Manchester, Dec 24 Pep Guardiola has attributed Erling Haaland’s recent rough patch to his team’s lack of creativity and stated Manchester City ‘needs to use him better.’
The Norwegian, who has won the Golden Boot in both seasons in England so far, started his third campaign at City in a rich vein of form. With a run including hat-tricks against Ipswich and West Ham, he became the first man ever to score 10 Premier League goals in the opening five matches of the season. However, the defending champions’ recent challenging run has coincided with Haaland netting twice in his last eight league appearances.
Speaking in his press conference on Christmas eve, Guardiola refuted the suggestion that Haaland needs to improve, instead choosing to focus on how the team builds up and creates chances for the No.9.
“It is about us, not just one player. In the past when we scored goals and Erling was so prolific and helping us it was because of the team. But when you have problems at the back and middle, it is all about the team. Not just one player. If it’s just one player it would be easy to see the reason why. It’s not about that.
“Erling is so important for us, will be important for us and has been and we need to use him better,” said Guardiola
Manchester City have won only one game in their last 12 outings. Ahead of the Boxing Day early kick-off with Everton, Guardiola also highlighted that his players are giving their all despite recent results.
“This situation is new for all of us. It’s about us, everyone. The guys are running and making an effort more than ever. People say we are not running, fighting, it’s this player, this manager - it is not about that. It is about many little details or some big details that make us not as good as we were. But we have another opportunity on Boxing Day. We have players coming back and at a certain time we will be better,” he added.
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