Guardiola also hinted we are seeing something of a Haaland 2.0.
The striker, who had the summer off from any football as a result of Norway failing to qualify for Euro 2024, has always been a deadly goalscorer – but now appears to have developed other aspects of his game.
“He scored three goals today but he didn’t lose one ball,” added Guardiola.
“Today is one of the games where he has played the best in all situations. When you see the games and see what we want to do, he understands because he is a smart guy.”
“I think the break in the summer did him a world of good,” added former Manchester City defender Micah Richards on Sky Sports.
“His energy, his body language has been outstanding.”
Haaland is racing towards the landmark of 100 league goals for Manchester City.
His treble on Saturday took him to 70 goals in 69 games and was also his 11th hat-trick for the defending champions.
All three finishes against West Ham were different, too. He calmly picked his spot to slot in the first, hammered his second into the roof of the net then strode away to finish one-on-one for his third.
“The first goal was a thing of beauty,” former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp said on Sky Sports. “That was a beast. Beauty and the beast today.
“What’s terrifying for every defender is that he looks better than ever. He looks confident and he looks happy.
“Every player smiles when they have the hat-trick ball but you could see it before the game. Last season, he scored loads of goals but they were harder to come by.”
Haaland is averaging 2.3 goals per game this season. Project that over the entire campaign and it would equal 89 goals.
Even Haaland will – surely – be unable to maintain that sort of scoring rate, but it does highlight just how deadly he has been so far.
“His ruthlessness in front of goal is why he has scored so many,” Richards added.
“It’s extraordinary. He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.”