Erling Haaland has endured an awful run in front of goal, scoring just three times in his last 12 Premier League games, though he has retained the backing of boss Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has refused to blame Erling Haaland amid both his and Manchester City’s wretched form.
Saturday’s defeat to Aston Villa means the reigning champions have won just one of their last 12 games in all competitions. That has seen them plummet to seventh in the Premier League, 12 points behind leaders Liverpool who also hold a game in hand over City.
One of their biggest problems has been the dreadful form of Haaland in front of goal. Having started the campaign with 10 goals in five games, the striker has now scored just three times in his last 12 league outings.
Haaland took responsibility for his struggles to score following the defeat at Villa Park. But ahead of the Boxing Day visit of Everton, Guardiola has insisted it is up to the whole team to help the Norwegian.
“It is about us, not just one player,” Guardiola said when asked about Haaland. “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 we need to use him better.
“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.”
Haaland had admitted on Saturday that he felt responsibility for his struggles to score. But he backed Guardiola to find a way to turn City’s fortunes around as their title defence continues to falter.
“Of course, we are disappointed, it’s not good enough. It’s not good enough from me,” he told TNT Sports. “We have to continue, we have to believe and we have to keep working hard. We have to continue.
“First I’m looking at myself, I haven’t been doing things good enough, I haven’t been scoring my chances. I have to do better, I haven’t been good enough. We know how important confidence is and you can see that it affects every human being. That is how it is, we have to continue and stay positive even though it is difficult.”
“He won the Premier League six times in seven years, so we will never forget that. He will find the solutions. He has been doing that every single year. We still believe in him, we have to work harder than ever right now.”
