Haaland drop-off explained after Arsenal no-show which offered zero threat
Once you set the standard, you not only have to match it, you have to beat it.
Well for Erling Haaland, simply matching it would been a stellar effort seeing as he broke every record going in front of goal in his debut season. The fact his efforts contributed to a treble add to his legend, but even without that the Norwegian produced a season that has etched his name into English football history.
And so to the sequel, which critics will tell you is rarely as good as the first one. Haaland looks to be having that exact problem as the lead actor shall we say. By this date last year he had fans in awe, scoring 20 times including three hat-tricks.
This year he's got a mere eight goals - shocking I know - to sit top of the goalscoring charts. The spotlight though is firmly on the City star who, after firing blanks against Arsenal on Sunday, has notched just once in his last five as his side suffer successive league defeats for the first time in almost five years.
His own struggles seem to be following that of his team, who are inevitably struggling to hit the heights they would without Kevin De Bruyne. Even their star studded squad experiences a drop off without the Belgian and Haaland's supply has suffered despite the dynamic added by the ever improving Julian Alvarez.
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The Norwegian failed to have an effort in the loss at Arsenal, whilst his team only had four in the entire match as they struggled to make an impact in the final third. Those quick transitions that often see Haaland burst into his powerful, long strides were missing. He was feeding off scraps.
Erling Haaland won the treble with Man City last season as he broke numerous recordsAll the stats point to the same thing so far this term - a less productive Haaland in front of goal. Now some of that is down to his service, but nevertheless, the fingers will be pointed at the man wearing No 9.
His xG against Arsenal was 0.00 and a week earlier it was 0.04 against Wolves - two of his three lowest readings since making the move to the Etihad. Last season his xG was 1.17 per game, this season it has dropped to 1.01. It is a similar story with his goal involvement, which stood at a mammoth 1.42 last term, but is now down to 1.14.
Haaland's 36 strikes in the league last year meant he scored every 77 minutes, whilst this year he's only getting a goal every 89 minutes. Most strikers admittedly would love such a strike rate, but it illustrates how the Norwegian has seen his numbers tail off.
Frustration is mounting and that was clear at full-time in north London as Haaland and Kyle Walker clashed with members of Arsenal's backroom staff. Pep Guardiola said after the match: "I know what happened but I won't say anything. They [Arsenal] know it."
By his own standards the Norwegian is enduring a poor period in front of goalHaaland hit a brace on the opening weekend against Burnley, needing less than five minutes to open his account for the year. He scored a treble against Fulham three weeks later but they are the only two occasions this term when he's scored more than once.
Last year he hit a brace on nine occasions and bagged a hat-trick four times. By this date last year he'd played in 10 league games, scoring in all but one of those. He also hit three hat-tricks and a double on the opening day against West Ham.
Haaland's stellar year last time out saw him beat Mohamed Salah's record, which he set in his debut year back in 2017-18. The Egyptian suffered similar struggles despite picking up the Golden Boot once again the following year, although he scored 10 fewer (32 in 2017/18 and 22 in 2018/19). After eight games though he'd scored just three times, highlighting how it isn't always easy for mercurial forwards to be the relentless machines we often think they are.
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