7 hours Ago By Robin Mumford
Pep Guardiola has defended Erling Haaland following the Norwegian striker's brutally honest claims that he hasn't been good enough this season. Aston Villa became the latest team to hand Manchester City a defeat on Saturday afternoon, as Morgan Rogers scored and assisted in a commanding 2-1 victory . For Guardiola’s side, the slump deepens – with just one win in their last 12 games across all competitions and six losses in their last eight Premier League outings, dropping them to sixth in the table and up to 15 points behind league leaders Liverpool should the Reds win their two games in hand.
But despite Haaland attributing his recent struggles – marked by three appearances without a shot on target – as a key factor in the team's difficulties, his manager remains firm in the belief that the Citizens would be in a worse position without last season's Golden Boot winner. Guardiola Defends Haaland Amid Growing Tension After the match on Saturday afternoon, Haaland was self-critical of his performance before anybody else. “We have to continue [working to put it right],” Haaland said.
“The first [person] I’m looking at is myself, I haven’t been doing things good enough, I haven’t been scoring my chances and everything. I have to do better, it’s a lot on me and I haven’t been good enough.” When asked about his assessment of his own performance, however, Guardiola was quick to rubbish such claims.
“I’m not agreeing with him," the six-time Premier League champion said, as per the Guardian . "Without him we would be even worse. But I like the players feeling that way.
It’s the only chance that we have to get better. There are two options: judge yourself or blame. I’m not agreeing with Erling because we tried and at the end he needs to be delivered the right balls in the right spots.
We will recover and fight for the next one.” A rotten run of results since the end of October has seen City exit the Carabao Cup and drop out of the top four, and has put them at risk of missing out on the Champions League last 16. But easier fixtures against Everton on Boxing Day, followed swiftly by a home match against Leicester City before the turn of the year, will be targeted as must-wins for Guardiola and Company.
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