Erling Haaland not to blame for Manchester City failings says Pep Guardiola – ‘He’s been impressive’

Pep Guardiola has insisted Erling Haaland is not to blame for any of Manchester City’s shortcomings this season.

After playing a season without a recognised striker following Sergio Aguero’s departure in 2021, the arrival of Haaland in the summer was expected to elevate City to new heights.

The Norwegian has proved to be a goalscoring force of nature, bagging 26 goals in the Premier League.

But those goals have not propelled City towards another title, as they are two points behind leaders Arsenal and have played a game more than the Gunners.

The criticism levelled at Haaland is that he has not been involved enough in City’s build-up play outside the box.

That was put to Guardiola in his press conference prior to the game Bournemouth on Saturday, but he denied it was the case.

“It is our fault, not Erling,” Guardiola said. “With Erling, I’ve been impressed. He’s been impressive all season.

“I don’t need metrics to know how many… when I finish the game, one second later I know if he was involved or not, and who should be more involved or not.

“I don’t need numbers, I know exactly. Of course, it depends on us, not on him. He moves well. Just take a look at him.”

Haaland cut a frustrated figure at times during the 1-1 draw with RB Leipzig in the Champions League earlier this week.

His runs were often ignored by his team-mates, and Guardiola feels it is up to the rest of the team to involve Haaland in the play.

“Of course, [we] have to improve and we will,” Guardiola said. “We talked about it many times and it is going to happen. Striker is the most difficult position in the world because you have two players focused on him, and for Erling there are more. It is not easy.

“I’d like to see in my period here, with strikers we had like Sergio [Aguero] or Gabriel [Jesus], when they play as proper strikers, not false nine, how many touches they had.

“I don’t have statistics but we are not get the ball and just give to the striker. Lately in the last games, I said we have to have more control, more passes than usual. In the Leipzig game, we should look at him a bit more, but in the previous ones I don’t have that feeling.”