Arts: Music

Happy-go-Haaland: The man who keeps on giving

IMAN AHMED | SPORTS EDITOR

Source: @mancity, Instagram

Dreams, debuts, and delivery are what fills the world of football. Millions across the globe work hard and hope that they will be one of the few that are selected. However, only a handful make it to the top, and those who make their mark, shine through.

The Premier League has welcomed a new star who has not only taken the UK, but the world by storm: Erling Haaland.

The son of former footballer Alfie Haaland (Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Manchester City) and former heptathlon athlete Gry Marita Braut, the 22-year-old Norwegian had a lot to live up to. In spite of the pressure, he has made an identity for himself, one that goes beyond his family’s legacy. If there was a word to encapsulate Haaland and his success so far, it would be this: goals.

From his youth career and into the beginnings of his senior career, he played for his hometown team, Brybe. In 2017, he moved onto Molde, and moved again to Red Bull Salzburg in 2019. Soon after, he played for the Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, where he was awarded the Bundesliga Player of the Season within his first year due to his exceptional and consistent performances. Regarded as one of the best strikers within Europe having already succeeded various awards and broken many records, his reign has now begun in Manchester City, parallel to his father. And Haaland has not disappointed. On his debut for City, falling onto the same day as the opening day of the Premier League season, Haaland rose beyond the expectations many had for him, all within 45 minutes. Scoring two goals that led to the team’s victory against West Ham at his debut, to then securing seven other goals in his next four appearances within the same month, his triumph broke the competition’s records, previously held by Sergio Aguero and Mick Quinn. Haaland’s historic debut month at the club caused him to be awarded as the Premier League Player of the Month for August, becoming the first player since Bruno Fernandes to be awarded as such during their first month within the league. Since then, within 12 appearances, he has netted 19 astonishing goals.

Whilst his undeniable and whirlwind of success has left City fans astounded, others have not shared the same reaction. As a display of their anger, rival fans across the UK have taken measures to halt Haaland’s unrelenting scoring for City. Strangely and somewhat amusingly, this has taken form through the signing of several petitions ordering for his deportation from the UK, describing him as an issue for national security. It is unlikely any action of this sort will be taken.

The power, pace, and potency of Haaland’s talent has not only transformed Manchester City, but the whole Premier League, and is dominating the football scene across the globe. Haaland’s future looks immensely bright if such form is maintained.

The Lacklustre 2022 Formula 1 season

ALANA STODDART | CONTENT WRITER

It is October as I am writing this, and the 2022 Formula 1 championship is rapidly drawing to a close. After the hugely dramatic finale of last season in Abu Dhabi, which hardly needs explaining, many looked to this season with hopes that it would continue the fiery, exciting drama that we saw evident last year. What has been delivered, however, I would describe as tepid at best.

We came into 2022 with huge regulation changes, and this meant that teams had to tear up what they already knew about the way their Formula 1 car worked and start almost from scratch. The new rules aimed to create closer racing, with cars being able to follow each other much closer for longer periods of time. Before, cars lost significant time when following in the ‘dirty air’ of another driver, making it hard to stick with them and make the overtake. The 2022 regulations mean the cars this year have a lot more downforce, sucking the car closer to the track, increasing pace, and resulting in better aerodynamic flow.

So, if at the start of the year we thought we would witness a much closer, and more exciting championship, perhaps han we have ever seen in F1, what went wrong?

Well, the assumption we made about having a greatly competitive season relied on the frontrunners of 2021 getting much of their car design right. There are probably many factors that contribute to the mediocre performance of the Mercedes car this year, but ultimately, they just went in the wrong direction with the design. It became clear very early on that Mercedes were not going to be as dominant as we have come to expect; the car suffered from extreme porpoising (bouncing up and down), disrupting air flow over the car and costing them a disastrous amount of lap time. At the sixth race on the calendar, the Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes fans were given hope with the upgrades that the team brought. This hope, however, was quickly dashed out as it became clear that there were still significant issues, with both cars continually failing to challenge Ferrari and Red Bull as we would have expected them to.

Source: Wikipedia

Mercedes’ failure to be regularly at the very front of the grid this year means that the championship was made far too easy for Red Bull. It looked for a moment as if Ferrari could

really challenge, but unbelievably bad strategic calls after unbelievably bad strategic calls have stopped them in their tracks and it seems now that there is only one outcome on the table: Verstappen as the 2022 champion.

Why have Ferrari been making such catastrophic decisions this year? It was the case when Vettel was driving for the historic team alongside Leclerc, and yet no changes seem to have been made in the way they approach their strategy on race day. Does there need to be a change in the strategy department? Does there need to be a change at the very top? As an outsider it is very difficult to identify the internal issue, but it is certainly the case that something needs to shift. Otherwise, the team that have produced a very solid, wellperforming car this year are never going to properly challenge for the championship. It has been a lacklustre season, one where the rivalries that were possible at the start have been thoroughly extinguished. Formula 1 will always have my heart, but I have to hope for a big shakeup in the sport soon.