The Norwegian striker failed to impress in his first official outing for Man City.
Erling Haaland has vowed to use his performance against Liverpool in the Community Shield as a source of motivation.
The former Dortmund star was in Manchester City’s lineup for their last week’s clash against the Reds. However, his efforts were not enough to save his side from a 3-1 loss against the Citizens.
He had a golden chance to possibly bring City back into the game in the dying minutes. But his unexpected miss from close range ended his underwhelming performance in the Community Shield.
Speaking to the Athletic ahead of his Premier League debut this weekend, Haaland admitted he is still surprised by that miss.
“When I look back, it’s like, ‘How can you miss there?'” he told The Athletic. “But, you know, this will probably happen to me again. That’s football. You say you didn’t sleep well and I never sleep good after games.
“But it’s kind of motivation, to score or to do something in the next game. It’s the same when you score two goals – ‘Ah, I want to do it again!’
“So actually, no matter what happens it’s motivation and that’s what’s good about it. But, of course, it is not a good feeling! It’s the worst feeling ever!”
‘The next situation is realy important’
More pressure mounted on Haaland due to Darwin Nunez’s impressive performance that day. The Liverpool newboy went on to score in his side’s 2-2 draw against Fulham on Saturday.
Haaland will most likely play his Premier League debut when City open their Premier League campaign against Bournemouth on Saturday.
“As a striker, I think it’s really important that when you’re in the game to not think too much,” the 22-year-old added.
“If I’m going to go into my next game thinking about the chance I missed last game, it’s not good.
“You have to go into the game hungry. It doesn’t matter what happened before, if you scored three goals, if you scored zero goals, if you haven’t scored in a while.
“You have to go into the game with the same mentality. And so I think about not thinking too much about it.
“Maybe it’s to be ready because you know you will get chances. It is about being ready for the next action and not thinking of the last one.
“Because you never know when you can get the ball – a cross, a deflection, a rebound. The next situation is really important.”
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