Jamie Carragher says Erling Haaland 'picked the wrong club' in Man City after blank against Tottenham
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Published 05/02/2023 at 22:15 GMT
Manchester City failed to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal as they were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham. Erling Haaland didn't have a shot or a touch in the opposition box, and Jamie Carragher said "we’re not seeing the full package" from the City striker because of the way the team play. Carragher also said having Haaland makes it easier for teams to counter against City.
Pep frustrated as City 'repeat mistakes' as title bid hurt by defeat to Spurs
Jamie Carragher questioned whether Erling Haaland has “picked the wrong club” after he drew a blank in Manchester City’s 1-0 defeat to Tottenham.
Haaland, who joined City from Borussia Dortmund last summer, is the runaway Premier League top scorer with 25 goals.
But he didn’t impact the game at all against Spurs, not having a shot or even a single touch in the opposition box.
He has also failed to score in five of his last seven games in all competitions.
While Haaland’s goal tally is already impressive, Carragher isn’t sure City are getting the best from him.
“He was very frustrated and I’ve felt this even when he was scoring all his goals at the start of the season,” he said on Sky Sports.
“He’s obviously still well ahead in the top goalscoring ranks, but I think we’ve only seen 60 percent of Erling Haaland.
“You think of that goal he scored at West Ham on the first game of the season, where there’s space in behind, he makes that run. Now I know that’s not there that often because of the way City play, but he’s come from Borussia Dortmund where it’s a counter-attacking league and it’s end to end, and you see that blistering pace that he’s got. We don’t see it [now].
“He may have actually picked the wrong club, to actually get the best out of him.
“We’re not seeing everything of Erling Haaland. And Manchester City now, not because of Erling Haaland, we can say they’re a different team, but they’ve scored exactly the same amount of goals.
“He’s scored 25 league goals, but Manchester City as a team have scored the same amount of goals [as this time last season]. But they’ve conceded more and it’s far easier to counter attack them as well.
“So they’re a different team, and a lesser team with Erling Haaland in the team. But again, it’s not his fault. Manchester City as a team will not play end to end football. It’s not Pep Guardiola’s way. His players don’t have the energy or the power or the pace to play end to end.
“They build up slowly and they push the opposition back to the edge of the box and they play from there, and when they lose it they win it back quickly, and they keep people hemmed in.
“Now, Erling Haaland has scored 25 league goals. A lot of those are coming across and he’s putting it in. But we’re not seeing the full package of what this player can do because of the team that he’s actually gone to.”
City’s defeat at Tottenham leaves them five points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal having played a game more.
Pep Guardiola opted to start with Haaland and Julian Alvarez against Spurs while Kevin De Bruyne was named on the bench.
Carragher thinks the addition of Haaland makes it easier for teams to counter against City.
“The problem for Manchester City that was massive today was how easy they are now to counter attack and get at.
“And maybe that’s because they’ve got a fella who plays right up front, he’s maybe not in that midfield position to actually stop a counter attack.
“It’s far easier to get at Manchester City now as we saw today and that’s the big problem.”
City play Aston Villa next Sunday before facing Arsenal in a key clash on February 15.
Asked about Haaland after the defeat to Spurs, City defender Kyle Walker told Sky Sports: “It’s a process.
“Everyone that has come to Manchester City it’s a difficult team to fit in because the manager demands so much, the way we play, it’s unique.
“Erling has been fantastic, no-one says anything about Erling when he’s scoring goals and we are winning. Everyone is now saying ‘is it a problem’ when we don’t win and he doesn’t score.
“He is a fantastic player. This is the team we have got now and these are the players we have got until the end of the season. We are going to fight until the end as we do.”
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