Introducing the Haaland Drop – Pep Guardiola’s latest tactical innovation
Lately, Erling Haaland is doing that thing by sprinting into midfield.
That’s not so much remarkable for the sprint – he’s pretty good at that – but for the fact that Haaland features in midfield at all. For most of the season, the Manchester City striker barely touched the ball outside the box.
In the spring, however, this began to change. Here’s a closer look at an emerging pattern that could be dubbed the Haaland Drop.
The basic give and go
The simplest version of the move is one Haaland made for years before Pep Guardiola got his hands on it. He charges into midfield, putting the ball down with one touch and almost simultaneously putting his foot down to sprint back the other way. The move rips a hole in the backline to run into as the defender chasing the drop gets caught up in their own momentum and can’t switch back fast enough to catch up.
Haaland’s assist for Phil Foden against Brighton a few weeks ago is a classic example:
As fun (and terrifying) as it is to watch one of the world’s fastest forwards run into space, City don’t do this basic give-and-go very often, perhaps because of the risks involved. For one thing, it’s really hard to play an accurate one-touch pass when changing direction, and even though Haaland’s layoff game has visibly improved this season, there’s still a risk of a loose contact in the middle of the pitch and one quick counterattack. Guardiola doesn’t attach much importance to losing possession in midfield or counterattacks in general.
Even if the throw works, it’s even more difficult to attempt the immediate pass from 15 yards below the defensive line. Through balls under the best of circumstances only succeed about 40 percent of the time, and it’s particularly difficult to get it right.
An incomplete pass behind the defensive line isn’t the worst, as the entire team is behind the ball and the risk of a counterattack is lower than with a conceded loss in midfield, but it makes it harder for City to press against the sack and the game in the opposition half hold. Guardiola Really is not a big fan of end-to-end games.
But it looks like City have been working on some refined versions of the Haaland Drop over the last few months and it’s worth taking a closer look. Perhaps they’ll give us an idea of where this ever-evolving team is headed next.
The construction waste
The first variant occurs when City builds up in their own third against aggressive, heavy pressing. City centre-backs will spread wide on either side of their goalkeeper, while the pair play deep and tight in defensive midfield at slightly staggered heights, a tactic Guardiola picked up from Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi.
With the opposition’s midfield pushing up to apply pressure, City can play a third-man pass combo into a huge space for a falling Haaland:
There are some key differences between this and basic give and go. Going deeper than the usual through ball pattern, centre-backs are less keen on chasing and Haaland has more space between the lines for a controlled release.
He’s also less likely to have to pass, touch down and turn at the same time since the next look in this pattern is at a wide winger rather than directly over the top. This makes it less likely that the whole thing – Haaland’s dismissal and the next pass – will lead to a loss of possession.
It’s not quite as fun as looking for the hero’s ball behind the defensive line, but if City can find the winger, Haaland will have time to funnel him into the attacking half and catch up.
The attacking drop
We saw one in the FA Cup final against Manchester United third Version of the Haaland Drop. Unlike the other two patterns, this one happened in City’s attacking set – the final phase of the build-up where the centre-backs were pushed up to the halfway line – leaving little room behind to run.
Somehow Haaland still found some and almost scored right in front of the goal:
Let’s break this clip down bit by bit because there are some neat little touches.
A second before Haaland starts his drop, all Manchester City players react instinctively to Ruben Dias clearing the ball in midfield.
Rodri steps away from the ball to slip behind his guard Marcus Rashford, forcing Rashford to choose between staying with him or stepping forward to challenge Dias.
Seeing that Dias has time to raise his head and look for an ambitious pass, Gundogan launches a deep run down the left channel. Meanwhile, John Stones keeps moving to create a central path for a ball into the precious space between the lines. That’s where the pass will go.
After initially taking a step back to move Victor Lindelof the wrong way, Haaland punches the other way and runs towards the ball in full sprint. It puts him just enough distance from Lindelof to slow down as he receives the ball to play a cushioned one-touch throw at Rodri.
As soon as he puts the ball away, Haaland puts his foot up and hits back the other way. The Haaland drop worked – Lindelof comes and goes and Haaland sprints into a hole in United’s defense behind him.
Instead of attempting a through ball straight into the middle, Rodri plays the next pass to Gundogan, who predicted the play and went wide of the goal for the pass. He can receive while turning inside, ready to play the killer ball to Haaland. But the timing isn’t quite right – Haaland is still a few yards from the defensive line.
To buy Haaland time, Gündogan turns to Grealish and then back inside. It’s just taking a little too long. If Haaland had gone straight, he would have been offside. But the incredible thing about Haaland is that despite constantly pushing into the back line, he almost always stays on the side. In the Premier League, Haaland has been caught offside just eight times this season, 21 behind Jamie Vardy to finish 44th in the league.
Here’s a glimpse of how he does it: he slows his run for a split second by planting his front foot and stepping over it, shifting gears just long enough for Gündogan to play the ball into the box.
Varane steps forward when the ball is released, but Haaland’s cross gives him enough space to go on target from an offside position. He takes the pass and shoots in the open space just in front of the goal, while the completely beaten Lindelof half-heartedly waves for an offside call.
This is probably the best version of the Haaland Drop yet. This happens on the edge of the last third when City are in the attacking group. Therefore, the risk of a counterattack with loose ball contact is low, while the reward – Haaland breaks the defensive block and shoots from seven meters away – is high.
The passes in the third-man pattern (Dias to Haaland, Haaland to Rodri, Rodri to Gundogan) are all relatively short and easy. Your timing is near perfect. And the last ball is not a percentage pass attempt, but a half-space cross to Haaland, one of City’s favorite ways to complete an attacking move. When it doesn’t work, they are able to counter-press rather than overextend themselves in an end-to-end game.
That’s something to keep in mind the next time you see Haaland sprinting the wrong way.
Considering City’s practice with the Haaland drop, Guardiola may have finally found a good way to include his star striker outside the box.
Great news for Manchester City, terrifying for everyone else.
(Top Photo: Will Palmer/Sportsphoto/Allstar Via Getty Images)