Michael Owen has said that Manchester City's Erling Haaland will need to change the way he plays if he wants to be a success in the Premier League.
The Norwegian striker hit the ground running as he made his debut for City, scoring both goals in their 2-0 win at West Ham. The 22-year-old scored goals either side of half time to earn him the man of the match award as he settled in to the rhythm and intensity of the English game instantly.
The former Borussia Dortmund player took just 36 minutes to score his first Premier League goal as he dispatched a penalty that he won himself. His trademark meditation celebration soon followed and you would suspect this is something that City's opponents will grow accustomed to seeing as the season continues.
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Despite his successful start, former Manchester United and Liverpool player Michael Owen was not completely convinced that Haaland will go on to be as successful as his debut might suggest. Although impressed by the striker's performance, Owen believes the Norway international will have to start scoring different types of goals if he is to really replicate the record he had in the Bundesliga.
Speaking after the match on the Premier League Matchday Live show, he said: "Haaland's stereotypical goal for me, well there's two types. There's one, over the top, powerful, runner, finisher, one-on-one. The other one is he's massive, he's a big guy. Crosses into the box, headers, that's his bread and butter over the years.
"Apart from Liverpool, there's not going to be any teams that play a high line against City. That ball over the top that he's galloped onto that we've watched for years and years, that's pretty null and void I think.
"So are the crosses into the box - when do you ever see City chip a ball high into the box? It's never done. He's going to have to find a different way of scoring. Now there will be plenty of opportunities. The goal he scored in pre-season in the US, that's the type of goal he's going to have to score more of.
"He'll have to be more of a fox in the box in order to get the numbers he scored in the German league. I think he's very capable, but I do think he's going to have to tweak his games to get those numbers."
However, City fans will no doubt be aware that Pep Guardiola's side are no strangers to crosses into the box. Furthermore, the two goals that Haaland scored against West Ham also showed that he might not struggle to find space in-behind defensive lines quite as much as Owen implies.
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