It’s remarkable to think now but, when Erling Haaland first arrived at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola had notions about making him more involved in play. The Catalan wanted to “complete” him as a player. Even Guardiola soon realised it was better to let him at it. Haaland isn’t seen as a particularly good trainer. He’s not like the relentless Kevin De Bruyne.
That changes, of course, when the ball gets to Haaland. The City players can’t get near him because they can’t get around him. From there, the Norwegian offers the kind of devastating finishing they can’t get over.
The City squad and staff are as awe-struck as the rest of us at Haaland’s truly unique marriage of physical power, athleticism and pure finesse. It is genuinely unlike anything that’s ever been seen in football before, a player without any sort of precedent. It says much that a regular comparison is Jonah Lomu, although it’s not like Haaland simply powers through defences. He usually beats them by subtlety and movement rather than muscularity.
That distinctiveness, to go with the destruction Haaland wreaks, has ensured everyone wants to watch him. That includes teammates and even opposition players. Gary Neville touched on something when he spoke of people needing to get to a stadium to see this “superhuman”. Haaland, put short, is box office.
Even Guardiola spoke of how, in every press conference this season, “out of 50 questions, 45 are for Erling”.
That is also something very different for City, and very powerful – for reasons way beyond the ridiculous number of goals he will score.
Because, as exquisite as the Guardiola era has been in terms of the football, the team haven’t exactly been appointment viewing. They’re not doing anything especially new in terms of how the game is played. They’re not Guardiola’s Barcelona 2008-11. It was the historical importance of that side which saw City target the Catalan in the first place, in order to gradually transform the profile of the club. He has done that to a considerable degree but not to completion. Guardiola has given them records and respectability, but he hasn’t brought them true reverence.
Some of that is down to the nature of the project, and that doesn’t even extend to the criticism of Abu Dhabi. It is the perception that Guardiola has been given the perfect laboratory conditions to try and produce perfect football, but it is not uncharitable to say it leaves many a little cold. It is almost the epitome of Arsene Wenger’s famous description of “sterile domination”, as he brilliantly bloodlessly taps the ball in at the back post forever. Even an admirer like Neville spoke “respectfully” of how he “got bored watching them”. A common line has been that City’s football provokes an intellectual reaction rather than an emotional one.
It isn’t exactly a trade secret that articles about City don’t get the engagement that the traditional powers do, or that their matches don’t get the same viewing figures.
That isn’t true of Haaland. It is like Guardiola’s laboratory has been given this “superhuman”, pushing it all to a level beyond what was imagined.
Haaland is like Barcelona 2008-11 in that sense. Everyone wants to see him. This is something special. That is also something specifically planned, and where City’s ownership is hugely relevant.
Many involved figures say signing Haaland was in part about planning for a post-Guardiola future. It is about developing a football identity beyond the Catalan genius, given that the manager has been so central to that identity. They want that “star quality” they haven’t yet had. Similar thinking influenced the signing of Haaland’s new good friend Jack Grealish, but even a talented playmaker considered a “British sex symbol” can’t match the sheer sensation of Haaland.
It is what so strikes when you watch him.
The emotional response to Haaland is so immediate that it’s difficult not to be blown away. It’s no longer about how this team has been put together but this “machine” has been put together. Just seeing Haaland move towards goal is spectacular. It also means it’s difficult to think of pretty much anything else – not least the very nature of this project.
That is part of the point. The sheer prowess of Haaland moves the project onto another level. To be box office is very different to being respected or only loved by your own fans. It gives City, and by extension their owners, an awe they didn’t previously have. It further dilutes all discussion.
That is after all the very root of what is going on here, but to a different level. It is the political exploitation of the emotional power of football. It’s an immensely powerful thing in itself.
It gives real glamour, cachet, whatever you want to call it. You only have to walk down the street to see the amount of Air Jordan Paris Saint-Germain shirts. That sort of societal penetration is well worth any limited criticism from media and human rights bodies.
The greatest show in the game happens to be one of the most questionable shows in the game, but it’s all too irresistible to get into any of that.
It should instead move the very discussion of sportswashing onto another level, too. Up until now, in the relatively brief time this has been a subject of discussion, players have generally been given a pass. They aren’t seen in the same way managers such as Eddie Howe are, because they aren’t front-facing figureheads who have to regularly speak for the club in that way.
They’re instead ultra-focused professionals, who have short careers and just want to maximise it. The stratified nature of the sport means that now regularly requires playing for a sportswashing project, and a fair argument is that players can’t be held responsible for regulatory decisions taken way above their heads. They’re just young guys looking to make the best of themselves, when the real questions should be for actual decision-makers.
But can that still be true if the footballers themselves become disproportionately powerful tools? It is a difficult discussion in itself. The players are after all being used, too. Haaland, or Lionel Messi, or Kylian Mbappe, make these projects much more watchable and acceptable than they would otherwise be. It becomes difficult not to applaud it on.
It is all the more acute a question for Haaland given he comes from a country where the national discussion on sportswashing and politics in football has been more animated than anywhere else. Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness was lauded for her comments on the Qatar World Cup while in Doha for April’s Fifa Congress before the draw.
The work of outlets like Josimar has influenced immense resistance to what is regularly described as “the slave World Cup”. Mathias Normann has been exiled from the national team for choosing to continue playing in Russia for Dynamo Moscow.
But the golden boy who plays for an Abu Dhabi sportswashing project? Haaland has only really faced the question once, when on international duty in September.
“I haven’t met them so I don’t know them like that,” the Norwegian answered when asked about human rights violations and the United Arab Emirates imprisoning their own citizens. “Those are pretty big allegations you’re making. When you put it like that, there’s not much else I can do than not say much about it. I think the words you are using are too strong.”
Matthew Hedges, the British academic accused of spying in the UAE and who claimed he was tortured when imprisoned, was subsequently interviewed in Norwegian media.
The subject provoked something of a backlash but not towards Haaland. National team manager Stale Solbakken said it was “overkill” and “a bit out there” to link Hedges detainment to Haaland. There has generally been a sense of protection towards him.
That is the persuasive power of a sportsman as talented as this. They can conjure incredible images and deliver dreams.
It is precisely what these state projects are seeking to use. It’s box office. You can’t take your eyes off Haaland, which is just as many would like it.
