admin Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has lost form in recent weeks, but Pep Guardiola can fix that.
It seems ridiculous to suggest that Premier League top scorer – a position he has held since August 2022 – is not playing well at the moment. But that’s just the remarkable standard Erling Haaland sets for himself.
The Manchester City star has 8 goals to his name in just 8 matches of the new season. If Haaland continues to score at this rate for the rest of the season, he will finish with 38 goals and yet another record.
However, he is still not at his best. His numbers are falling because at the same time last season he scored 15 goals. It’s been an incredible return and it’s not a victim of its own success, but the nearly 50% drop could be seen as cause for concern.
The problem is not only the decrease in goals but also his lack of participation in recent matches. In the match against Wolves, he had two light touches but only 15 touches in 90 minutes.At Arsenal, before the international break, he had 23 touches of the ball but no efforts on target, leaving with an xG of 0.0.
Haaland returned to the scoresheet during the international break with a brace, that was only against lowly Cyprus and when Norway faced Spain he was again left out of the match. He managed just 19 touches of the ball as Norway disappointed in a must-win match to qualify for Euro 2024.
This complete lack of involvement, especially in such an important match as Arsenal, is becoming worrying and the disappointment that follows it at international level . football.There is a wrench in the machine. The system, which worked perfectly at the step up to the treble, failed.
Luckily, Pep Guardiola has encountered this problem before and was able to solve it the same way. Despite Haaland’s strong start, City initially struggled to bring a committed striker into the team. City are used to playing primarily with another midfielder in attack, which gives them more possession thanks to the excellent passing and pressing ability of a player playing as a false nine.
Haaland is not the type of player who likes to sit deep and participate in build-up play. He sits on the defender’s shoulders to stretch the defenders and constantly look for space. With him in the side, City are essentially operating with a man down and must find a way to make up for the loss.
It took months of testing and results were inconsistent. For a time, Haaland often emerged as an isolated figure as Guardiola kept his midfielders wide to avoid being vulnerable to counter-attacks and encouraged patient play rather than risky passing. sharpness that Haaland craves.This is not surprising because he plays two positions, constantly having to be in the right place at the right time.
But the more he played, the more his confidence grew to the point where he dominated midfield against Real Madrid and in the Champions League final. Stones played a vital role in helping City get the most out of Haaland and without him they both suffered.
Stones only returned to action late against Arsenal after missing one of the two matches and it was clear how much we missed him. Guardiola was forced to improvise his formation without a defender and it didn’t work either.
Kyle Walker has been the one to go forward but he has stayed on the right flank, with left-winger Phil Foden going inside. It has left the team lopsided, with attacking areas congested and not enough quality on the ball centrally. With Stones back, City can revert to what worked so well earlier this year and an upturn in performances from everyone, not just Haaland, could be on the horizon.
Haaland’s form has been worrying but Stones’ return should be the fix to all his problems.
