Questions are raised as to whether Manchester City will get worse with Erling Haaland starting, even though the Norwegian is top of the Premier League scoring charts.
Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has admitted that new players may have difficulty integrating into Pep Guardiola's squad, amid questions about top scorer Erling Haaland.
Haaland drew on Sunday as the defending Premier League champions lost 1-0 to Tottenham. The former Borussia Dortmund star is the Premier League's top scorer with 25 goals, but some have questioned whether his arrival has had an adverse effect on the team.
Man City's defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium made them miss the opportunity to close the gap with the top team Arsenal. Mikel Arteta's side were beaten by Everton on Saturday afternoon, but the gap was still five points thanks to Guardiola's side failing the next day.
"It's a process - he comes to Manchester City and it's a difficult team to break into because the coach demands so much and the way we play. It's unique," Walker told Sky Sports after the defeat.
"Erling was amazing. Nobody said anything when he scored and won. Suddenly now when we don't win and he doesn't score, they say 'is that the problem,' do we play better without him?'
"I hear that all the time. But nobody complained when he scored his 25th goal of the season. This is the team we have until the end of the season. We will fight to the end.
Erling Haaland was kept by Tottenham
Erling Haaland was kept by Tottenham
Before Sunday's game, City had played four times under Guardiola at Spurs' new stadium and lost all four. Harry Kane's record goal was the difference this time, although Spurs finished the game. with 10 men after Cristian Romero received a late second yellow card.
"I'm not negative on anyone, but there are some things we can do better around the box, create clear chances, get the keeper to save, just create clear action. clearer than controlling the ball around the box," the former Tottenham defender told The Pedestrian. "Sometimes you need to have shots and shots on target."
The match comes just weeks after City went 2-0 down to beat Antonio Conte's side 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium. The Spurs coach is unavailable for the time being, with Cristian Stellini stepping in as Conte recovers from gallbladder surgery.
City manager Guardiola has suggested that City's rivals are strangling his side by tackling the north London defence. "It's not easy when 10 players defend and sit a little more than at the Etihad two weeks ago," said the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager. "We played well, started well and probably missed the last pass to take the shot.
Sooner or later [Spurs' record] will change, but strangely we haven't scored, we've missed penalties in the past. Finding an explanation is not easy."
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