The 2023/24 Premier League season is in the books and Manchester City made history by winning their fourth successive title.
Manchester City is the home of the Premier League’s top goal scorer, Erling Haaland, who finished the season with 27 goals.
Despite winning the Golden Boot, there is a feeling among some onlookers that Haaland has been below his best this season.
Another Premier League winners' medal, same celebration 😬🏅@ErlingHaaland 👏 pic.twitter.com/5XDGqM0az7— Premier League (@premierleague) May 20, 2024
Another Premier League winners' medal, same celebration 😬🏅@ErlingHaaland 👏 pic.twitter.com/5XDGqM0az7
Some of that criticism will come from the fact Haaland broke the record for the most goals scored by a player in a single Premier League season in the previous campaign.
The Norwegian scored 36 goals in the 2022/23 Premier League, which was his first season in English football. It was a remarkable achievement and was always going to be difficult to match.
Haaland finished the 2023/24 Premier League season having scored 9 fewer goals than the previous campaign.
He recorded two hattricks, which came against Fulham at the beginning of the season and one against Wolverhampton Wanderers towards the end of the season.
That is only 50% of the number Haaland achieved in the previous season having scored four hattricks in the 2022/23 Premier League campaign. So, immediately that is a 6 goal difference.
Having landed the Golden Boot this season, Haaland became the first player since Harry Kane in the 2016/17 season for Tottenham Hotspur to win the award outright in back-to-back seasons.
What some people fail to point out is that Haaland’s 27 Premier League goals this season have come in only 31 matches.
In the previous season, Haaland scored 36 goals in 35 matches, meaning he played 4 more games.
In total, Haaland has scored 63 goals in 66 Premier League fixtures, which is a tremendous return for a player who is only 23 years old.
Haaland’s 27 goals this season mostly came from inside the penalty area and that is where he does his best work.
Haaland scored 20 goals using his left foot and 25 goals inside the penalty area, with 7 of those strikes coming from the penalty spot.
Even if we remove the penalties, leaving Haaland with 20 goals, he would still be the top goal scorer in the Premier League this season, as other players would also lose goals, including Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak.
That would leave Olli Watkins of Aston Villa and Haaland’s Manchester City teammate, Phil Foden, one goal behind on 19.
For every 26 touches of the ball in a Premier League game in the 2023/24 season, Haaland scored a goal.
In his Premier League career, Haaland has scored a goal every 85 minutes, which means if he is on the pitch for 90 minutes, he is highly likely to find the back of the net.
With no international football for Norway this summer, Haaland will be rested and ready to go for the 2024/25 Premier League season.
That is unwelcome news for defenders as Haaland will be aiming to match Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry by winning his third successive Golden Boot.