Ruben Dias Pep Guardiola
Ruben Dias believes that Erling Haaland’s arrival is helping Manchester City’s squad get even better in training. City moved to sign Haaland from Tuesday’s Champions League opponents Borussia Dortmund in the summer and he has enjoyed a remarkable start to life in England, with 22 goals to his name after a mere 15 matches. While his brilliance on the pitch is clear for all to see, Dias has also discussed what it’s like away from the limelight. Though the relentless nature of the fixture schedule means there is little time for the City side to train against one another, Haaland’s sheer quality is helping everyone to ‘push harder.’
Ruben Dias said: “We end up not having that much time to train against each other with so many games. We had more in pre-season. But we can honestly say it is good for me personally and for all of us in terms of the quality we have around us, not just Erling, every single one. It is good to train with the best if you want to be one of them. To have this quality around us makes us push harder. I think when you talk about a relationship between a striker and a defender it’s all about the margins. Some guys it can be 50/50, but other guys it can be 60/40, 70/30. Erling is probably one of the few where you have to be 100/0 against him, if it’s 99 he will score.”
Dias wasn’t the only one full of praise for Haaland as manager Pep Guardiola also discussed what aspects of the Norwegian’s game have surprised him.
Ruben Dias said: “What I like is I know he was a guy for big transitions but I didn’t know how good he moves in the small spaces. He is so intuitive. He makes movements I like a lot, he goes away from the action to be closer to the goal. These kind of moments is not easy for a striker. He is so smart in the right moments. Apart from that his work ethic, he’s one of the first to arrive – similar to Ruben – and one of the last to leave. He takes care of his body perfectly. He is well educated in how he has to live as a professional and has the intention to be better. He’s scoring a lot of goals. We are happy that last season he had a lot of problems but thanks to our physios he is being treated really well and can play every three days. This is so important for us.”
