Guardiola insists his Man City players should know EXACTLY where to find Haaland in the box
Pep Guardiola insisted Manchester City should know exactly where to find Erling Haaland inside the box – just as the superstar saw a statue of himself stolen in his hometown.
A 10ft sculpture of the Norway international disappeared from Bryne this week after locals complained that it bore no resemblance to the City striker.
Haaland is rooted to a clinical spot inside the penalty area though and could have added more to the three goals from his first three Premier League starts if City opted to find him to tap into empty nets.
Pep Guardiola insisted that his Man City players should know how to create for Erling Haaland
A statue of Haaland disappeared in Bryne after locals claimed it bore no resemblance to him
Phil Foden has twice opted to shoot instead of square for the £51million man during recent games but Guardiola believes it is only a matter of time before the pair link up to devastating effect.
‘Do you remember when we played at Anfield last season, the 2-2, Phil scored, it was a quite similar action,’ Guardiola said.
‘But in that moment maybe he felt we don’t play with a proper striker, but now we know, in that situation Erling is always there.
Man City kicked off their title defence with two wins and a draw and sit second behind Arsenal
‘Phil is going to score a lot of goals in that position, and I want that, but now he will review the images and he will see that in that position, Erling is always there.’
Guardiola added: ‘It’s not PlayStation, where you (a manager) guide what they do, they have to decide in the right moment because the biggest players always are the ones who decide perfectly in every action.’
City today host Crystal Palace, who were the only team to stop the champions scoring last season and won 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
The £51m star has bagged three goals and one assist in three matches so far for the champions
Guardiola has only two fit centre halves – John Stones and Ruben Dias – with Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake missing, while young defender Luke Mbete looks set to leave on loan. Jack Grealish is likely to miss out with an ankle issue.
The City boss again reiterated that Bernardo Silva will remain at the club amid interest from Barcelona.
‘Bernardo will stay here, absolutely,’ he said. ‘We have not had a phone call from any club regarding Bernardo Silva, which is why he will stay.’
