Haaland: Man City players ´still believe´ in Guardiola

Erling Haaland says Manchester City players “still believe” in Pep Guardiola despite their recent slump in form.

Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers scored, with Phil Foden adding a late consolation, as City lost 2-1 to Aston Villa on Saturday.

It marked their ninth loss in the space of 12 games in all competitions.

For the first time under Guardiola, City are winless in five consecutive Premier League away games (D1 L4), last failing to win more consecutive such matches in December 2015 (six) under Manuel Pellegrini.

For a third consecutive game, Haaland failed to find the back of the net and struggled for service at Villa Park, managing just one shot, which was off target, and one touch in the opposition box, which came right at the death.

Asked about the team’s faith in Guardiola, Haaland told TNT Sports: “He won the Premier League six times in seven years, so we will never forget that.

“He will find the solutions. He has been doing that every single year. We still believe in him; we have to work harder than ever right now.”

On City’s dismal run, he added: “Of course we are disappointed, it’s not good enough. It’s not good enough from me.

“It’s difficult to come [to Villa Park] but, we’re Man City. We have to continue; we have to believe, and we have to keep working hard.

“We have to continue. First, I’m looking at myself, I haven’t been doing things good enough, I haven’t been scoring my chances. I have to do better; I haven’t been good enough.”

“Of course, [confidence is] not the best. We know how important confidence is, and you can see that it affects every human being. That is how it is, we have to continue and stay positive even though it is difficult.”

9 – Manchester City have lost 9 of their last 12 games in all competitions (W1 D2). The last time other selected clubs had a run of 9 defeats in 12 games:

Chelsea – 25/05/2023
Tottenham – 26/12/1997
Arsenal – 23/03/1977
Man Utd – 16/12/1961
Liverpool – 23/01/1954

Unprecedented. pic.twitter.com/6Ls5Zw6poF

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 21, 2024

City’s previous nine defeats in all competitions came across a run of 112 games, while only in 2019-20 (12) and 2016-17 (10) has a Guardiola side lost more matches in a single season (nine in 2024-25).

This century, only Chelsea out of the Premier League’s other so-called “big six” teams have endured a run of nine losses in 12 games.

Guardiola, though, looked to draw positives from City’s latest defeat.

“We played a really good first half, second half we dropped,” Guardiola told TNT Sports.

“We have good moments, we had chances, more chances than in the United game, but in the second half we dropped, and our pressing was not good enough. We struggled a little bit, and we could not drop them well. We found a goal in the end, but too late.

“We struggle to score, and we concede goals.

“Step by step, we have nice personalities in the team and sooner or later we are going to find [confidence].”

He also suggested it is on him to change his tactical approach.

“I have to do it [change], and back my players, that is what will be different,” he said.