Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, has insisted that it is his fault that Erling Haaland has stopped scoring.
The prolific Norwegian striker, Haaland, who has not scored for Manchester City in three games in a row, has faced widespread criticism.
Before his goal drought began, Haaland had a fantastic run of form, scoring 27 goals in all competitions this season.
Guardiola blamed himself for Haaland’s recent goalless streak ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur. He did, however, add that the Norwegian striker must improve his game in order to regain his goal-scoring form.
The coach said:
We have our game, we have our principles but the way we played in the last two games didn’t help Erling to score.
In the build-up, you can be wider, but in the final third, you have to have players in the middle. If Erling is not there we are not going to score goals.
In the past, we have always had incredible movements in the final third, in the small spaces. Now, in the last two games, we haven’t had it. I would say it was my fault. I didn’t make them understand the way we have to attack.
We need runners, not just Erling. If we had just Erling he would be controlled by two or three central defenders. We need more players in those positions, definitely. We have done it. We have to do it more often.
Manchester City currently sits second in the league table with 39 points from 18 games, eight points behind first-place Arsenal. As a result, City must defeat Tottenham later tonight in order to keep the pressure on the Gunners.