Erling Haaland has said that Manchester City and he have not been good enough of late after they went down to their sixth defeat in eight Premier League matches, losing 2-1 at Aston Villa.
However, the City striker has vowed that manager Pep Guardiola can turn things around at the champions, who are suffering their worst run of form in 18 years.
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Haaland speaking to TNT Sports on what was said in the dressing room after their defeat by Aston Villa: "It's a couple of minutes since the game, so not a lot. But of course we are disappointed, it's not good enough. It's not good enough from me."
"We have to continue. First I'm looking at myself, I haven't been doing things good enough, I haven't been scoring my chances. I have to do better, I haven't been good enough."
"Of course, our confidence is not the best. We know how important confidence is and you can see that it affects every human being. That is how it is, we have to continue and stay positive even though it is difficult."
Haaland’s form has struggled alongside that of City. He has scored only one goal in the last six league matches, and three in his last 12 in the league.
He had only one shot at Villa, the third time in the last two months he has been held to one shot or fewer in a match. In his past seasons, he had never had more than one match with one shot or fewer.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
15 | +18 | 36 |
| 2 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
16 | +18 | 34 |
| 3 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
17 | +18 | 33 |
| 4 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
17 | +4 | 31 |
| 5 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
17 | 0 | 28 |
| 6 |
Man City
MCI
|
17 | +4 | 27 |
And Man City’s run of six defeats in their last eight Premier League matches as defending champions is worse than Chelsea’s five defeats in eight matches as champions in 2015/16.
Meanwhile Guardiola has now suffered nine defeats this season, the joint third-most he's had in a single campaign.
City could drop to as low as ninth by Sunday evening if results go against them.
Haaland, however, expressed his full belief that Guardiola will turn things around and get City back to winning ways soon.
"He won the Premier League six times in seven years, so we will never forget that," Haaland added.
"He will find the solutions. He has been doing that every single year. We still believe in him, we have to work harder than ever right now."
'What happens next?'
Former Man City goalkeeper Shay Given believes the situation at the club is unprecedented.
"We said it at half-time, it could have been 2-0 [to Villa] after two minutes, it was the worst possible start to any game of football, never mind a team in crisis.
"We’ve never seen this before, City have won one in 12 it’s just such a terrible [run of form] and lots of defeats in that too.
"I don’t know what happens next. Is Pep Guardiola under pressure? Is that a crazy question? Does Pep Guardiola walk? It’s so hard to fathom.
"We talk about the age of the squad and we see Morgan Rogers, who was probably the star man for Aston Villa today....ex-Manchester City Cole Palmer, [Jadon] Sancho, [Liam] Delap....they’ve let all these young players leave the club and now he’s in a real rut, Pep Guardiola.
"Their legs have gone, they can’t match Villa physically, tactically. They were miles off it, so what happens next? That is the question."
Reasons to be hopeful
But there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel as their fixtures appear to get a bit easier.
Four of City's next five fixtures are against team currently placed 14th or lower, which includes trips to promoted clubs Leicester City and Ipswich Town.
It gives City the chance to rediscover some form ahead of a tough run of matches. After facing Ipswich, the champions' next seven matches will be against teams in the top half, including all of the top four.
Guardiola will also hope that Phil Foden’s consolation goal, his first in the Premier League this season, can kickstart his season.
"The last one or two games, he has been better," Guardiola said.
"Most of the players have had problems. Sometimes the next season is not the same, the people change and the situation changes. Today we made a really good game."
"Step by step, we have nice personalities in the team and sooner or later we are going to find it."
Asked whether he has to change his approach, he replied: "Yeah. I have to do it. Back my players, that is what will be different."
