Guardiola praise for 'blessed' Haaland after hat-trick against Hammers
EMBRACEABLE YOU: Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola hugs Manchester City's Erling Haaland. Pic: AP Photo/Frank Augstein
The good news for Manchester City fans and bad news for the rest of the Premier League is that Erling Haaland – and his team-mates - are working harder than ever and getting better than ever, according to Pep Guardiola.
The big Norwegian has been breaking records since he arrived in England with a bang two years ago, when he scored twice on his Premier League debut at West Ham in August 2022.
At the same venue on Saturday, he went one better by battering the Hammers with a hat-trick, his eighth in the Premier League and 70th goal in 69 league games. Haaland already has seven goals this August, a period Guardiola describes as “pre-season” because he considers the weeks before the September international break as an annual warm-up for the real business of marching relentlessly towards another title.
Haaland has now scored the most goals by a single player during August than anyone else in the Premier League era, 19 goals in 11 games over three seasons at a rate superior to any player in any month.
His goalscoring record “was not normal at RB Salzburg, not normal at Dortmund, not normal here,” according to Guardiola, who added darkly: “There is no central defender, even with a gun, who can stop him.
“As a manager you just want (the team) to create more and more chances for him. We have a blessed guy up there to help us put the ball in the net.”
And the manager praised his striker for also tracking back to thwart a West Ham counter-attack, as well as setting up Rico Lewis for a simple chance that the youngster missed.
"He didn’t lose one ball and he played unbelievably, not just with the ball but also defensively and offensively. He gave an extra pass (assist). I’m really pleased for him. He’s playing much better in everything.”
The reason is simple. Haaland had some proper R'n'R this summer, resting and relaxing while most of his peers were toiling at the European Championship. Rodri, Phil Foden, John Stones and Kyle Walker, who all played in the final six weeks ago, have hardly featured yet through a combination of illness, injury and fatigue, but Haaland is fitter and more determined to improve than ever, even staying on after training to work on his finishing. “Last season he was not there once because he didn’t feel good - tired, niggles and so on,” said his manager.
“Now he stays behind for 20-30 minutes after every session.” Jack was back too, Grealish starting his first game of the season having also had a quiet summer, after being left out of England's Euro 2024 squad. He is back in contention for next week's game against Ireland, for whom he won six under-21 caps, and looked back to his best for City, jinking in from the wing to initiate one of Haaland's goals and several other chances.
City could have won by more. Haaland put a header over the bar, Kevin De Bruyne hit the woodwork and Lewis blazed over, but West Ham had chances too, equalising through a Ruben Dias own goal. It took another clinical finish by Haaland to restore City's lead before half-time.
“We had chances to make it 2-0 or 3-0 but then it's 1-1 from an own goal. Suddenly he (Haaland) goes 'pow, ciao' and it's 1-2. Big players find these situations.”
Haaland's third, in the 83rd minute, made it 12 league wins in a row since March for City, who moved two points clear of Arsenal. “Pre-season is over, officially finished today. The real season starts after the international break,” Guardiola reiterated.
“We need Kyle back, John back, all the players back because of the schedule until the end of the season.” And like Haaland, City's players are determined to get better and better. “People think, after we won four titles in a row, six in seven years, FA Cup, Champions League, that they would be relaxed, but it's the complete opposite.
“I see them in training every day, how focussed they are, and after nine years together we know what we have to do, what we want. Like Erling tracking back, everyone knows we have to do that – there is no complacency. It's the complete opposite.”
4-3-3 Areola 6 (Fabianksi 46); Wan-Bissaka 7, Kilman 6, Mavropanos 6, Emerson 6 (Coufal 70); Rodriguez 6 , Alvarez 6 (Soucek 77), Paqueta 6 ; Bowen 7 (Summerville 86), Antonio 4 (Fullkrug 70), Kudus 8.
4-3-3 Ederson 7; Lewis 7, Akanji 7, Dias 6, Gvardiol 6 (Walker 88); Silva 7, Kovacic 7, De Bruyne 8 (Ake 88); Doku 6 (Gundogan 68), Haaland 9, Grealish 7 (Nunes 72)
: Michael Oliver 9/10
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