Erling Haaland Blames Manchester City's Lack Of Hungryness For The Bad Season

JAKARTA - Erling Haaland said there was no reason for the disappointing season for Manchester City. According to him, it happened because he and his teammates weren't good enough.

Manchester City have handed over the Premier League title to Liverpool and failed to reach the final round of the Champions League after being eliminated in the hands of Real Madrid.

Injuries to key players like Rodri also played a role.

However, Haaland believes that the disappointing season was caused by a decrease in hunger in the squad after years of unprecedented success, including four consecutive league titles and three titles in 2023.

"Of course, you can find excuses, injuries, many injuries in bad times. However, in the end we haven't performed well enough."

"We haven't fully felt hungry. I'm not good enough. I haven't helped the team enough. In the end, we weren't good enough," Haaland said in an exclusive interview with ESPN.

Haaland has spent about a month on the bench after suffering an ankle injury in a 2-1 win over Bournemouth in March 2025.

The striker has returned to training and has become a substitute who was not played in a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.

His return is on time as Manchester City are struggling to qualify for next season's Champions League and aims to win the FA Cup ahead of a meeting with Crystal Palace in the final on 17 May 2025.

Haaland, who has scored 30 goals in 40 games this season, is expected to play Southampton on Saturday, May 10, 2025, to ensure he returns to fitness before the FA Cup top tie at Wembley.

"The injury is terrible, but what can you do? You have to recover as quickly as possible and get back in shape as much as you can. Now I'm back full of energy."

"I feel good and move well and I'm ready," Haaland said again.