All that mental work appears to be paying off. If Haaland was cut up about his shocking open-net miss from three yards that Gary Lineker described as perhaps “the worst miss I’ve ever seen at this level” he did not show it as he stroked home goal No 28 of the campaign later in the game to round off a 3-1 win over United.
Or at the press conference ahead of the second leg of City’s Champions League round of 16 tie against Copenhagen at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday when a relaxed, smiling Haaland was able to poke fun at himself about his clanger in a playful nod to Lineker’s remark.
“People say I’m good at scoring goals but I missed the biggest chance in the world ever two days ago,” Haaland said, tongue ever so slightly in cheek. “I can also become better at that.
“I missed a lot of chances. I will still keep on missing chances, I will still keep on scoring goals. So yeah, I’ll probably miss a big chance in the future as well, and people are going to criticise me, but what can I do then? Should I think of that? No, just focus on scoring more goals and to help the team.”
It was certainly hard to believe Haaland has ever been introspective or insecure about the misses, watching him holding court in City’s packed media auditorium on Tuesday with a calm and confidence befitting one of the game’s greatest players.
But he insists it has taken work to get to the luxury of that position where he can easily block out the negativity and doubts.
“It’s a mental thing,” Haaland said. “I don’t have any exercises, it’s something I’ve been working naturally on. It’s [like] with everything in life, if you overthink something it’s not good. If there’s stress in your life, it’s not good.
“My life is mainly about football so that’s my focus. I have one career so I try do my best to have the best career possible. My focus is to become the best possible version of myself, so the main thing is the mental part.
“I demand a lot from myself and all my team-mates demand a lot from me and the manager [Guardiola] and all the fans. I think it’s something to work on and in the end everything is in here [taps head]. It’s an easy answer but it’s also so difficult [to achieve].”
Analysing Haaland’s performance against United on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football show (see below), the former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry claimed the Norwegian could still improve in various aspects of his game, not least reading certain passes and make specific runs. Haaland does not disagree, even if he was reluctant to be drawn on the specifics of what Guardiola asks him to do for fear of divulging trade secrets.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
