Despite the 2024/25 campaign being an indifferent one for Manchester City, Erling Haaland has remained consistent on the goalscoring front.
Irregardless of the fact Manchester City have lost 15 of their last 31 games across all competitions, the Norway international has still managed to score regularly – currently sitting on 29 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions.
However, Alan Shearer believes Erling Haaland could score even more goals if Pep Guardiola makes a change to his tactical setup at the Etihad Stadium.
Alan Shearer wants Manchester City to deliver more crosses into Erling Haaland
Speaking on BBC Match of the Day Top 10, the Premier League’s record goalscorer said: “I always look at that Man City team with Haaland up front and they have this giant who’s so good in the air, who’s so good at crosses. They don’t put anywhere near enough crosses in. I said this to him when I interviewed him, scream at them, shout at them, that would drive me bonkers if I was playing in that Man City team.”
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Of course, Guardiola – who wants Florian Wirtz – is a manager who likes to see his players pass the ball along the ground and build up the play slowly, rather than a coach who tends to go direct and hoist aerial balls into the box.
That may frustrate Haaland, who Rodri thinks can win the Ballon d’Or, at times, seeing at the Norwegian stands at a towering 6ft 4in – although with 119 goals in 137 appearances for Manchester City, he seems to be coping.
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How many headers has Erling Haaland scored for Manchester City?
The statistics reinforce Shearer’s point.
WHAT A HEADER! 😲
Erling Haaland 👏 pic.twitter.com/SOW8nrK02x
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 4, 2024
Of Haaland’s 119 goals for Manchester City, only 16 have been headers, which is seriously low.
Nevertheless, the Citizens have still remained highly competitive despite ignoring Haaland’s aerial dominance more often than not, even winning the treble in the 2022/23 season, so we doubt Guardiola will change his entire playbook just so the Manchester City No.9 can score a few more headers.