Erling Haaland has revealed the secret behind his ability to avoid being caught offside, despite the large number of runs he makes in behind opposing defences.
The Norwegian striker scored the winning goal for Manchester City in Sunday’s derby against Manchester United, in a match where the goal was initially ruled out for offside before the decision was overturned and the goal was allowed to stand.
“I’m usually not offside, so I spoke to referee Michael Oliver and told him that I took it a little personally that he thought I was offside. Then I looked towards Enzo, the coach, and he gave me a thumbs-up. Somehow, I understood that it was a goal, so I prepared myself to celebrate,” Haaland told Sky Sports.
The goal was confirmed, while Pro Ref later admitted that the officials had failed to identify Enzo Fernandez’s involvement from an offside position.
However, the incident helped highlight a remarkable statistic about Haaland. Since joining Manchester City in 2022, he has been caught offside just 25 times in the Premier League, despite being one of the forwards who makes the most runs in behind defensive lines.
In fact, since 2022, only four players have made more runs in behind the defence than Haaland, who averages 9.5 such runs per match.
“This is not the first season in which I’ve barely been caught offside. I think it started when I was 13 years old. I try to stay in an onside position,” the Norwegian said.
Haaland explained that this ability is the result of many years of training, dating back to the time when he played for his childhood club, Bryne, in Norway.
He also sees the use of VAR as a factor that has helped him in this regard.
“If you are offside with VAR, you have no chance. If you are just slightly offside and there is a situation like that, there is a very good chance that I won’t be offside,” Haaland added.
The statistics show that the Norwegian does not avoid making runs in behind the defence simply to reduce the risk of being caught offside. Instead, he continues to attack the spaces, but with remarkable precision when timing his runs.
