Pep Guardiola’s side have had some fantastic moments so far this season, but every now and again, we’re reminded that they’re not quite what they used to be. Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen was one of those times.
After the game, he admitted that making ten changes to the starting eleven that lost 2-1 to Newcastle a few days earlier may have been ‘too much’, but it highlighted their biggest issue so far this season: no Erling Haaland = big problem.
They’ve managed to get away with their reliance on him for the most part, that won’t last forever, though, and Man City will need to work out another way to win games.
How important is Erling Haaland to Man City?
It’s hard to blame Guardiola for wanting everything to go through a man who 22 goals in 21 appearances across all competitions. When a club has a player as good as Haaland, it’s only natural his teammates turn to him to get them out of a tricky situation.
With that been said, when you’re 12 games into a Premier League campaign, trying to chase an Arsenal side that are six points clear at the top down and your second highest scorer is Maxime Esteve because he scored two own goals, there is something going wrong.
Guardiola touched on it after their 2-0 win over Everton in October, saying: “He could have scored four or five at the end. He’s our key man.”
“At the same time, we cannot do good things with just Erling. Our other players have to make a step up. We have to score more. If we don’t create it’s fine but when we create we have to score. They know it. We talk about it for a long time.
“In the training sessions they are good at finishing so they have to do it. I don’t have doubts that, when it is unlocked, players will score.”
Man City currently have a +14-goal difference in the Premier League, which happens to be the exact same number of league goals Haaland has scored. Now this is a big if, but IF Haaland hadn’t scored in the games against Arsenal, Brentford, Everton, and Bournemouth, City would be ten points worse off.
That’s obviously a huge hypothetical, and perhaps someone else would have stepped up and secure the win in his stead, but it goes to show just how fragile everything currently is at Man City.
Who needs to step up for Man City?
Omar Marmoush started up top in the defeat to Leverkusen, and it took 65 minutes until Guardiola threw in the towel and replaced him with Haaland. The Egyptian did very little, not having a single shot, creating zero chances, and having just three touches in the opposition box.
With Haaland ahead of him in the pecking order, chances are going to be hard for Marmoush to come by, and it’s so hard for a striker to build momentum in limited minutes. Still, he needs to contribute more than one goal and one assist for a side as dominant as Man City.
Phil Foden is starting to look like the player that won the 2023/24 Premier League Player of the Season, but his primary job is to create rather than score. Like Marmoush, Foden’s output in front of goal is still poor, with only one goal and one assist.
Beyond Haaland, Jeremy Doku has probably been Man City’s best player. He’s the best dribbler in the league having already completed 37, created 27 chances, and had 71 touches in the opposition box.
All of those numbers are great, but they’re not translating to goals, or even that many assists. Doku has one goal and three assists, which isn’t exactly going to relieve any pressure off Haaland.
Who could Man City sign to help?
Regardless of whether he continues to score at the rate his currently or not, Haaland will be starting a vast majority of Man City’s games between now and the end of the season, so signing another striker wouldn’t make much sense.
So, City need to look at positions that should be contributing more, and the most obvious is on the right wing. Oscar Bobb started the season in that position, but now Rayan Cherki has taken over.
The Frenchman isn’t a winger, however, he’s more of a number ten and will most likely end up being City’s true Bernardo Silva replacement once the Portuguese playmaker finally leaves the club.
Goal scoring wingers don’t grow on trees nowadays, but luckily for Guardiola and City, there is one hanging around in the Premier League, with a respectable release clause at that; Antoine Semenyo.
The Bournemouth man would provide the secondary goal threat Man City so desperately need. Semenyo is incredibly two footed, and like Doku, he’s an elite dribbler, but with a clinical edge to back it up.
Verdict
Man City are still a force to be reckoned with, regardless of whether Haaland is in the side or not, they’ve just gotten so used to the giant Norwegian bailing them out time and time again.
They don’t currently have anyone else on their books that could be considered a major goal threat. Foden has taken the job of Kevin de Bruyne as their creator in chief, while Doku and Bobb/Cherki don’t have the necessary end product… yet.
So, City should enter the transfer market to find a secondary goal threat, and we FULLY recommend Semenyo.