Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about how he has dealt with Erling Haaland during the striker's dip in form.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 29: Pep Guardiola Manager / Head Coach of Manchester City and Erling Haaland of Manchester City react at full time during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Leeds United at Etihad Stadium on November 29, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola with Erling Haaland(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA, Getty Images)
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Pep Guardiola says Erling Haaland struggles with having to live up to his reputation - but Manchester City would not be challenging for trophies without him. City's No.9 said at the weekend there are no excuses for his poor form in recent weeks yet his manager believes he is the victim of the unbelievably high bar he has set.
Haaland broke the Premier League record for goals scored in a single season during his first year in English football, and in December became the quickest ever to reach 100. However, he is without a goal from open play in eight matches - a run going back to before Christmas - and when he has got the better of defenders in recent matches he has been unable to convert.
Guardiola criticised him on Sunday for not making runs in the second half to help the team, but he then produced an assist for Bernardo Silva and followed that up with a nerveless penalty in injury-time to win the game. While Haaland is happy to live up to the robot nickname that is given to him because of how easy he makes finishing look, Guardiola said that having that expectation is something that weighs heavily on the Norwegian.
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"The problem with Erling is that he has to deal with his own numbers and expectations. That is the challenge for him," said Guardiola. "When your expectation is five goals a season, you can improve. We won the Treble because he arrived, he scored I don’t know how many goals, and the expectations are there.
"When you go four or five games without scoring, it is like 'oh what happened, what happened?' Of course he has to be fresh in his mind, happy and enjoying. Don’t think too much, even when missing shots. He’s always had the chances. It’s not that in the games when we didn’t score he didn’t have the chances.
"He puts a lot of responsibility on himself. He wants to help all the time. Look at the way he celebrated the goal – he is a guy who desperately wants to help the team and the club. I always say to him not to put too much pressure [on himself]. Rely on his instincts, on his movements, anticipate the actions that his gut does better than anyone else in the world.
"He is calm. But he puts pressure on himself. He knows how much we need him, he doesn’t want to leave the team disappointed. That is a big attribute. I would prefer that to somebody who doesn’t care. He’s completely the opposite, he suffers when he doesn’t score a goal. Don’t suffer, you do your best. Run with the team and the rest is not important."
Guardiola has added to Haaland's responsibilities this season by making him part of the captaincy group. Having penned a deal keeping him at the club until 2034, it was felt that the 25-year-old should take the burden of leadership because that is effectively what he had signed up to.
City's manager does not want to forget that Haaland is not close to being the finished package though, and that even accounting for that he is still making an enormous contribution to the team. With 21 goals from 24 Premier League starts this season, he is clear in the race for the Golden Boot and without those goals City would not be close to Arsenal at the top of the league.
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"We cannot forget he's not 29, 30 years old, he's young, and it's part of the process. Every season he lives, he's a better player for the next one," said Guardiola. "How he knows his body better, how he knows what it means to play every day. We cannot forget.
"The last games, maybe we don't have the numbers that he wants, but we are in the position that we are thanks to him. The three quarters of the season, if he didn't score, Erling, I don't know who's going to score. We are in the position in the Champions League, and especially in the Premier League, that without Erling it would not be possible."