Erling Haaland simply has so many outstanding attributes to his game that it is hard to pinpoint one factor that makes him such a special player.
Stephen Warnock singled Haaland out as the greatest finisher in Premier League history.
Owen Hargreaves described Haaland as “crazy strong” and urged defenders to be touch-tight on him.
The Manchester City striker is lauded for several of the facets that make him a great number nine.
The best players in the world, like the £51 million man cannot be defined by a singular feature.
Otherwise, they would be relatively easy to tame for the teams that come up against them.
Whether that is Haaland or even the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Phil Foden, the multifaceted nature of their skillset is why several teams seem clueless against them.
Lineker shares special Man City superstar trait
As one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of English football, there are not many better than Gary Lineker in analysing the 24-year-old’s game.
The former Barcelona frontman scored 331 goals in his career for club and country.
Furthermore, the veteran has also played against and watched some of the greatest frontmen the game has ever seen.
Lineker came to Haaland’s defence after he was being slated for his form as well as his all-round game last season.
Gary Lineker was full of praise for the Norwegian’s movement as he broke down his display in Manchester City’s 3-1 win against West Ham United on The Rest Is Football podcast.
Alan Shearer praised Haaland for his touch and finish to hammer his second goal past Alphonse Areola during the same episode.
Lineker said: “I thought yesterday, his movement and it just shows you the dangers of playing a fairly high line against Manchester City, which, you know, is nice to see a team not just sitting and defending the whole game but boy oh boy, when he goes and make those runs behind, I mean, that is difficult to defend.”
“He times them so perfectly. And the way he gets the ball, he tries to shift it only his left foot which is, I mean, on his left foot, he’s such a fabulous finisher. This was a masterclass in centre-forward play.”
Erling Haaland could class his movement as his best trait
Like every striker, Haaland can miss the occassional chance.
However, even if the treble-winner is in poor form or if a day comes when he undergoes a decline in his athleticism, his movement will likely ensure he always seems to be correctly placed to score goals.
Haaland’s ability to sniff out a variety of chances, whether it be inside the box or via a darting run in behind the opposition defence is why he is such a tough striker to play against.
There are defenders such as Virgil van Dijk and Antonio Rudiger around world football who have shown that they can compete with him physically.
But Haaland’s footballing intelligence as a number nine is perhaps why his goalscoring record is second to none so far in his career.
Much like how the former Borussia Dortmund goalscorer would acknowledge how much he enjoys playing in such a creative Manchester City side, his teammates perhaps would say the same as his movement allows them to pick him out.
As a former striker, Gary Lineker would especially have appreciated Haaland’s showing on Saturday.
