“I Find Him Very Calm” – Erling Haaland Overlooks Outrage Amid Goal Drought, Says Norway Boss Ahead of Cyprus Matchup

Soccer fans can be very fickle at times. And in the era of social media, this has become even more apparent. Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is on a 3-game goal drought currently. Although that isn’t much, there has been a huge outcry on social media from fans and pundits alike following his short 3-match blank. This is also in spite of scoring 8 goals in 8 games in the Premier League this season. However, according to Norway manager Stale Solbakken, Haaland has been “very calm” about it.

Despite top-scoring in Europe with 52 goals in 53 games last season, winning the treble with City, and breaking records across the spectrum, Haaland has been thrown under the bus because he hasn’t hit the back of the net in his last 3 matches.

Norway manager reveals how Erling Haaland is handling current goal drought

Ahead of Norway’s upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier against Cyprus, Norwegian boss Stale Solbakken has revealed how Erling Haaland has been coping with all the news about his current purple patch in front of goal.

Speaking to the media as reported by Dagbladet, Solbakken said, “I find him very calm. I find him to be in a good mood and he had a surplus in training yesterday. In the conversation I had with him, we did not discuss this at all. It was a purely tactical discussion.”

Solbakken’s comments do reveal a bit about Haaland’s mentality, and the City frontman is perhaps also a “mentality-monster”, for academic use of the term coined by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. But it’s also certain that Haaland will be a key player for Norway if they are to qualify for the upcoming Euros to be held in Germany in 2024.

Also read: “I Didn’t Feel Like I Was in the Game” – Erling Haaland Is ‘Emotionally Detached’ at Manchester City, Says English Coach

Haaland will be critical to Norway’s hopes of qualification for Euro 2024

The Norwegian frontman Haaland has been ever present and pivotal to Norway’s resurgence as a formidable international side. The City striker has 25 goals in 26 games for Norway so far in his international career as the Scandinavian country aims to qualify for Euro 2024.

But it will not be smooth sailing for Solbakken’s side. Despite boasting players like Haaland and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, Norway currently sits in 3rd place in Group A of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. Scotland are top of the group with a 100% record winning all 5 of their qualifiers. However, the 2nd qualification spot is up for grabs with Spain currently in 2nd with 9 points from 4 games, while Norway is narrowly behind Spain with 7 points from 5 games.

It could go down to the wire between Spain and Norway with both countries vying for qualification for the tournament that is scheduled to take place in Germany next year, and it’s certain that Haaland will be at the center of it.

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