erling Haaland : “In my first training session with Pep, I thought I would only learn tactics, but I discovered there was a mandatory subject called ‘Messi Lessons’. In the changing room, while Pep was preparing his plan against Real Madrid, he suddenly interrupted the conversation and said, ‘Do you know why Leo always scores against Courtois? Because he studies his eyes before penalty kicks.’ Then he added seriously, ‘Kick the ball where the goalkeeper can’t see it,’ as he did. After a match we lose, Pep shows us a clip of Messi crying after losing the 2014 World Cup and says, ‘Look, the legend himself cries when he loses, so why are you smiling after a defeat?’ One day in training, Pep made us play without touching the ball more than once, and when I protested, he shouted, ‘Messi used to score goals like this, and you couldn’t pass it.’ One day, Pep grabbed me and said, ‘Erling, the difference between you and Leo is that he loved football before he loved goals. When will you learn this?’ Pep doesn’t want us to play like Messi, but to love football like him. Reprimands, every training session, every lecture is an attempt to instill the spirit of that Argentine player in us. The truth is, Messi has not left Manchester. His spirit follows us in every training session.
🎙️erling Haaland 🇳🇴: “In my first training session with Pep, I thought I would only learn tactics, but I discovered there was a mandatory subject called ‘Messi Lessons’. In the changing room, while Pep was preparing his plan against Real Madrid, he suddenly interrupted the conversation and said, ‘Do you know why Leo always scores against Courtois? Because he studies his eyes before penalty kicks.’ Then he added seriously, ‘Kick the ball where the goalkeeper can’t see it,’ as he did. After a match we lose, Pep shows us a clip of Messi crying after losing the 2014 World Cup and says, ‘Look, the legend himself cries when he loses, so why are you smiling after a defeat?’ One day in training, Pep made us play without touching the ball more than once, and when I protested, he shouted, ‘Messi used to score goals like this, and you couldn’t pass it.’ One day, Pep grabbed me and said, ‘Erling, the difference between you and Leo is that he loved football before he loved goals. When will you learn this?’ Pep doesn’t want us to play like Messi, but to love football like him. Reprimands, every training session, every lecture is an attempt to instill the spirit of that Argentine player in us. The truth is, Messi has not left Manchester. His spirit follows us in every training session.
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