Pep Guardiola has disagreed with Erling Haaland’s self-criticism following Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Villa took the lead in the 16th minute through Jhon Duran, and Morgan Rogers added a second in the second half. Unai Emery’s side had several chances to increase their lead, but City were unable to mount a significant challenge.
Haaland did pull one back in injury time, but it was too little, too late, leaving Guardiola’s side to continue their poor form, now with just one win in their last 12 matches across all competitions.
With both Fulham and Bournemouth having the chance to overtake City in the standings on Sunday, Guardiola’s team, currently sixth, could drop to eighth after 17 matches. The club’s struggles are now firmly in crisis mode.
Haaland, who has scored 18 goals in 24 matches this season, has netted just once in his last six games for City. After the Villa loss, he took responsibility for his recent form.
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On Guardiola, Haaland said “He’s won the Premier League six times in seven years, so we’ll never forget that. He’ll find solutions, he’s done it every year. We still believe in him, but we have to work harder right now.”
Haaland then turned the focus to himself: “We have to keep working to fix things. The first person I look at is myself. I haven’t been good enough, I haven’t been finishing my chances. I need to do better. There’s a lot on me.”
However, Guardiola disagreed with Haaland’s self-assessment. “I’m not agreeing with him,” Guardiola said. “Without him, we’d be even worse. But I like the mentality — the players need to feel this way. It’s the only way we can improve.
There are two options, you either judge yourself or you blame others. I don’t agree with Erling. We’ve tried, and at the end of the day, he needs to be delivered the right passes in the right positions. We will recover and fight for the next one.”
On the overall confidence within the squad, Haaland acknowledged the struggles but emphasized the importance of staying positive. “Of course, confidence isn’t at its best. We know how important confidence is, and it affects everyone. We have to keep working hard and stay positive, even though it’s tough.”
