As Man City prepare to face Bournemouth on Saturday, Pep Guardiola has chimed in on the touches, or lack thereof from Erling Haaland in several games, which has become a major talking point since his arrival in England.
While the Norwegian striker has scored a staggering 26 goals in the Premier League this season, he often gets criticised for being rather uninvolved in games.
It is worth pointing out that a lack of involvement in games tends to lead to the 22-year-old being on the periphery of things and as a result, not getting enough of the ball to put the ball into the back of the net.
The same was the case as Man City drew 1-1 to RB Leipzig in the Champions League last-16, and as his side now ready themselves to lock horns against Bournemouth.
Pep Guardiola has his say on the Erling Haaland touches debate ahead of Bournemouth clash
In his latest press conference, the Spanish boss told MEN’s Daniel Murphy, “It’s our fault. Erling [Haaland] has been good all season. It’s not metrics, when I finish the game one second later, I know if he was involved or not and who should be involved more or not. I don’t need numbers or metrics, I know exactly.”
“Yes, of course, it depends on us. We need to look for him a little more.”
The touches are not the problem, it’s the lack of the incisive pass
As Pep Guardiola said in his press conference ahead of his side’s clash against Bournemouth, the blame, if one wishes to attribute any lies on the Man City players for not finding Erling Haaland enough, instead of a lack of touches.
The Catalan boss had a similar outlook on the situation after his side’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.
As seen against RB Leipzig as well, when players such as Ilkay Gundogan, in one much-discussed instance played the prolific goalscorer through, he would have at least been in a 1v1 situation.
In any case, the hope remains that Pep Guardiola and the Man City players construct the perfect plan where even if Erling Haaland does not get enough touches of the ball against Bournemouth, the ball is played through enough to him to find the back of the net.
