Can left-footed Foden provide Haaland with the same passing angles as De Bruyne?

May 22, 2024

We are all still finding our feet after just two weekends of the new Premier League season.

It’s too early to highlight any true patterns for the campaign ahead; the sample size is simply too small. However, that hasn’t stopped The Athletic from spotting some quirks from the action there’s been so far.

This week’s hot take is a bold one: Erling Haaland will not score as many goals this season as he did in the previous one.

Why? Well, the phrase “finding your feet” — or rather, “finding the correct foot” — might be highly pertinent here.

Allow The Athletic to explain…

Kevin De Bruyne’s lengthy absence will be a huge blow to Manchester City, with the 32-year-old set to be sidelined for “a few months” with a hamstring injury picked up on the opening day of the season against Burnley.

And nobody will feel the effects of De Bruyne’s absence more than Haaland, as he created 25 chances (including one from a corner) for City’s new centre-forward in the Premier League last season — the highest combination between two players in the City squad and nearly double the amount of the Norwegian’s next-most-prolific provider, Phil Foden.

Captain Obvious, reporting for duty.

But wait, there’s more.

Few players in world football have the same creative power as De Bruyne, and the connection between the right-footed Belgian and the left-footed Haaland has been fruitful in commonly finding the latter at the back post — as you can see by the open-play chances he created for the Scandinavian powerhouse.

The technique is otherworldly at times, but examples like the assist for Haaland against Manchester United in October show the ball to be drifting away from the goal with the natural curl imparted by his right foot…

… to meet the instep of Haaland’s stronger left peg.

From the start of the 2019-20 season onwards, 227 of Haaland’s shots for Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and now City have been with his left foot, to just 54 with his right. He will commonly look for a run across a defender that will allow him to receive the ball facing the goal on his stronger side.

You only have to look at examples such as De Bruyne’s passes against Wolves in January in the Premier League…

… and Inter Milan in June’s Champions League final…

… to see the favoured runs Haaland likes to make towards the left channel.

This is not restricted to the times De Bruyne is on the ball, with all City players tasked with spotting his runs to receive the ball with an open body on his favoured side:

That all brings us to this season.

With De Bruyne out of action for the foreseeable future, Foden looks to be the man to fill the creative void in Pep Guardiola’s attack. His dazzling performance against Newcastle United last weekend certainly suggests he is up for the task of chiefly occupying De Bruyne’s role in the right half-space.

No Premier League player has created more than his nine open-play chances in the early stages of this campaign, but does a left-footed Foden provide a left-footed Haaland with the same service?

When drifting to the left side of the pitch, the answer is yes — with Haaland’s favoured run found intelligently by Foden here against Newcastle:

However, when Foden drove forward from central areas — or the right half-space — something changed.

Rather than make his favoured run to his left (red dashed arrow), Haaland moves to the right channel (white dashed arrow), knowing that the England international will be less able to find him with the natural pass trajectory from his left foot.

When receiving the ball, this forces Haaland to control it with the outside of his left foot, check inside and sharply stop his momentum towards goal…

…. leaving an unclear shot as his only option:

Only a minute later, the same action occurs. Haaland elects to run to the right channel (white dashed arrow) rather than the left (red dashed arrow) as Foden dribbles at the Newcastle back four:

When Foden plays the pass, Haaland again controls the ball with the outside of his left boot, slowing the attack down…

… and is forced to shoot with his weaker right foot with multiple defenders around him:

It is a subtle difference, but the angle and trajectory of the incoming pass determined the outcome of the sequence on both occasions.

It harks back to former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry’s analysis on U.S. TV’s CBS Sports last season, outlining how Haaland must adapt to the different skill sets of his team-mates to maximise his own efficiency.

“We all know that when Kevin De Bruyne has the ball, he can find (Haaland) in any way. We know he likes to make that sudden burst move,” Henry said.

“Arsene (Wenger, his long-time Arsenal manager) told me, ‘Ask yourself the right question’. When I was a striker, I used to complain about everything. The boss said, ‘Do you think Dennis Bergkamp can give you the ball the same way Freddie Ljungberg does?’.”

The same might apply to Foden now.

If he is to continue in his right-sided role, he and Haaland might need to refine their link-up as two left-footers. Qualitatively, the passes Foden can make from central areas will naturally have a different trajectory with his left boot compared with a player who is strongest on his right.

At Premier League level, small details are important and a yard on either side could be the difference between getting played through on goal and being crowded out by the opposition defenders.

Of course, Foden will not be the only provider for Haaland. As naturally right-footed players, Mateo Kovacic and Julian Alvarez will undoubtedly find the 23-year-old when he is making those seam runs to the left channel, and that is before considering Jack Grealish coming inside from the left wing.

Hey, it may be nothing — and as we said earlier, it is certainly too early in the season to call this a trend — but that game with Newcastle provided a window into the adaptation that might be required from Haaland and his team-mates over the coming months in the absence of De Bruyne’s wonderful right foot.

(Top photo: Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)

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