Erling Braut Haaland had a weakness:
– He is a global phenomenon. If it had been a guy from another country, from Argentina or something, I would have been totally hypnotized anyway, says TV 2’s football expert Erik Thorstvedt.
On Thursday, he is a guest in “Norwegian conditions”, which you can see at 20.30 on TV 2 Nyheter.
The wild effect Haaland has had on the Manchester City supporters is discussed, how important manager Pep Guardiola has been and not least how the 22-year-old became a superstar.
– I saw him from when he was quite young. He was good, but he played a notch higher: in one age group above his own, says Erik Thorstvedt.
– He wasn’t big. I think that has actually been a key for him. As he was not physically superior to the others, and in fact a little smaller, he had to work a little harder. He often had to be smarter than the others, Thorstvedt explains.
Precisely how smart Haaland is in his movements has been highlighted as one of the advantages of the jærbow. This is most recently seen against FC Copenhagen:
Well, Haaland also has physics on his side.
– When the physics and everything else “kicked in”, he became a complete monster, says Thorstvedt.
– He had a bit of an attitude. He could be a little angry and whine a little. Then, when the hand turned on, he was huge. He had that extreme ability that he carried on with, which is to get the ball over the line and make sure it goes into the net. He is extremely good there.
The research on the Haaland environment
Martin Kjeøen Erikstad, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Sports Science and Physical Education at the University of Agder, has researched the football environment in which Haaland grew up.
Not specifically because of the Manchester City star, but because apparently everything was so successful at Bryne.
– The whole environment looked exciting. There were many who became good, and many who appeared to be very good. Today, six players have turned professional. In addition, they took care of the width in a very good way. Almost none finish. The mix of top and width made us very fascinated by the environment Haaland has been a part of, says Erikstad in “Norwegian conditions”.
– What do you think other teams can learn from Bryne?
– There are many things. One is perhaps that it happened on the children’s terms, but that it was also of high quality. Then they made a good move when they came up in youth sports. In my estimation, anyway.
Erikstad continues:
– It was not the case that they selected according to the first and second teams. Instead, the players were distributed based on interest. Those who wanted to train a lot were in the eager group, and those who wanted to train a little less were in the other. But they still share training time. And both groups were taken equally seriously.
Find out more about the research team’s findings and the coach discovery, which was an eye-opener for Erik Thorstvedt in “Norwegian conditions” on Tv2 play.
You can see the program every Thursday at 17.30 and on TV 2 Play at any time.