“Haaland’s Strength as a Playmaker: Guardiola’s Plea for Greater Contribution”

Haaland finally got his goal, but excelled primarily as a waiter in the 4-1 victory over Arsenal on Wednesday night.

He scored two assists for Kevin de Bruyne and was generally very involved in City’s attacking play, even when he didn’t finish the attacks himself.

– We have talked about it many times with him, says Guardiola to TV 2 at the press conference after the match.

– I love it

He gives an insight into the dialogue he has had with Haaland:

– The goals are fantastic. Score as many as possible! But he has to be involved in the game. “Don’t you like being in front of the ball?”, says the City manager.

Guardiola is clearly delighted with the superstar’s development on the pitch.

– I love it, he says and continues with several references to the conversations with the striker:

– Come on! Come and play! Don’t lose your identity, which is to score goals, but I don’t like a player who just stands and waits while ten players work on the process and then he scores goals. You can always get involved!

It is not the first time Haaland has shown his strength as a waiter. He did the same at home to Bayern Munich with an exquisite cross to Bernardo Silva.

He also seems to be taking big steps as a play-off point, which the preparation for the 1-0 scoring was a good example of: Haaland was strong in his body and kept Rob Holding away, hit perfectly on the first touch and served De Bruyne alone with the goalkeeper.

– He is a very good player to combine with. He has the quality to keep the ball so that the others can run.

Guardiola completes opposite TV 2:

– He does it very, very, very well.

More inquiries

Guardiola has several times called for a greater contribution in the constructive play from Haaland. He already said it at the press conference after the Norwegian had scored two goals in the Premier League against West Ham.

– We want to get even more out of him. He is a guy with an incredible talent to score goals. A tip is about statistics. But we want to add something to his game so that he becomes a better player. “He’s not just going to be a guy who scores goals,” Guardiola said.

Two months later, another plea came from the boss.

– Erling has said something. He said he prefers five goals on five touches. I don’t like that, Guardiola said in October, emphasizing:

– I want him to be involved and he can get more and more touches on the ball.

Almost two months ago, before Haaland scored five against RB Leipzig, Haaland’s contribution became the topic once again.

– He has improved a little, Guardiola told TV 2 about Haaland’s development in the field game.

– But he can improve more, was the clear message from Manchester City’s manager.

Haaland seems to have understood that «loud and clear».