What's behind Haaland's drop in form at Man City?

Adrian Clarke looks at key tactical talking points from the season so far.

Player analysis: Erling Haaland (Man City)

Has Rodri’s absence from Manchester City’s starting XI across the last two matches impacted Haaland’s goal threat?

While it is too simplistic to answer that with a straight "yes", the Spaniard’s suspension has not helped their leading scorer, who has been ineffective in defeats at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal.

Without Rodri’s midfield control and sharp progressive passing, it seemed easier for Craig Dawson and William Saliba to negate Haaland’s qualities.

Both central defenders were hostile and aggressive in the way they shackled the Norwegian, getting tight to him at every opportunity.

Yet the main issue for the champions was a lack of fast, quality service.

Limiting the cutbacks 

Four of Haaland’s eight Premier League goals this season have stemmed from crosses cut back from the byline.

Sergio Gomez’s assist against Fulham and Matheus Nunes’s delivery against Nottingham Forest stand out (see below). But Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker also contributed to early-season Haaland strikes by delivering balls from behind the defensive line.

Gomez's assist v Fulham

Nunes's assist v Nott'm Forest

Arsenal did a terrific job of keeping a narrow Man City starting XI away from the byline, with very few touches occurring inside the final 20 yards.

As the heat map indicates, the Gunners held their visitors at arm’s length, rarely allowing Man City into dangerous crossing positions.

Rodri’s early forward passes consistently break the lines, and this in turn facilitates opportunities to stretch opponents beyond the last man.

Despite missing the last two matches, Rodri’s five through-balls so far in 2023/24 place him inside the top 10 players across Europe's big five leagues.

And since he became a City player, the midfielder has featured high on the list of the division’s most progressive passers too.

Rodri progressive passes by season

Rodri is currently averaging 27.1 successful passes ending in the final third per match - six more than any other team-mate.

That quantity of passes helps to sustain pressure or force mistakes, and this was missed in those losses at Wolves and Arsenal.

Becoming physical

Two of Haaland’s other goals this season have come from rapid breakaways where he has been played through in 1v1s to score.

Bernardo Silva laid on a goal for him in a 3-1 win versus West Ham United, while Julian Alvarez flicked a brilliant one-touch through-ball into his path against Fulham.

In the last two matches, Arsenal and Wolves were cautious in possession, careful to minimise risk-taking which might lead to a deadly transition.

They also set up in mid-pitch blocks where possible, deliberately slowing down the pace of Man City’s attacks.

On Sunday, Arsenal were only pulled out of shape on a couple of occasions that allowed Haaland to isolate his marker in a 1v1 with space to run into, and both times Saliba out-muscled the striker to block off his run.

Defenders have to make physical contact in these situations. Failure to do so usually results in a Haaland goal.

There is very little prospect of Haaland enduring a lengthy goal drought - he has never gone three Premier League matches without a goal - but upcoming opponents will have taken note of the last two matches.

Assertive defending up against his sometimes-static movement in the build-up phase has proven to be successful.

Collectively, they will also focus heavily on stopping City from crossing the ball in advanced areas, and they will have plans in place to deny them space for Haaland to be released beyond the last man too.

But Rodri’s impending return against Brighton & Hove Albion will certainly speed up Man City’s football and make them harder to defend against.

And these two defeats may also prompt Pep Guardiola to work on finding alternative ways of creating big chances for Haaland.

His teams are rarely predictable for long.

Also in this series

Part 1: Has Arteta made the right call replacing Ramsdale with Raya?
Part 3: How Chelsea are getting the best out of revitalised Sterling
Part 4: Maddison magic and rapid defenders: Why Spurs are the real deal