'Erling is so..' - Pep Guardiola has this message for Man City striker Haaland

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has defended Erling Haaland after a recent run without goals.

City will be hoping for a late Christmas present and a turnaround in their fortunes when they host Everton on Boxing Day. This City side are on a run of form no-one could have expected. Guardiola’s men have lost nine of their past 12 games, most recently a 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa. That game saw star striker Erling Haaland fail to score for the fifth time in six games.

Ahead of the Everton Boxing Day clash, Guardiola said: “It’s about us, not just one player. When in the past we score goals and Erling was so prolific, helping us, it was because of the team. And when you have problems at the back, in the middle, it is for everyone, it is a team, it is not about one player. It would be easy, if it was just one player, the reason why. It’s not about that.

“Erling is so important for us, will be so important for us, has been. [We have to] try to do things better, to use him better.”

The City boss added: “In this situation, this tendency for all of us [is to say] ‘the reason why is this one, and this one and this one’. It’s about us, about everyone. The guys are running, making effort more than ever. All the tendency ‘it’s because we don’t run, because we don’t fight, the reason why is this situation or this player or this manager’… It’s not about that.

“It’s many little details or big details that make all together not as good as we were. But we have another opportunity on Boxing Day.”