Erling Haaland’s meager contribution in the Manchester derby on the night of January 14 can make Man City’s coach Pep Guardiola worried.
19 touches and 2 shots is what the Norwegian striker did against the MU defense in the 20th round of the Premier League on January 14. Haaland leading the Premier League top scorer list since the beginning of the tournament (21 goals) does not obscure the fact that the 22-year-old striker makes Man City’s system run less smoothly compared to recent seasons.
Passive Haaland
Haaland’s meager contribution at Old Trafford contrasts with his own performance in the first leg of the Manchester derby on October 2, 2022. At that time, the Norwegian striker scored 3 goals after 6 shots, contributing 2 assists. He also has 35 touches of the ball. Independent statistics this is the match where the former Dortmund star touches the ball the second most in the Premier League 2022/23, less than the match against Liverpool (39 times – 0 goals).
It is undeniable that MU has a suitable approach in the Manchester derby when blocking the players who create the play for Man City, contributing to Haaland’s “hungry ball”. But the contribution of the former Borussia Dortmund star is not enough in an important match.
“It is true that when we approached the opponent’s penalty area, we had a little difficulty finding Haaland’s standing position,” coach Guardiola shared after the derby.
The Spanish strategist was worried when Haaland played passively in the confrontation with MU. When the match was going on, coach Guardiola had to call his students to advise. However, no major changes were made.
Haaland’s consecutive goals obscure the limited contribution to his game at Man City. After nearly 5 months, the former Dortmund star shows that he has not contributed much in the way of playing “The Cityzens”,
The football that controls the ball for Man City has not worked well in the 2022/23 season after the appearance of Haaland. Compared to a “virtual striker”, Haaland’s ability to hold the ball and support the defense is not as good. Eurosport points out Haaland’s problem is similar to what coach Guardiola experienced when coaching Zlatan Ibrahimovic, or MU coach Erik ten Hag struggled to find the right role for Cristiano Ronaldo in the first half of the 2022/23 season.
In Man City’s 2-0 victory over MU in November 2021, the average number of touches of the ball by “The Cityzens” player was 95. “Virtual 9” Bernardo Silva touched the ball 86 times, while Gabriel Jesus, who kicked Haaland’s position before, touching the ball 73 times. At that time, Man City players were like joking with MU on the field. As for Haaland, he has averaged 26.8 touches in the 90 minutes since the beginning of the season, the number is not convincing enough.
Basically, Man City is a collective built with each position on the field having the task of contributing to the gameplay. When a piece of the puzzle is out of rhythm, especially in the middle position, the Etihad Stadium team immediately faces difficulties.
Man City is slowing down
Coach Guardiola has reason to worry when Man City is 8 points behind Arsenal at the top of the table in the race to win the Premier League. The team has difficulty maintaining stability this season, especially after the end of the 2022 World Cup. In the last 5 matches, “The Cityzens” only earned 8 points. In the same period last season (18 games), Man City earned more than 5 points in the Premier League, topping the table with 44 points.
Man City owns Haaland, who leads the Premier League top scorer race this season with 21 goals. This number accounts for 46% of the total number of goals scored by the Etihad Stadium team from the beginning of the tournament. Following Haaland are Phil Foden (7) and the duo Julian Alvarez – Kevin de Bruyne (3).
Haaland’s presence makes City’s other spearheads no longer score as many goals as in the 2021/22 season. At that time, any position in Man City could score. De Bruyne is the team’s top scorer in the Premier League with 15 goals, with Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez following with 13 and 11 respectively. 5 other Man City players also scored at least 7 goals (Foden, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Silva, Jesus).
After the derby, former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann insisted “Man City are a stronger team without Haaland, even if he scores 40 goals this season”. However, coach Guardiola replied that “the lack of stability lies in the results, not the performance of the team”.
Man City is still a strong team and able to break through the defenses in the Premier League. Haaland’s strength, speed and goal scorer are still formidable. But coach Guardiola needs to find a suitable plan to connect the Norwegian striker with the collective play that he built. This could be an important factor determining the success or failure of Man City this season.
