Is Man City’s reliance on Erling Haaland a problem for Pep Guardiola? – Successes and failures in the Premier League | Football news

Is City’s reliance on Erling Haaland a problem?

Of the 20 goals scored by Man City this season, 13 have come from the boots or head of Erling Haaland.

Excluding Maxime Esteve’s double in the win over Burnley in September, only five goals were scored by Haaland’s teammates.

One of them was Nico O’Reilly’s composed finish in Sunday’s win over Bournemouth; the first goal of eight not scored by their Norwegian talisman.

Is this a problem? Man City are the league’s top scorers, are second in the championship and have lost just once since August. Haaland himself says he is in the form of his life, and scoring 26 goals for club and country in the first weekend of November is an astonishing record by anyone’s standards. According to these measurements, continue like this Erling.

But as former City goalkeeper Shay Given pointed out on Great Sundaythis can only work as long as Haaland stays fit.

Omar Marmoush is a very capable deputy and Rayan Cherki showed signs of contributing goals and assists in his best performance to date against Bournemouth.

But you wouldn’t back anyone in this City team to display the ruthless composure of their star striker, without whom this victory against Bournemouth might have gone very differently.

It’s a bridge Pep Guardiola must cross if and when Haaland doesn’t feature. For now, to poorly paraphrase Rio Ferdinand, enjoy.
Ron Walker

Bournemouth’s next unbeaten run can start here

Bournemouth were finally beaten by Man City on Sunday for the first time since the opening weekend of the season, but there is no reason for them to move away from the pack chasing Arsenal.

If Sunderland beat Everton on Monday night, they will move from second to fifth this weekend, but even in a rare defeat the Cherries still showed enough to suggest they can maintain their charge for a first ever appearance in Europe this season.

They were well in the game until Nico O’Reilly’s third goal, but struggled to create from open play – understandably, with Antoine Semenyo appearing to land a blow in the second half and 19-year-old striker Eli Kroupi Jr facing his toughest test in just his seventh Premier League appearance.

These are not the matches that will define their hopes this season. They never scored a point at Man City and were facing the best striker in the world on the form of his life. And Rayan Cherki dazzling in midfield.

They were still pushing for a comeback goal with 10 minutes remaining, although Andoni Iraola wasn’t going to let them fall again anyway. And with a fully fit squad to choose from – a luxury for the Spanish boss throughout his time on the south coast – there is no reason why a new unbeaten run cannot begin now. Or maybe more likely After next week’s trip to Aston Villa.
Ron Walker

Why is Newcastle so bad on the road?

Eddie Howe said he didn’t recognize his Newcastle team during their limp defeat at West Ham. He was right.

The dynamism, energy and brute force associated with this team under Howe was left on Tyneside as West Ham produced their best performance of the season. Fatigue could not be to blame as Howe rotated key members of his squad in midweek against Tottenham. And the London Stadium isn’t exactly a bear pit where away teams can sometimes get swallowed up. Howe looked quite perplexed in the post-match press conference about his team’s stale appearance.

They only created 0.54 expected goals despite being behind in the game for the entire half of the football. During that period, they only had one shot on target and West Ham actually had more touches in the opposition box in the second half. Since winning the Carabao Cup in March, the Toon have won just one of their nine Premier League games away from St James’ Park. Thriving on the road becomes a problem.
Lewis Jones

Potts makes a big impression

All Freddie Potts lacked on his first Premier League start for West Ham was goals.

And he was just a fingernail away from Tomas Soucek after his close-range finish was ruled out for VAR’s tightest of offside calls.

It was otherwise the perfect debut for the West Ham academy product, son of former West Ham defender Steve Potts. He’s 22, so he’s had to be patient to get this opportunity, but he impressed at Portsmouth last season on loan – a spell that stood him in good stead in meeting Premier League demands based on that performance.

He was intelligent in possession, but above all he protected his defense with good authority and competed with good authority in duels – something this West Ham team has lacked all season.

The Hammers have “one of their own” to cheer for at the moment. It made a big difference.
Lewis Jones