position and miss the chance, than not being in a position because the goals will come. Everyone misses opportunities.”

Haaland also set the record for most Premier League goals in a single season in 2022-23, with 36, and he is again at the top of the goalscoring charts this season, although he has seen his goals dry up somewhat in recent weeks following his lightning strike. -quick start.

The Norwegian scored his 12th Premier League goal of the season in City's 2-1 defeat to Brighton before the international break, ending a run of three games in all competitions without a goal.

No one has had more shots than Haaland in the English top flight this season (55), while only Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins (11) has missed more big chances than him (10).

Mills suggested Haaland is held to a higher standard than other strikers in the league but says even if he doesn't score, he offers too much to be left out of the starting line-up.

“When we talk about Erling Haaland's patchy form, the patchy form for him is still much better than the form of most other players. It's better than 95% of Premier League strikers,” Mills added .

“That's why he gets criticized for missing big chances, because we expect him to score every time. But he's just different.”

“I think it's very, very difficult to leave him out because he has so much to offer. He's so big, strong, powerful and sometimes scores all kinds of strange and interesting goals.

“He's occupying three or four defenders because they're all worried about his pace behind him, his aerial ability or what he's doing. Leaving him out would be a big decision.”

“It's not like he's going through a drought. An Erling Haaland drought is that he hasn't scored in two games. There are strikers around the world who would like that to be their record, not their drought.”

“So I think we need some perspective. Yes, he may miss one or two chances, but he is a huge threat and a fantastic goalscorer.”