admin Manchester City were eliminated from the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night after losing 1-0 to Newcastle.
It’s rare for Manchester City to fail to score a goal. Wednesday’s loss to Newcastle United to end their Carabao Cup aspirations was just the fourth time they have failed to score in 2023.
You won’t be surprised to learn that Erling Haaland has only started once. of these matches. The Norwegian star has scored 62 goals in just 60 games for the club, an incredible record that ensures City have a goals advantage in every match.
However, when he is not playing, goals do not come easily. This makes sense: you take the best striker out of any team and he will struggle, especially if his replacement is not at the same level.
It’s not my fault, because there is no one on par with Haaland, so Julian Alvarez is not on the same level as Haaland. The Argentine is still an excellent striker but he doesn’t look like the natural striker they thought they had signed.
Haaland is the clear frontrunner, but Alvarez has been quietly trying to breach the new contract signing buffer during his senior year.Pep Guardiola’s new recruits, especially strikers, often take a year to get used to the new coach’s complex methods and instructions. Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish only really started to shine in their second season.
Alvarez has bucked that trend and with the way Jeremy Doku, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes have started life at the Etihad, that may no longer be the case. Yet the fact that Alvarez has broken it by moving to a new continent, let alone a club or country, is impressive.
The World Cup winner is expected to play a small role in his first season, serving as a backup in case Haaland is unavailable or needs to rest.But instead, Guardiola used him in many different roles – on the field, then as an attacking midfielder.
Alvarez replaced Kevin De Bruyne several times last season and did a great job filling them in. With the Belgian ace suffering a serious injury in the 20th minute of the new season, Alvarez had to do even more and did exceptionally well, with 2 goals and 4 assists. created his name and Guardiola was impressed with his performance.
“He’s learning a lot how to move in the pockets, he’s a threat with goals and assists, the work ethic,” he said. “We are delighted that the club brought him last year.
“[Ilkay] Gundo[gan] left and unfortunately with the injury to Kevin [De Bruyne] he has his chance and he is using it. Now he is almost undroppable.”
However, his performance levels dropped on Wednesday when he was tasked with playing up front with Haaland rested. Alvarez got two sniffs at goal when played through by Oscar Bobb but snatched at both. They were from tight angles but you would still want at least one to find the back of the net.
Otherwise, it was a quiet performance that had a lot of effort but no real substance. It was no surprise when Guardiola opted to change his striker around as the game wore on even without bringing on Haaland.
Alvarez is operating better behind the striker where he can get on the ball and make play happen, rather than waiting for the play to come to him. He’s a great source of goals but tends to score more when playing just off the main striker, as well as when he’s teaming with Haaland rather than replacing him.
His versatility will always come in handy but the defeat to Newcastle appears to make even clearer where Alvarez’s best position is.
