One of Erling Haaland’s youth coaches has explained the moment he realised he had a special talent on his hands.
Haaland has become a worldwide sensation with his performances, having announced his arrival on the world stage after already establishing himself at the club level.
The Norwegian ace has been one of the most prolific players in the world since the age of 18, when he was with RB Salzburg. But according to one of his youth coaches, Haaland has always had something special.
Erling Haaland’s mentality has always been elite says youth coach
Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN, Erling Haaland’s youth coach, Espen Undheim, talked about the qualities he saw in him early on.
Having coached Haaland at age 8 when he was at Bryne FK, Undheim noticed that his eye for goal wasn’t what made him so dangerous; it was his mentality.
“What was special with him was that he was always looking to score, even if he wasn’t in a position where he could, he moved and tried to be in situations where he could score goals.
“And when he scored goals, he celebrated them a lot, running all over the pitch. Even as a kid, I could see that he had an intuition for scoring.
“At that time, he was nearly only left-footed. So he had to work a lot on his right foot to become better.”
“But it was all about his mentality. If he didn’t get the ball, he was very angry at his teammates, and if he didn’t score goals in obvious situations, he was also very angry at himself. That was special about him.
Erling Haaland’s development came much later, says sports psychologist
Leif Gunnar Smerud, a sports psychologist who worked with Haaland early on when he was climbing the youth ranks in Norway, noted how the now-Manchester City star was hungrier than most players.
However, even Smerud admitted that it took Haaland to develop his game and rise to new levels later than those around him expected.
“I saw him quite early. We have these talent camps in Norway for the 14 and 15-year-old players.
“You could see that he had a passion about him. We looked for players who really had the passion, almost more than the talent, and he had that bit. He loved football, and you could see that.
“But his development was interesting, and really took off at a later stage. He was good, of course, but he wasn’t like the one that we were all waiting for.”
Haaland has proven himself to be an elite player, but it is his mentality as a goal scorer that has made him one of the most dangerous players in the world.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
