Manchester City dropped points at the weekend and it was an evening to forget for Erling Haaland – and his former manager Jesse Marsch is sure he will have been straight back on the training ground practicing his heading.
City took a point against the Blues at the Etihad, which was a somewhat frustrating result.
City have a plethora of good chances in the game and on another day may have scored four or five.
Haaland had an uncharacteristically poor showing in front of goal, failing to score despite having nine shots.
That gave him the unwanted record of becoming the first City player not to score a goal from 9+ shots since Sergio Aguero against Manchester United in 2017.
Haaland had a few headed chances in particular but could not convert – and Jesse Marsch believes the striker will have been straight back on the training pitch trying to improve…
Jesse Marsch guarantees Erling Haaland will have been practicing headers after Man City 1-1 Chelsea
Marsch made a guest appearance last night on Monday Night Football, with Sky Sports’ flagship show providing coverage of the game between Everton and Crystal Palace.
There was some discussion about City’s game with Chelsea at the weekend and perhaps inevitably, Haaland’s struggles in front of goal came into focus.
It was a very rare sight to see Haaland missing so many opportunities.
Several of the chances he had were from crosses in but Haaland was unable to score with his head. It is something that he’s really worked on in the past, and Marsch has no doubt Haaland will have been back on the training pitch after the game to work on them.
He said: “He always knew this was something that he wanted to get better at and one of his few weaknesses, if you will.
“I guarantee after a match like this he will be on the training pitch taking headers, taking crosses, trying to make sure the next time he gets put in this position he is ready to finish.”
Marsch is right
It is hard to disagree with Marsch – who managed Haaland at RB Salzburg – here, because we all know what Haaland is like.
One of the reasons he is as good as he is, is because of the mentality he has.
Haaland is world-class and one of the main reasons for that is that he is never satisfied and always striving to get better.
He was visibly frustrated straight after the final whistle, and the fire will be burning inside him after his performance against Chelsea. City fans can be assured he’ll be determined there are no repeats of that showing against Brentford tonight.
