Erling Haaland Is in The Machine
by Zito Madu
The manager of Tottenham Hotspur might have changed, and the club may have lost out on some high-profile transfers to their rivals, but at least Thomas Frank and his Spurs have continued the tradition of being Manchester City’s bogey team. Spurs have beaten City eight times out of their last 15 meetings since 2020—which would not be that impressive but for the fact that City have often been the defending champions, and Spurs usually in a state of crisis. The two teams are now tied, with 69 wins against each other in 175 total matches.
This last Saturday, the second weekend of the new Premier League campaign, Spurs beat City 2–0 at the Etihad with a little help from City’s goalkeeper James Trafford. Trafford made enough mistakes during the match that the broadcast kept cutting to the former starting keeper Ederson—who was dropped for Trafford—on the bench to show his reactions. (Ederson is said to be weighing an offer to leave City for Turkish giants Galatasaray.)
Many of the City players weren’t at their best on Saturday, but for me the most fascinating player was at the opposite end of the goalkeeper: Erling Haaland, City’s prolific striker. Not only because he didn’t score, but because a recurring criticism of Haaland has been that he doesn’t really get involved in the build-up of play. Though he’s one of the best finishers in the game, and is sure to break every goalscoring record available, he doesn’t really do much else outside of finishing. When he’s not scoring, he’s invisible.
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