Pep Guardiola has no concerns over Erling Haaland’s supposed goal drought heading into the FA Cup and Champions League finals.
Haaland has scored 52 goals in his debut season, but only one of those has come in the last six games. With one Premier League fixture remaining before City tackle their two end-of-season finals, Guardiola backed his star striker to score his next chance.
To illustrate his point, Guardiola recalled a conversation with Haaland after his first appearance in English football, when he sent a glorious chance over the bar in City’s Community Shield defeat to Liverpool – a miss that prompted plenty of doubters over his suitability for the Premier League.
36 league goals later, and 52 overall, and Haaland has emphatically answered those critics. So Guardiola believes that the same mentality Haaland displayed back in August will see him rediscover his scoring touch in the final three games of the season.
Pep Guardiola said: “I’m not going to doubt about the scoring machine from Erling. He had the chances. Maybe is waiting for the right moments. He will be ready in the right moment to score goals. He’s ready. I’m very pleased he achieves what he achieves with the goals and records, to [then] go to Brighton and play the way he played. Fighting against two young lads, demanding a lot, finishing with the legs and body. The damage that he has. He could say he’s waiting to the two finals. It’s compeltely opposite. He’s ready.”
Guardiola then praised Haaland’s mentality when it comes to missing chances or not scoring, recalling that conversation after his memorable miss against Liverpool last summer.
Pep Guardiola said: “I don’t feel he has much pressure. He handles it really well. At the age of 22, 23. Handling the expectation that he has. He laughs when people expect, he laughs. I remember after the Community Shield he missed one clear chance and all the people talk about that. I didn’t know him much, just one month together. He said ‘don’t worry, I will score goals’. This type of guy. The moment he doesn’t score, he will be ambitious to score. He has incredible self-confidence to always have the chance to score goals, that is the biggest value as a football player. Doesn’t matter what happens, [he doesn’t] lose confidence. It defines players in the bad moments.”
