'Is he still partying?' - how an Erling Haaland hangover could play into Scotland hands in Norway
The striking phenomenon’s carousing - along with Manchester City team-mate Jack Grealish - appears to have been as epic as the success enjoyed by Pep Guardiola’s men through landing an historic treble. The no-half-measures celebrations led one newspaper to claim the City players had been on a four-day bender subsequent to their Champions League final triumph over Internazionale on Saturday night. Scotland assistant John Carver jokingly gives the impression he wouldnt mind if Haaland, following a 52-goal campaign, is dragged round an equal number of fleshpots by the gregarious Grealish before turning his attention to leading the line for Norway.
“[I keep saying to folk] ‘is he still partying?’. He's had more parties than we did when we qualified for Euro 2020…” said the 58-year-old. “Listen, he’s a professional…surely he’s looked after himself. Let’s see what he’s like when he gets there. He’s a super player, for sure, but they’ll be worried about some of our players as well.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn truth, there can only be genuine concerns within the Norway camp - ahead of an encounter they dare not lose in going into it five points adrift of Steve Clarek’s side - over a hangover for Haaland. Not of the physical variety induced by too many bleary-eyed late nights. Instead, a psychological comedown as the forward refocuses following the ultimate career high aged only 22. Norway’s reliance on Haaland can hardly be over-stated. In the past 18 months they have won only once without his finding the net. Indeed, the awkward spot they occupy in Group A might hardly be unrelated to Haaland being unavailable with injury for the loss and a draw away to Spain and Georgia with which they opened their tilt for next summer’s German finals.
“Listen, it’s possible,” siad Carver of the possibility a sense of anti-climax could beset the world’s most vaunted goal-plunderer in Oslo’s Ullevaal stadium on Saturday evening. “[But] some players are better when they play for their country. [Aleksandar] Mitrovic was a better player for Serbia than he initially was for Fulham and Newcastle. For sure. But let’s see. He’s won the treble and had a fantastic season. Sometimes it’s very difficult keeping yourself at that level all of the time.” It was put to Carver that Grealish ensuring he isn’t so much on the level or the straight and narrow for a few more evenings could assist the Scotland cause. ”Yeah, yeah. Jack will look after him…” he said with a grin.
Haaland’s return to his national set-up following a nine-month absence means scouting Norway over recent games won’t necessarily provide the full picture. But Carver is convinced Scotland will have all bases covered.
"We look at quite a lot of footage. We've had plenty of time to prepare…well, I've had plenty of time because I've got nothing else to do,” said the part-time SFA employee. “We look at everything, all the options, what they could do. They could possibly go with two strikers, for example. They have to win the game to close the gap on us. They are at home and need to take advantage so they might do something different. We know enough about how they play. The style doesn't change that much, depending on personnel. Obviously, if you've got Haaland through the middle then you are talking about a different player. We know about them and we are prepared for that.”
Clarke’s right-hand man, in truth, is more centred on the state of mind and body, and the shaping up, of the squad he is helping prepare - in what he believes has been the best possible fashion following lessons learned from last June’s gut-wrenching World Cup play-off defeat to Ukraine. And Carver confesses to delighting in the unexpected in terms of how Scotland’s playing personnel have not allowed themselves to be intoxicated by their heroics in March’s humungous 2-0 win over Spain. Even as a victory for the ages - which allowed them to bag a full six points from their Group A opening double header - that was dismissed by City’s Champions League matchwinner Rodri as the product of “time-wasting”, “rubbish” football.
"I was quite surprised how calm it was [in the camp] because it's a big scalp,” the Scotland no.2 said. “Obviously, we heard what Rodri had to say about it. The calmness and focus was: 'Let's put it to bed, go back to your clubs, look after yourselves and then we get together again in Spain.' I have to talk about this camp. Last year, we didn't get enough time with the players before that big [World Cup] game. We didn't want to make the same mistake so we decided to bring the guys in. It was a super camp for five days. We actually did some double sessions and some of the lads were jokingly asking if it was pre-season again. It was important to get them together because of what happened the previous year.”
Carver, though, won’t become hung-up on the potential importance of Scotland’s assignment in Oslo. The general belief is that a win for Clarke’s men would kill the threat of them being overhauled by the Norwegians in opening up an eight-point gap with five games remaining. With two teams qualifying from Group A, Scotland would then be in the best possible shape to go through with Spain. The objective for Scotland is a more straightforward one for their Geordie coach.
"The most important thing is a result. Yeah, we want to go there and win the game, but we want to get a positive result,” he said. “Coming away with a draw would be a positive result. What we have to do is improve our away performances. We've been great at home but we need to be better away from home - better performances and results. What a way to start against a top side with excellent players. That gives us an idea of where we are.
“It would be huge to win but if we do that, I'm confident the guys won't get carried away because we've got level-headed lads. They won't get ahead of themselves.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.