Erling Haaland and Manchester City: A Dangerous Dependency

Haaland is becoming increasingly important in Pep Guardiola's team and his absence is becoming more and more dangerous.

Crisis at the Etihad

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City are entering a period of stumbles and bumps. It’s just that the team under the acclaimed Spanish coach has developed an efficient yet dangerous condition, something of a double-edged sword: dependence on Haaland.

Manchester City is coming off a Champions League loss against Norway’s Bodo/Glimt, conceding three goals. An entirely unexpected result that shocked many was the 2-0 defeat against Manchester United, especially considering that the Red Devils themselves had been going thru a difficult period, even with a new manager.

With some game-saving performances from Gianluigi Donnarumma, Guardiola’s City managed to finish these two matches without being blown out.

Dependence on Norwegian

Manchester City has scored 45 goals in all matches across every competition in which it participates. Of those goals, 26 are exclusively Haaland’s; in other words, the Norwegian striker occupies a position of supremacy in City’s hierarchical structure. If Haaland doesn’t score, Manchester City has problems; if the Norwegian striker has a bad game, Guardiola has problems.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Having a striker of that caliber is valuable for any team; at the end of the day, the team that scores the most goals wins. The problem and dilemma in this situation is the overreliance on the performance of a single player. If Guardiola places too much emphasis on the Norwegian and he, for whatever reason, can't convert opportunities into goals, City has no alternatives.

There are also casualties and injuries.

The arrival of Marc Guéhi is a justified signing. After Matheus Nunes’ injury sidelined him, Pep Guardiola and the club’s management were forced to seek another right-back who could satisfactorily fulfilll the injured player’s responsibilities. They brought in Marc Guéhi, but he couldn’t be present for the match against the Norwegian team.