Shaun Wright-Phillips believes Erling Haaland becomes ‘more active’ on the pitch for Manchester City if Kevin De Bruyne is playing.
City beat Everton 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to keep their great form of late going.
It’s 10 wins in a row now for Pep Guardiola‘s side, who are ready for a title race with Liverpool and Arsenal.
It was Erling Haaland who came through for City on Saturday with two goals – the Norwegian had not been too involved in the game, as is often the case, but hit a brace after Kevin De Bruyne came on.
De Bruyne assisted Haaland’s second goal, which was the 12th time the Belgian has set up his teammate since the start of last season (via Squawka).
The pair are simply deadly, and Wright-Phillips reckons Haaland actually plays in a different way when De Bruyne is on the field…
Shaun Wright-Phillips believes Erling Haaland is ‘more active’ for Manchester City with Kevin De Bruyne playing
Wright-Phillips was giving his thoughts about City’s latest performance after the game to the club’s YouTube channel.
He was left really impressed with by City’s star duo, and the former Etihad winger praised Haaland’s relentlessness.
Richard Dunne was also on hand to provide some analysis, and he was impressed with De Bruyne and his ability to raise the game of his teammates.
Wright-Phillips believes Haaland is one player this applies to more than most, and thinks the striker becomes more active on the field. He said (via mancity.com): “He changes games. It’s not just what he does when he comes on the pitch.
“You can see it with the players and the atmosphere around the stadium, it’s the roar, the expectancy of what they know he’s going to bring to the game.
“The levels of the players rise as well. Haaland seemed more active, too. You saw with the goal, as he saw Kevin turn, he was on his bike.
“You can see sometimes with other players he’s not necessarily going as quickly because he’s not sure it’s going to come whereas he knows if Kevin sees that pass, it’s coming.”
Haaland himself said after the game on Saturday that he knows the pass will be ‘perfect’ if it is coming from De Bruyne.
Haaland knows De Bruyne can find him
Haaland probably is a bit more active when De Bruyne is playing for City – because obviously, the Belgian has incredible vision and ball-playing ability.
There is not a pass he cannot play, and £51 million superstar Haaland is fully aware that there is a good chance his teammate will find him wherever he is on the pitch.
During the eight-and-a-half years De Bruyne has been at City, fans have watched him play some incredible balls to forwards, and all Haaland needs to do is make the runs.
It must be an absolute dream for the 23-year-old to have a player like De Bruyne behind him pulling the strings.
