Sport
Haaland has ‘full trust’ in Guardiola to halt Man City slump
Erling Haaland has “full confidence” in the “best manager in the world”, Pep Guardiola, to get Manchester City back on track against Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Guardiola's side have lost four games in a row in all competitions, marking the Spaniard's longest losing streak in his entire managerial career.
The Citizens last lost more in a row between March and April 2006 under Stuart Pearce (six – including the fifth match against Tottenham).
But having put pen to paper on a new two-year contract extension with the club earlier this week, Guardiola has his eyes firmly set on a return to glory on home soil.
And Haaland, who has scored 105 goals in 114 games under Guardiola at City, believes they can close the gap on leaders Liverpool, who are five points ahead.
“If you look at what he has done for the club, he is not bad, right? So he has my full confidence,” Haaland told Sky Sports.
“And if he tells me something, I better do it, because at the end of the day he knows best. Everyone knows that. So I'm sure he will find solutions now too. I'm sure.
“[Guardiola] requires us to be at our best in every training session and in every match. And that is what we must do. It hasn't been good enough to lose four games now, but let's try to win the next one.”
The journey continues pic.twitter.com/8aluupvQw9
— Manchester City (@ManCity” >@ManCity) November 21, 2024
Haaland then praised Guardiola, whose new contract will take his tenure at the club to more than a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
“He's the best manager in the world and I think we all know that. And he's probably the best to ever walk the planet,” said the 24-year-old.
City are struggling with a long-term injury to Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, while Haaland has scored just twice in his last six league games.
Despite his recent form, Haaland still leads the division in goals scored (12) and shots on target (32), but he has also missed 10 big chances in the top flight, squandering only Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins (11). more.
But after scoring four goals, including a hat-trick against Kazakhstan for Norway in the Nations League, the striker is hopeful the international break has helped City regroup and rediscover their form.
“I think it was good for everyone to go to their countries and national teams and restart a little bit,” Haaland said.
“We've lost four times in a row, but how bad is that? It's not that bad. It's not like we've been relegated. We're still in second place, we've still got plenty of games to go.”
An unstoppable duo pic.twitter.com/E0klU9pclS
— Manchester City (@ManCity” >@ManCity) November 22, 2024