Pep Guardiola's Chivalrous Spirit, Puts On Body When Manchester City And Erling Haaland Lose Power

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola. (Photo: Twitter @ManCity)

JAKARTA - Manchester City manager, Josep Guardiola blames himself for the situation that is happening in the team. He is the person most responsible for the recent sluggish performance of City and Erling Haaland.

Currently, The Citizens are eight points behind Arsenal who top the English Premier League standings. This result was achieved by Kevin De Bruyne and friends after winning only one of their last three matches in the competition.

One of them includes the defeat in the Manchester derby against Manchester United last Saturday which was frustrating.

In addition, City also slumped due to defeat in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals to Southampton a week ago.

"Now, in the last two games, we haven't had it (wins). I would say it's my fault. I didn't make them (the players) understand how we have to attack," said Guardiola quoted from the Livescore, Thursday, January 19.

In a declining team situation, Guardiola actually has Haaland who should be a lethal weapon. But in fact, Haaland, who has scored 27 goals this season, has failed to perform well in his last three matches.

The last goal of the former Borussia Dortmund player was during the match against Everton which ended 1-1 on 31 December 2023.

"We showed our style of play, we have our principles (but) the way we played in the last two games didn't help Erling (Haaland) to score," said Guardiola.

"We have too many players on the outside and too few on the inside. Without players on the inside, you can't defend and you can't play well, especially in the final third."

"In the build-up, you can go wide, but in the final third, you have to have a man in the middle. If Erling wasn't there we wouldn't score," he said.

The man from Spain then admitted that his team needed players who ran fast so that the ball could move faster. This needs to be done so that the ball can reach Haaland and be converted into goals.

“We need runners, not just Erling. If we only had Erling, he would be controlled by two or three centre-backs. We need more players in that position, for sure."