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Other SportsHaaland shows strength of mind but admits 'I will keep missing chances'

Haaland shows strength of mind but admits ‘I will keep missing chances’

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland concedes he will miss “big chances” in the future but insists it won’t affect his self-belief.

Haaland was guilty of spurning a gilt-edged opportunity in Sunday’s Manchester derby, volleying over from a yard out, but put it behind him to fire home City’s third in a convincing 3-1 win.

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Asked about his form, and how he mentally copes with missing a chance like that, he said: “Last year I got 36 goals and I was the top scorer. This season’s top scorer has 18 goals so you can think about it two ways if it has been a good season or not for me. I think we are doing pretty good as a team, that is my main focus of course.

“I have missed a lot of chances and I will still keep missing chances but I will still score goals.

“I’ll probably miss a big chance in the future and people will criticise me. Should I think about that? No, I should try to score goals and help the team.”

Haaland admitted he hasn’t always found it that straightforward.

“It’s been a challenge for me,” he added. “When I was young I would start crying if we lost and I missed a lot of chances so I have been working on it a lot. I demand a lot from myself and I know my team-mates and manager demand a lot from me. It is something to work on.

“It’s a mental thing, I don’t have any exercises, it’s something I have been working naturally on. 

“If you overthink something it’s not good. If you stress on something it’s not good. My life is mainly about football so that’s my focus. I have one career and my focus is to be the best version of myself.”

Haaland accepted there are things he can work on to improve his game further. 

“There are a lot of things I can get better at, people say I am good at scoring goals but I missed the biggest chance ever two days ago so I can become better at that.”

Jon Fisher
Jon Fisher
Jon has over 20 years' experience in sports journalism having worked at the Press Association, Goal and Stats Perform, covering three World Cups, an Olympics and numerous other major sporting events.
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