Comparable to Melo? Haaland: No one can reach that height, I am still far away

Hupu News November 04 At 4 a.m. on November 6, Manchester City will face Dortmund in the Champions League. Before the game, Manchester City forward Erling Haaland attended the press conference.

So far this season, you are in very good form and have scored a lot of goals. You have scored 30 goals in the Premier League. Do you think you can break your previous record this season? Is it realistic to set a record as a goal?

I have to ask first which record you are talking about - not that I want to sound arrogant, but I need to be clear.

The record for your Triple Crown season. That’s the total number of goals scored in a single season. Do you want to ask me how many goals I scored in total?

There were 36 goals in the Premier League at that time, and the total number of goals was probably more than 40? How much is it specifically? 48? 36 goals in the Premier League. Are you asking about the Premier League goals record or the total goals record?

Yes, I want to ask about both the Premier League and the total goals scored.

Including the national team, I scored a total of 57 goals at that time. Looking at it now, I'm on a good track, but again, I haven't thought about recording.

What do you usually think about? Do you focus on one game at a time and rely on this to motivate yourself?

Of course. We just played a game two days ago and now that's in the past. We have to focus on tomorrow's game. This is the way I think, and it must be like this - because I can't dwell too much on what has happened, I have to live in the moment and focus on the present.

One more question, do you think you are still improving as a player and as a forward?

Of course, I am making good progress now, and I am in good condition. I also pay attention to maintenance, so I am indeed constantly improving.

Hey, that "robot" goal celebration over the weekend was interesting. Where did the inspiration for this action come from?

Inspiration... I think everyone knows why I do this. If you look at the comment section below any of my photos or videos, you should be able to understand why.

Will we see this celebration again in the future?

I never plan my celebrations in advance. I do them impromptu after scoring a goal - I don't think there is any need to arrange this kind of thing in advance. So, wait and see.

You have scored several goals with headers this season, and you can successfully compete for the top in many positions on the field. Is heading the ball a focus of your training this summer and this season?

I started practicing heading in Molde in 2017. I think any skill can be continuously improved, and headers are the same. There is never "good enough" and you can always get better. So now I am still practicing heading, and the effect can be seen - I am indeed getting better, but there is still a long way to go.

In addition, this season we often see you heading the ball to clear the ball in your own penalty area. Do you also like to participate in set kicks on the defensive end?

It's not very "comfortable", but I can't complain. Of course I would rather stay in the opponent's penalty area, but as long as it helps the team, I can do anything.

When your coach came over for an interview just now, he mentioned that you are very humble. He said that when you first joined, he didn't expect you to be so humble - because most of the shooters he had worked with before only cared about scoring goals. Is your tolerance and devotion to your teammates a quality you have always had, or was it something you cultivated deliberately later on?

It's not deliberately cultivated, it's normal for me. I'm Norwegian, so just because I can score goals doesn't make me feel special. It's that simple. I'm still the same Erling, and that will never change.

In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of discussion about the Premier League's all-time scoring record. Alan Shearer, who holds this record, also talked about this matter. He believes that as long as you stay at Manchester City, you have a chance to break his record. Do you think about records like this often? Or do they have to be deliberately ignored?

I must ignore. I know about this record - actually I don't know much about other records, but I know about Shearer's Premier League goalscoring record. But again, I’m not thinking about what records I can break, that’s the last thing on my mind.

I just try to help the team win. This is my job and my only focus. I know this may sound "boring" and I know you probably expect me to say the opposite, but it is what it is.

At the beginning of the season, Guardiola said that from the first day you walked into the training base in this year's preseason, he noticed something was different about you. Did you come in with a different mindset? What are your expectations for this season? What exactly did he see as "different"?

I can’t say for sure, maybe it’s more of a feeling. I was in good shape during the preseason. Although the preseason only lasted about two weeks, which was not long, I felt very energetic at the time.

You must know that if you want to perform well in the game, you need enough energy and good condition. From the first day of pre-season, I felt full of energy and ready to start the new season. That's what I thought at the time.

The Erlin we see now is very humble. But when you're not there and we ask other coaches what they think of you, they always compare you to the world's top players like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Do you feel like you've reached their level?

Not at all, far from it. Also, no one is even close to their level, so I’m definitely not there yet.

You have played in many important competitions, such as the Premier League, Champions League, and Bundesliga, but at the national team level, you have not participated in major international competitions. What would it mean to you to be able to participate in the World Cup with Norway after this season?

In a few weeks, our Norwegian team will play several key games in Norway and Italy. These are very important games for the entire country and will be very interesting and exciting. The last time Norway participated in the World Cup was in 1998, and I wasn't even born at that time..

So I have long said that one of my career goals is to lead the Norwegian team to the World Cup and European Cup. Now, we have a good opportunity to achieve this goal, so the key is to seize the opportunity.

In those years when the Norwegian team failed to advance, would you watch events such as the World Cup and European Cup? When there are no games in the summer, will you watch games, or will you "stay away from football" completely?

I will watch it. I am a football fan myself and have been watching it for as long as I can remember. What impressed me most was the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when I was 10 years old. I make a living from football, football is my life.