Erling Haaland: Pep Guardiola admits Man City must get striker more involved after Old Trafford defeat | Football News

Pep Guardiola admits that Manchester City need to find a way to get Erling Haaland more involved in the game.

The Norwegian striker was a peripheral figure in Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League derby loss to Manchester United, having only a handful of half-chances and just 19 touches in the match.

Haaland has now gone three games without a goal – hardly a crisis, especially as he only came on as a second-half substitute at Southampton, but is down from the player’s standard of 27 in his first 21 games.

But more important is Haaland’s impact on City’s system after he has routinely – and successfully – operated with a false nine over the past two seasons.

Former City midfielder Didi Hamann took to social media on Saturday to claim City “are a better team without Haaland, even though he scored 40 goals this season”.

Guardiola is unlikely to agree, but he is still looking to consolidate his £51m summer signings.

“Now we have that process because when the team is sitting in the 18-yard box, it’s more difficult but we have to find them a little more, yes,” said Guardiola.

“(Against United) he had enough touch, but it’s true that you look at the area and you have to look at him. But we’ll do it.”

Should Haaland have done more?

Gary Neville Sky Sports:

“With City, does Erling Haaland not get a service, or does he have to do more?

“I would ask that question. Should they do more, or should they be patient?

“If Erling Haaland starts to kick in, if City starts to purr, if the defense starts to shore up a bit more than it’s done, and they need Ruben Dias back if they can, I think City will win.”

Pep: Performance has been consistent

City have struggled for consistency this season, especially since the World Cup, drawing against Everton on New Year’s Day and now suffering back-to-back defeats against Southampton in the Carabao Cup and Man Utd in the league.

But Guardiola said the inconsistencies were not due to the system changes Haaland had made.

“I would say it’s inconsistent in terms of results but not performances,” he said. “Generally, (but) not against Southampton, we were consistent in the game.

“Of course, against Everton, we played better, but they had one shot on target and we drew. They punished you when before it didn’t happen, we always found a way to get a result.

“If we play well or badly, we always have that opportunity. I think this is our strength and we have to improve but in terms of performance, I think we are consistent.”

City took the lead at Old Trafford but collapsed after Bruno Fernandes’ controversial equaliser, allowing Marcus Rashford to score what would have been the winner just four minutes later.

But despite his disappointment at the result and his frustration with the decision to let Fernandes’ goal stand, Guardiola was more than happy with the performance.

“We’re all there, I can recognize my team,” he said. “This is all I can say. In Southampton … what is this? What is this team? But this is the opposite. I know my team from many years.”

What went wrong for Manchester City?

Sky Sports’ Peter Smith:

Pep Guardiola insisted he was satisfied with Man City’s display at Old Trafford and it was a big improvement on the midweek defeat at Southampton in the Carabao Cup, which left him ‘sad’.

But this is far from a polished performance. City seemed jittery early on with a string of players misplacing passes and Ederson erratically rushing off the line to give Rashford a good chance.

Rather than a lack of focus, which Guardiola criticized against Southampton, it was more like City were nervous to find something against a well-coached Man Utd side amid a frenzied atmosphere.

Mainly he couldn’t get Phil Foden or Erling Haaland the ball. Two hat-trick heroes from City’s 6-3 thrashing of United in October were on the edge. Haaland has now gone three games without a goal. Barren that he does by default, while Foden is far from the best he’s ever been.

Defensively, Guardiola admitted his side were not always in the right position to stop United’s transition, a major problem against a team that is very strong in that department.

He is a concern with Tottenham arriving at the Etihad on Thursday. Another team that will try to limit passes to the City forwards before attacking on the break.

Guardiola said he did not want the players to stay for Saturday’s game but that he had to find a solution to the problems that arose at City between now and the Spurs game. If a bad week turns into a bad 10 days, City are in danger of slipping further away from where they want to be…