Many views believe that Haaland was wrong when he came to play for Man City. In the opposite direction, the “green” Man is no longer as dangerous as before after switching systems because of the Norwegian striker.
The idea that Man City will be stronger after owning the “monster” Haaland, but the reality is completely opposite. The Citizens’ offensive stats are not as good as last season. Specifically, Man City’s expected goal difference (xG) dropped sharply from 1.86 to 1.29 per game. As a result, the team’s average score dropped from 2.45 to 2.25.
The game against Tottenham once again showed this. Haaland is almost harmless against Spurs’ tall defenders. During 90 minutes, the Norwegian striker failed to launch a shot towards the opponent’s goal. The last time Haaland experienced such a disappointing match was when Dortmund faced Duisburg in September 2020.
In this match, coach Pep Guardiola shocked when he put De Bruyne on the bench, but even when the Belgian player appeared, Man City’s attack was not brighter. Haaland still did not make much of an impression in front of Tottenham’s goal.
After recruiting Haaland this season, coach Pep Guardiola removed the “virtual striker” scheme to focus the ball on the Norwegian striker. However, that makes the “green” Man’s system lack of variation. Man City is easy to fall into a deadlock when the opponent actively catches Haaland dead like in the match with Tottenham.
English football experts believe that Haaland made a mistake when moving to Man City. Former player Jamie Carragher analyzed: “I think we only see 60% of Haaland’s capacity at the moment. He comes from the counter-attacking league. You can see Haaland’s dizzying speed. However, that does not appear much in Man City.
I think Haaland chose the wrong team to promote his qualities. We don’t see those qualities anymore.”
Pep Guardiola always directs Man City to the style of controlling the ball. He recently explained: “We can’t pass the ball up and down too quickly. The whole team needs to create rhythm, with passes at the right time.”
In a way, this style of play pushes Haaland closer to the goal, playing like a true “number 9”. The problem is, the whole system below will have to deploy the ball to serve Haaland. If playing with a “virtual 9”, Man City may have more attack options.
There is a danger, Haaland has been dead in many recent big matches of Man City against Chelsea, Man Utd, Tottenham (Premier League) or Arsenal (FA Cup).
From this hope, the Norwegian player suddenly became a concern for Man City. In the near future, Pep Guardiola’s army will have important matches against Arsenal (Premier League) or Leipzig (Champions League). More than ever, Man City needs to solve the Haaland problem soon.
