Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland: "I could have scored 50 goals last season, I need to be more clinical"
Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland says he needs "to be more clinical, more ruthless" in front of goal, and believes he could have scored "over 50 times" last season.
That's right. The 20-year-old, who hit a hat-trick on his Bundesliga debut against Augsburg and scored 44 goals in 40 competitive outings in 2019/20, is determined to get even more.
"I still need to become a much better footballer, that’s what drives me on every day," he told local Dortmund newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten.
Watch: All of Haaland's Bundesliga goals
"My finishing needs to improve, I need to be more clinical, more ruthless. I also need to get better in linking up with my teammates. I know that."
He has already started the 2020/21 season as he means to go on, firing in a brace in Dortmund’s 3-0 victory at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 1.
And the Norway international has a clear strategy mapped out as to how he will reach his desired level.
"I watch replays of my goals quite a lot," he said. "I'm constantly trying to learn more about goalscoring. I don't only watch the goals I score, I watch other players' as well: how and where do they score? What's their position before the ball arrives? How do they move?
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"I analyse all these little details that could help me to score more goals. So I've watched all 44 of my goals from last season quite a lot."
Aside from reflecting on what he did right, Haaland also looks at the moments he got wrong in a bid to eke out every last drop of potential.
"I actually think about all the chances I missed," he continued. "I could easily have scored over 50 goals last season. I don't want that to sound arrogant – it's actually a good thing because it shows me that there's room for improvement. I'm going to try to work on a few things so that I keep getting better."
In addition to improving his finishing, those "things" include harmonising better with his teammates: "My first half-season was OK in Dortmund, but it can still get better: the runs we make, the way we link-up with each other. We're getting better all the time and I feel good in the system we play. Lucien Favre and I talk about a lot of little things and details. We're making progress."
Watch: Dortmund's teenage dreamers
Yet off-pitch improvements are just as important to Haaland as the tweaks he can make on it. For example, he has video fitness sessions with a personal trainer in Lebanon, and wears special glasses at night to filter out harmful blue light from electronic devices
"I use ice baths a lot. I see it as a key to tickling out a couple more percentage points. I use special glasses at night because they help me to have a deeper and better sleep. For me it's all about little details and percentage points in order to improve every day."
And that is as true on a personal level as it is for the team as a whole: "Dortmund are a big club with big expectations. I'm going to do everything I can to take us to the next level."
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