Manchester City’s boss, Pep Guardiola disagreed with the statements made by his star striker, Erling Haaland following their team’s 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa on Saturday. Haaland believes he hasn’t played well enough during City’s current struggle but his manager thinks otherwise.
Haaland Blames Himself for Man City Struggle
Man City continue to struggle in both Premier League and Champions League, Guardiola’s men suffered another defeat in the EPL on Saturday as Villa stunned them 2-1. That result means that the Citizens have only managed to grab one win in their last 12 matches across all competitions.
Commenting after the match, City’s star striker, Haaland admits that his team needs to keep working hard including himself. The attacker believes he’s also part of the reasons his side are struggling thinking that he hasn’t been playing well enough in recent matches.
“We have to continue [working to put it right]. The first [person] I’m looking at is myself, I haven’t been doing things good enough, I haven’t been scoring my chances and everything. I have to do better, it’s a lot on me and I haven’t been good enough, ” Haaland said (via football365).
Guardiola Disagrees With Haaland
However, the Norwegian attacker’s statement was dismissed by his head manager, Pep Guardiola who believes that despite their struggle, Man City would be worse if not for Haaland’s contribution. So far this season, the ex-Borussia Dortmund man has scored 18 goals from 24 matches in all competitions.
The Spanish tactician thinks that even though his team have been experiencing a rare crisis this season, Haaland remains an important player for them. Guardiola is confident that Man City would do even worse if they don’t have the Norwegian international this season.
“I’m not agreeing with him,” Guardiola stated. “Without him, we would be even worse. But I like the players feeling that way. It’s the only chance that we have to get better.”
Man City will be keen on getting out of their current slump as soon as possible and get back on track again for the remainder of this season. Guardiola’s men will have the chance to return to winning ways on December 26 in which they face Everton at Etihad Stadium.
