Guardiola Told to Experiment Without Haaland in Manchester City Starting XI

Guardiola Told to Experiment Without Haaland in Manchester City Starting XI

Elijah Odetokun
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:24 PM
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  • Erling Haaland is taking the Premier League by storm in his first season with 25 goals already
  • Despite hitting the goals he has come under criticisms by pundits and fans for disrupting City's flow
  • A former Premier League striker has now advised Pep Guardiola to drop him from the team as an experiment

Manchester City have dominated English football since the arrival of Pep Guardiola in the 2016/17 season and have won five of the last four Premier League titles.

The Spaniard played the majority of last season without an orthodox striker, with Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus either on the bench or played through the wing, with Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne all filling the false nine role.

Erling Haaland, Manchester United, Manchester City, Old Trafford, derby, Premier League.
Haaland during the 2-1 loss to Manchester United. Phot by Simon Stacpoole.
Source: Getty Images

Guardiola went ahead to splash the cash on Norwegian striker Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for a reported £51m as reported by Sky Sports and sold Jesus to PL rival Arsenal.

Agbonlahor tells Guardiola to drop Haaland

Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor is one of those who are of the opinion that Haaland is disrupting the flow of the team and Pep should drop him, as claimed in an interview with Sport Bible.

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''I want to see Manchester City play without Haaland and play the formation and the team they played last season. I want to see Foden as a false nine. I want to see Grealish on the left, [Riyad] Mahrez on the right and the midfield of [Ilkay] Gundogan, De Bruyne and Rodri,'' he said.
''And then you can sort of see if they are better without Haaland,'' he added.

Guardiola played without Haaland in the FA Cup third round match against Chelsea, opting to start Argentine striker Julian Alvarez who scored as they beat Chelsea 4-0.

Guardiola demands more from Haaland

Sports Brief earlier reported that Guardiola demanded more from Haaland after the derby loss to rivals Manchester United a few weeks ago.

The striker was more or less a passenger in the match, he failed to hit the back of the net and contributed next to nothing to the match as City collapsed in the final stages.

Though the Spaniard does not agree with claims he has made City worse, he urged his striker to get more involved in the matches. He has assisted his teammates three times this season.

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Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.
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Pep Guardiola