‘We still believe in Guardiola at Man City’ – Haaland
‘We still believe in Guardiola at Man City’ – Haaland. Norwegian striker Erling Haaland has stated that the Manchester City squad are strongly behind and still believes in manager Pep Guardiola after their 2-1 loss at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday.
Strikes in either half from Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers was enough to give Villa control of the match before a Phil Foden consolation goal in added time for the visitors.
The result was the Citizens’s ninth defeat in their last 12 games in all competitions and their sixth defeat in their last eight league games.
It has seen the reigning Premier League champions drop to sixth on the table with questions being raised on Guardiola’s ability to weather the storm having never been in such a position.
Haaland however, believes that the Catalan’s track record of success will enable them get through this rough patch.
“It’s the small details, I don’t remember right now [what Pep said]. I’m thinking we just lost a game, another one. I don’t remember but it was probably some small instructions to do things better,” the Norwegian told the club website.
“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.”
Haaland also took some blame on himself for City’s bad form, but wants the club to stay positive.
“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,” he added.
“Of course, our confidence is not the best. 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.”
Guardiola however disagreed with Haaland, asserting the former Borussia Dortmund man has no fault.
“I do not agree with him,” he said.
“Without him we would be even worse but I like it when the players feel that way. That’s the only chance we have to get even better.
“He needs to be delivered the ball in the right positions. We move forward and fight for the next one.”
The Cityzens will wrap up the year when they host Everton and a trip to Leicester City before opening 2025 at home to West Ham United.
