It’s not about him. We have to play better, create more chances to get the ball to him, Guardiola is not worried about Haaland

Losing two games in a row is definitely not Pep Guardiola’s style and it’s no wonder everyone is wondering what’s going on. But we certainly can’t talk about Manchester City’s game changing in any way. So where does the Spanish coach see the problem?

In both the defeats to Southampton and Manchester United, the Citizens players had the ball on their kicks at least 70% of the time. But when it comes to shots, it’s much weaker than in previous games.

Against Saints, not one of the 7 shots ended up in the net, while the home side enjoyed two of the 12 shots. We could see a similar picture in the Manchester derby, when the Citizens produced 5 shots and rejoiced once, while the Red Devils cheered from 8 shots twice.

“In order to get chances we need to open up the defence and we had problems with that in the last two games. When we play well it’s for tactical reasons, when we play badly it’s for tactical reasons.

I’m responsible for finding that way, that’s what I have to do. Themental side of the players is not the problem,” the Manchester Evening News published the Spanish coach’s words ahead of Thursday’s league fixture.

Manchester City now face another tough nut to crack in the form of Tottenham. However, a very interesting spectacle can be expected from this duel as 12 of their last 14 home games against Spurs have seen at least 3 goals conceded.

No one can underestimate Spurs, but their form is not ideal after all, as they have won only twice in their last 6 league games.

Kane vs. Haaland

In addition, we will witness an interesting duel, namely the two top scorers of the Premier League will face each other. Harry Kane scored 15 goals and Erling Haaland scored 21.

However, the Norwegian hitman’s gunpowder has dried up in recent duels, as he hasn’t scored in any of the last three games.

“It’s not about him. We have to play better, create more chances to get the ball to him,” Guardiola is clear on where the problem is these days.

Source: Manchester Evening News, Transfermarkt