Watching Erling Haaland play in yesterday’s Manchester derby was a frustrating experience. He was starved of service during City’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United. But he also wasn’t making his typical runs throughout the game. Come the final whistle City’s number 9 couldn’t make an impact on the game. It did leave a question to ponder at the game’s conclusion. Do Manchester City have an Erling Haaland problem or is the problem Haaland’s lack of service? Strangely enough, it could be a bit of both.
Watching Manchester City play yesterday, you could tell they played with the handbrake on, so to speak. While City went into halftime with a 1-nil lead there was no urgency to their play. The second half saw Manchester United grow into the game before their late surge won them the game. But the way Pep Guardiola’s side played didn’t help Erling Haaland get into the game. That’s where part of the problem lies for me.
If there is no service for Haaland he is immediately out of the game. Yes, he is double-marked by most team’s defenders, but he needs service to thrive. Haaland’s strength is scoring goals. Without any service to thrive on he can’t do that. That’s the simple facts of the matter. But there is something else to consider.
Erling Haaland hasn’t been making the typical runs we usually see from the Norwegian international. Lately, he’s been living at the back post. Jeremy Doku generally plays balls from the left wing to the near post. Whether or not that is by design that is generally how it plays out. At some point, you do think that Haaland needs to add more movement to his game in the box to profit from that type of delivery. Yes, he is tired due to his heavy workload but he has appeared stagnant in City’s past two games.
Do Manchester City have an Erling Haaland problem? Of course not. He remains the world’s best striker. He just needs service to thrive. Could Haaland help the situation? Of course he could. If both issues are rectified we will likely see Haaland begin to bang the goals in again. The hope is that it can start next weekend against Aston Villa.
