Notwithstanding what Thierry Henry might believe, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has dispelled any claims that Erling Haaland makes his team easier to predict when playing against.
Despite the fact that Haaland has scored 32 goals across all competitions so far this season and is arguably the most in-form player in Europe when it comes to goal-scoring, the legendary Arsenal player, who spent two years playing under Guardiola at Barcelona, suggested that Haaland must improve his game in order to help his teammates.
Henry, who recently told CBS Sports: “We’ve seen in important games they can’t find him,” believes that is insufficient. In large games, attempt to assist them if you have the opposite perspective. We all understand that the first battle you must win when playing a huge squad is your own.
“It’s not that simple, and we’ve seen this year that he has had difficulty in this kind of game. If so, how can I help them if they don’t always locate me on the second post, as sometimes happens in various situations?
In light of this, Guardiola addressed these remarks during his pre-match media obligations prior to City’s away encounter against Red Bull Leipzig in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
The Man City manager continued, “I would say that I understand exactly what Titi [Henry] wants to say about the fact that we play and we put the balls to Haaland.
“Becoming less predictable rests not on Haaland, but rather on how we can design the process to travel to the final third via other pathways, not simply with Erling.
“We need more runs when we get to the final third, but to get to the final third we need the process,” said De Bruyne. “We need more runs from Kevin [De Bruyne], more runs from [Ilkay] Gundogan, more runs from the wingers.”
With Haaland leading the charge, Guardiola continued to claim that he has no concerns about the speed at which his side scores goals.
“Come on, we are the team who scored the most goals in the Premier League with 60 goals. With Erling as well as always, we can do fantastic things “he added
The extent to which Henry is persuaded by Haaland is still up in the air, but the Frenchman has already asserted that the Norwegian is “ideal” for City’s system.
When analyzing Haaland and how he fits into City’s system, Henry once rendered fellow pundits Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher dumbfounded.
The former Arsenal star responded, “I don’t know, it’s a different ball game,” when asked if City’s talisman will be having comparable success to Robert Lewandowski at Barcelona.
As I frequently advise, choose the right actor for the appropriate role. What Haaland is doing is exactly what that team needs in an actor. You can sometimes play for another team; I wouldn’t have joined Bolton, are you crazy?
Richards and Carragher were at a loss for words at that moment, but it appears Guardiola has said everything there is to say about Haaland fitting in at City.