Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has praised his talismanic striker, Erling Haaland, comparing his efficiency to that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, football’s most efficient players.
The Norwegian is the out-and-out top scorer in the Premier League, returning to the pinnacle after a year in the dumps thanks to a generally poor season from Manchester City. Guardiola is yet to get everything back on track, but things are looking up for the Spaniard and his pursuit of another league title.
Of course, Haaland is front and center, scoring 17 goals in just 13 games across all competitions. The latest two came in City’s win over AFC Bournemouth, who, surprisingly, had no answer to City’s dominance.
“This is what it’s like if you play with Messi or Ronaldo; his influence is so big,” said Pep. “You see the numbers of that guy? Of course he’s at that level.
“Messi and Ronaldo have done it for 15 years, but this is the level. The first goal, the way he shoots the ball, it’s like, ‘I am going to score.’
“He has that hunger. It’s top. I said how incredibly coachable and manageable he is.
“I am tough sometimes with Haaland, but he is open-minded. He lives for the goals, and sometimes the pressure cannot be sustained for 90 minutes, but that’s normal.
“Without him it would be tough, to be honest, but we are lucky that Omar is back, and we have fit players; it’s good.”
Erling Haaland, meanwhile, gave credit to Rayan Cherki after the Frenchman provided two assists for him in their 3-1 Premier League victory over Bournemouth.
Cherki’s clever header opened up space for Haaland for the first, and he used his superb vision shortly after the half-hour mark to play Haaland through for his 17th goal of the season and his 98th Premier League goal.
“We all know his qualities, so it’s about trying to get the best out of everyone,” Haaland said about Cherki. “Today he had two amazing assists to me. Hopefully there will be many more.
“[It’s an] important win. It’s good to bounce back after losing a bad away game. It was nice. I tried to contribute for the team by doing my job, and we won again. It’s good to win; that’s when everyone is happy. That’s what we try to do all the time. I didn’t score in the last game. I try to help the team to win; that’s my goal. Even by scoring, or helping with winning duels, it doesn’t matter. As long as we win, that’s what I want to do. I want to win games, and I want to help the team become a better football team. That’s my job.”
“So now we have two more important games before the international break, and let’s keep focusing.”
