Any casual observer of the Beautiful Game will know that Erling Haaland is not Lionel Messi, even with the left foot in common.
The “Striking Viking” is almost a foot taller, standing at 6’5, while the “Atomic Flea” is a diminutive 5’7.
Of course, there’s that short matter of the distance of more than 12 000km between Argentina and Norway.
But a student of the game would have noticed that the Haaland of the opening five games of the season is more similar to the Argentinian than the one who joined Manchester City three seasons ago.
The Vikings’ first touch this season is as effective as Messi’s — for the first time, probably in his career, when the Norwegian receives the ball, his teammates are confident he will return it to them.
Haaland’s transformation
In his last game, Haaland was a transformed man, or shall we say, striker.
He dropped into midfield with ease and played a few through passes to find his teammates behind Arsenal’s last line.
A day and night difference from the unvarnished diamond that joined City from Dortmund in the Bundesliga in 2022.
You could consider him a marvel. The improvement from last season is obvious, and I fear those who doubted who would win the English Premier League (EPL) golden boot this season are already in hiding.
Haaland will face South Africa’s Lyle Foster on Saturday at 4pm, when Burnley travel to the City of Manchester Stadium for a match against the Blues.
If both are on their game, this will be a bloodbath for the Turf Moor lot.
Earlier, at 1.30pm, the Red Devils of Manchester would have kicked this round of the EPL off at the Gtech Community Stadium against Brentford, with every game for the immediate future likely to be manager Ruben Amorim’s last.
In their opener, United outplayed the Gunners even though they ended up on the wrong side of the 1-nil defeat, and then they put on a succession of less than stellar performances until they met their neighbours two games ago, when they were decidedly awful.
They bounced back nicely to beat Chelsea in their last outing with the proviso that they played more than an hour with a man advantage after the Blues keeper Robert Sánchez saw red with five minutes on the clock.
Not easy for United
Brentford have not been the class act they were before their opponents on the day poached their best player, Bryan Mbeumo, and their manager moved across to Tottenham Hotspur.
But this won’t be easy for United – unless, of course, their performance against Chelsea was achieved only because they had an extra player.
For their troubles, the Blues host Brighton at the Bridge also at 4pm, with the latter seemingly having found their mojo after a poor start to the season. Points cannot be guaranteed to either; whoever bags them will have to sweat.
Later in the evening, at 9pm, Hotspur, as they now prefer to be identified, welcome Wolves.
The game of the round, though, is Newcastle United versus Arsenal at St James’ Park on Sunday at 5.30pm.
What is significant about this game is the fate of host manager Eddie Howe. From the beginning of last season, the team has struggled for cohesion and structure.
This persisted throughout, indicating that the manager might be struggling. In the main, his saviour was striker Alexander Isak’s individual brilliance.
The sweet Swede has joined Liverpool, leaving a huge hole in his former team.
Of course, their opponents are no goal machines either. In fact, to say Mikel Arteta’s team has been crippled by timidity against the bigger sides would be an understatement.
It was by luck that Arsenal did not lose to Manchester United and their neighbours, City.
They shouldn’t lose to this blunt Newcastle, but a win is no guarantee either way – a draw is more likely.
Fans’ doubts
But these are the perfect “big” opponents for Arsenal because they pose little threat, so Arteta will have no reason to be afraid. However, the fans have plenty of reasons to doubt their manager and team.
At the end of their draw with City last time out, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said City had shown them respect by sitting back and conceding possession.
For those who stumble upon the game while flipping through the channels, this will be encouraging, but in reality, it isn’t.
Pep Guardiola has been evolving his football quietly for some time, so not much should be read into the lower possession statistic.
A few seasons ago, City started to struggle after about five games. Guardiola found a solution by fielding two number six players, Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan. Once the team stabilised, he switched to one again.
Anyone who knows that Guardiola’s name is Josep will tell you that even his belief that Haaland is a footballer shows adaptation, let alone the fact that he plays him every week.
But of course, when there’s nothing else to celebrate, one is tempted to celebrate nothing, à la Rice.
That is not to say Guardiola now thinks less of his protégé, who now turns out for Inter Miami across the pond in the US.
