Genius Level Movement From Erling Haaland
You just may think this is a soccer newsletter after reading today’s post. Soccer has similar play patterns to hockey, but on a much larger playing surface where it’s more obvious what is happening. There is a lot we can learn and apply to hockey.
We are going to focus on Erling Haaland, the best young striker (forward) in the world. His positioning, movement, and deception is genius-level and today we’re going to talk about what he does best.
Diagonal Running
When Haaland is on the ball and dribbling, he runs with it in diagonals. Rarely will you see him going completely vertical on the field with the ball at his feet. In this case, he runs into the path of the players tracking back. The defenders are forced to go the long way around him and are made ineffective.
This is also true off the ball when he is running for passes. He builds speed for a positive speed differential on diagonal/horizontal runs then rolls that speed to attack passes behind the defenders.
False Movement
The Borussia Dortmund star understands that giving off misinformation is critical in creating and finding open space. In this clip, Haaland starts to run toward the back post before quickly changing direction *toward the front post) where he easily beats the defender to the ball.
The next game he did the exact same thing. As soon as the defender identified he was going toward the back post and started to cover that space, he changed course and attacked the near/front post.
In the Shadows
Haaland constantly lurks between defenders and behind them as well. Even though he is 6’4”, he is able to effectively hide himself until the opportune time arises.
Just like the previous fakes, we see Haaland goes one way before going to where he really wants to go. Two things to point out:
He points so his teammate can see what he wants.
His movement to the back post occurs as soon as the defender looks away
Between Checks/Defenders
Haaland consistently positions himself between defenders. This is a great place to be as it begs the question from the defenders, “do I guard him or do you have him?” In these moments of indecision, he finds space and opportunity to run onto the end of the pass.
Ready for Rebounds
Haaland is always ready to pounce. Here we can see him get into an athletic position and start running toward the net as the shot is being taken. The rebound is there and he is easily the first to get a touch.
Controlling feet
The 20-year old understands how to turn the opponent’s feet. Watch here as he gets the defender to pivot and run towards the near post. As soon as he notices that, Haaland slips toward the back post and scores an “easy” tap-in.
Overlap with Speed
Just like hockey, many players and coaches want to use the middle of the playing surface and hold defenders in that space while generating a high-speed differential on the outside. This is a common practice in soccer that really could transfer more to hockey.
Haaland is a notable gym rat and has built his frame into a highly effective athletic machine. Yet, what separates him from the mere great players of the world is his genius-level positioning, movement, and deception.
Further reading - Ways to receive better pucks off the pass
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