Guardiola exonerates Haaland, blames self for Man City poor run

Football legend Pep Guardiola has insisted that he is to blame for Manchester City’s poor form and has denied that Erling Haaland has anything to do with the recent downturn in their results.

Guardiola believes that City have become a victim of their own success, with expectations rising to a point where some regard it as a failure if his team are not streets ahead of the rest of the chasing pack by the halfway stage of the season.

The Catalan, who has won four of the past five Premier League titles, poked fun at those who have had a knee-jerk reaction to City’s consecutive defeats by Southampton and Manchester United.

 “Since we are here people expect us to perform well and win games, otherwise it’s [a case of], ‘Pep out’, ” he said. “That is how our job is. And I want, ‘Pep in’. I want to stay here. To do that I have to win games.”

Perhaps the most contentious criticism of City in recent games has been directed at Haaland, who has scored 27 goals in 24 appearances since arriving from Borussia Dortmund.

Haaland’s critics claim that City are worse off with the Norway striker up front because unlike the other players that Guardiola used as a false nine last season, he does not as regularly drop deep and link play.

Guardiola, who turned 52 on Tuesday, laughed off the idea that Haaland is to blame for City’s recent slump.

He believes that Haaland has often been left isolated, as in the recent 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat by Southampton, and the 2-1 derby defeat in the Premier League at Old Trafford last weekend.

“We have played really well with him [Haaland], so it is not about that,” Guardiola said. “To play better, we have to create more chances, provide more balls for him or the other strikers.

“How we played in the last two games didn’t help Erling to score. We seem like we have too many players outside and too few players inside. Without players inside you cannot defend or play well. This is mainly the problem. If Erling is alone we are not going to score goals.”

It is a problem of Guardiola’s own making, he admitted. “The mentality of these players is not a problem,” Guardiola said. “When the players don’t play well, it’s because there is something wrong in my decisions. Sometimes I didn’t choose the players properly or the way we played.

“I have to find a solution. That is a challenge I like because it makes me feel I have to find something to help the team get better.”

Should City lose at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening, it will be the third time in Guardiola’s managerial career that he has suffered three successive defeats.

One of those sequences came in Guardiola’s second campaign at Bayern Munich, and the other occurred five years ago when City lost twice to Liverpool in the Champions League and against United at the Etihad.

City won the Premier League that year with a record 100 points. Now they trail Arsenal by eight points, but Guardiola warned not to write his team off.

 “I’d prefer to be eight points in front, but I like to handle this situation; I love it,” he said. “I’m less stressed when I feel there is no solution. Always I have the feeling I know the reason why it doesn’t work.

“There are 60 points to play for and there are many tough games for everyone, so we are going to fight. People say, ‘Why are City not on top of the league?’ but it can happen, no? There has been a team that has been fantastic so far.”

Another reason for Guardiola to be positive is that he has a fully fit squad to choose from for the first time this season. Kevin De Bruyne was back in training yesterday and Rúben Dias has recovered from his hamstring injury.

John Stones is also in contention to face Tottenham, who have won their past two games against City.