Manchester City’s rivals clutched the rally of straws desperately as Erling Haaland put in a subdued performance in the Community Shield loss to Liverpool.
They disguise a flat-track bully whose glorious Bundesliga record at Borussia Dortmund will take time to adapt to the Premier League, and City’s studied cerebral style to his more explosive style. I wanted to be able to confuse people with a physical approach and brute force.
Like Andy Carroll reborn just minutes after his first friendly, it’s a kind of hopelessly flawed caricature of Liverpool’s Darwen Nunez, another big new attacking arrival in the Premier League. It was a rush to make an instant decision.
Wrong. And wrong again.
Haaland is a guarantor of goals as many as Manchester City could have had, everything they could have hoped for when securing the services of one of the game’s most coveted talents. could be seen by everyone on this cruise. Opening match with a 2-0 win over West Ham United.
When he was replaced by Julian Álvarez after 12 minutes, Haaland not only won the match for City by two goals, but also began polishing his partnership with the supply line, which will arguably give him an oversupply this season.
Haaland dominated the first 30 minutes, making many runs that narrowly missed passes from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan or an attractive cross from Phil Foden.
Everything changed in the 36th minute when Gundogan picked up Haaland’s diagonal run. He was too fast for West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola and too early for the injured Lukasz Fabianski.
City’s record from the spot is infamously checkered, but Haaland picked up the ball and sent Areola the wrong way, striking his trademark Zen pose to receive the blessing of his teammates.
The biggest window on what to expect from City this season came 65 minutes later, with a goal often repeated in ominous warnings to those hoping to snatch the Premier League crown.
De Bruyne moved forward before finding another Haaland run. The pass was flawless, as was Haaland’s finish, with a low left-footed shot to beat Areola. It was flawless and had all the hallmarks of a great striker – meaning he could never miss the moment he escaped West Ham’s defense.
Game over. For many teams in the Premier League, it’s game over once City completes the line of communication between Haaland and the people behind the defense who watch those runs.
City’s easy dismissal of the West Ham side, which many predicted would be the toughest in the season opener test, was a very early and very eloquent gesture.
Not only did City use all of their old arsenal to free West Ham, they also utilized a devastating new offensive arsenal that allowed them to send a message to the rest of the Premier League.
De Bruyne, Gundogan and Foden see the prospect of feeding Haaland appetizing food. Feelings become mutual.
City have won the Premier League four of the last five seasons, but there was always that nagging feeling that they should have taken more chances to create chances.
There may have been no domestic losses, but last season’s semi-final against eventual winners Real Madrid was the best example of that, not helping its elusive Champions League pursuit.
It’s hard to shake the belief that if they had Haaland’s Hunger and Ability finisher, they would have won that draw after the first leg.
Now they’ve got Haaland, and those who want this big-name new arrival with a more traditional hitting approach than others Guardiola had before, somehow their dynamics to the City’s detriment.
A surprisingly reluctant and limited West Ham could not cope with the power of Haaland and the chances presented to him by City’s brilliant creators.
Haaland’s all-around play suggests they won’t struggle at the end as the champions got off to the smoothest start to their title defense.
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