Is Manchester City Becoming a One-Man Team?
Eight years ago, when listing Manchester City’s Premier League title rivals, Pep Guardiola named an interesting trio: Chelsea, Manchester United, and “the Harry Kane team” (referring to Tottenham). A year later, the Catalan manager apologized to Mauricio Pochettino, who had taken the comment personally.
Now, the same question could be directed at Guardiola himself: Is Manchester City turning into the Erling Haaland team?
The Alarming Statistics
When Guardiola made his original comment in October 2017, Kane had contributed to 42% of Tottenham’s Premier League goals (6 out of 14). A respectable figure, but Haaland’s current proportion is significantly higher and much less healthy – 65% (11 out of 17).
Even more concerning, Haaland faces virtually no internal competition for goals. City’s second-highest scorer this season is Burnley defender Maxime Estève – who scored two own goals against City. Meanwhile, Haaland’s teammates have managed just one Premier League goal each at most.
Guardiola’s Growing Concern
Despite City’s continued victories, Guardiola is clearly uncomfortable with this dynamic. After the Everton match, he stated: “We cannot rely solely on Erling. Our other players must also step up. We need to score more. It’s one thing when we don’t create chances, but quite another when these chances exist. The players know this perfectly well. This isn’t the first time we’ve raised this issue. Believe me, they score everything in training. I don’t doubt their quality. When the barrier breaks, the goals will flow.”
Why Isn’t City’s Haaland Dependency Hurting Them Yet?
Haaland’s Unprecedented Form
The answer is obvious: Erling Haaland is in the form of his life. This isn’t just personal observation – it’s the Norwegian’s own assessment from a recent interview. Including international duty, Haaland’s scoring streak now stretches to 12 consecutive matches. Since the season began, he’s only failed to score in one game – against Tottenham in mid-August.
The Paul Scholes Comparison
Paul Scholes recently provided the perfect description of Haaland’s impact: “You often notice this when watching 11-12 year old matches. There’s always that one kid who’s grown early and is now much taller/broader than everyone else. That’s exactly how I feel watching City games.” The only difference being this is happening at Premier League level.
The Advanced Metrics Confirm It
Scholes’ impressions are backed by advanced statistics. Haaland has never been more dangerous in front of goal for City. The number of shots, the distance from which he strikes, shot accuracy, and overall expected goals (xG) per match – all metrics point to this being his best English season yet.
The team’s dependency remains a concern, but the problem feels less critical when Haaland is creating SO MANY opportunities.
How City Are Maximizing Haaland’s Qualities
In other words: City has never utilized Haaland’s qualities so effectively. Several factors have contributed to this improvement.
The New Counter-Attacking Weapon
City has developed a new tactical approach focused on attacking space. Guardiola promised before the season started that there would be much more of this. Typically deployed in top matches where opponents sit deep or even park the bus, the statistics confirm these intentions.
This season, City has already scored 3 goals from counter-attacks – matching their entire total from last season. The number of counter-attacking attempts has also significantly increased.
While the Haaland dependency raises legitimate concerns, City’s tactical evolution and the Norwegian’s incredible form are currently masking what could become a serious problem if other attackers don’t start contributing regularly.
