Pep Guardiola Acknowledges Erling Haaland’s Crucial Role in Manchester City’s Struggles
Manchester City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, has emphasized the importance of Erling Haaland to the team’s success, particularly during a challenging period at the club.
Haaland has made a significant impact this season, scoring 15 goals across all competitions. However, his goal-scoring form has slowed down in recent games, coinciding with the team’s struggles. Manchester City has lost their last five matches, including games against Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton, Sporting Lisbon, and Bournemouth. As a result, the team is now eight points behind Premier League leaders, Liverpool.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of the Champions League match against Feyenoord, Guardiola stressed that Haaland should not be blamed for the team’s difficulties.
Guardiola explained that Haaland’s goal-scoring is not the sole reason for the team’s struggles, saying that the situation is more complex. He pointed out that the team’s wingers, particularly Phil Foden, have been dealing with injuries, which has affected their performance. Additionally, the team’s next top scorers, John Stones, Josko Gvardiol, and Julian Alvarez, are not typical goal-scorers for Manchester City. Guardiola believes that the team needs to find ways to create more goal-scoring opportunities.
Despite Haaland’s recent slump, Guardiola remains optimistic about his potential to return to his scoring form. He believes that Haaland consistently gets three or four goal-scoring opportunities each game and that it’s only a matter of time before he scores two or three goals, as he has done previously.
Guardiola also highlighted that it’s common for teams to rely on key players for goals, citing the example of the Norwegian national team, which looks to Haaland for goals. He emphasized that Manchester City is fortunate to have Haaland and that he will continue to play a crucial role in the team’s success.
