Manchester City’s tough season continued with a disappointing 2-1 loss to Aston Villa on Saturday, marking their ninth defeat in just 12 matches across all competitions. The loss also highlighted Erling Haaland’s ongoing goal drought, as the prolific striker went five games without scoring, a rare dry spell for the Norwegian.
After the defeat, Haaland took responsibility for his lack of goals, telling TNT Sports, “First I’m looking at myself. I haven’t been scoring my chances. I have to do better, I haven’t been good enough.” Despite his self-criticism, City manager Pep Guardiola defended the striker, stressing that without Haaland, the team’s situation would be even worse. Guardiola emphasized the importance of delivering the right passes to Haaland in the right areas to maximize his potential.
Ahead of the Boxing Day match against Everton, Guardiola reiterated his belief that City’s struggles were not solely down to one player. He stated, “It’s about us, not just one player. When we were scoring goals and Erling was prolific, it was because of the team.” Guardiola pointed out that the team’s issues, particularly in defense and midfield, require collective effort to resolve, not scapegoating individual players.
The Catalan manager continued, “Erling is so important for us, and we need to use him better.” He stressed that blaming one person or factor for the team’s poor performance would be too simplistic. Guardiola remains focused on improving team dynamics and believes that if everyone contributes, Manchester City can get back to their winning ways.
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