‘Ridiculous amount of games’ – has Haaland played too much football?

The robot needs to be reset because it is malfunctioning.

Erling Haaland’s blistering season debut had a flaw, despite his prolific run of form.

Though the Manchester City and Norway striker has scored a remarkable 39 goals in just 36 games for club and country this season, he has hit a sticky patch of form with only one goal in his past eight games.

Pep Guardiola’s men lost the Premier League title race in the process, and Bodo/Glimt suffered a massive shock in the Champions League as a result.

During Tuesday’s cold and miserable trip to the Arctic Circle, Haaland’s recent struggles in front of goal were summed up.

Having surprisingly fallen 2-0 behind, City needed a spark of inspiration to claw themselves back into the contest and just before half-time a gilt-edged chance fell to Haaland eight yards out from goal – but he smacked his first-time effort wide.

The striker has now run out of goals in his last eight games playing for Borussia Dortmund and City, with only one penalty scored in those eight games. That effort, however, would undoubtedly have rippled the net earlier this season.

After the game, a frustrated Haaland told TNT Sports, “I don’t have the answers.” “I take full responsibility for not being able to score the goals I should do, so I apologise to everyone and every single Manchester City supporter that travelled today.

I try my best whenever I’m on the pitch, and I do it frequently because we play a lot of games. I make an effort to do my best, because that is my job, and I make preparations for the upcoming game.

Haaland has played 31 games and 2, 568 minutes in all club competitions so far this season, which puts him 12th among all Premier League players for time on the pitch.

However, Haaland is only second in terms of forwards from the top five leagues in Europe, trailing only Jean-Philippe Mateta of Crystal Palace, who has played two more games but only 52 more minutes.

Since that game, Haaland has been taking fewer shots in each 90 minutes, his touches in the opposition box have decreased from 6.7% to 4.3, and his expected goals (xG) have decreased from 0.98 to 0.42.

There has also been a stark decrease in the big chances that have come his way, going from 1.94 per 90 minutes to 0.81.

Rodri is trying to find his best form after a protracted injury lay-off, and Phil Foden has not managed a single goal or assist since the West Ham game due to injuries to key defenders Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

Haaland has taken responsibility, but Guardiola should look to himself after choosing to give his team so much game time this year.

Fielding him for 45 minutes in the 10-1 FA Cup third round trouncing of League One Exeter City was particularly curious as teenager Divine Mukasa could have started a match that the hosts were not likely to lose.

However, Guardiola was hurt by Bayer Leverkusen’s shock 2-0 home defeat in the Champions League in November when 10 changes to the starting lineup had a disastrous effect.

However, Haaland should take on the task of scoring goals with the return of Omar Marmoush from his Africa Cup of Nations duties and Antoine Semenyo’s ability to play anywhere up front.

Although Haaland had another off night on Tuesday, former Premier League striker Chris Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live he does not think there should be worries about the City player’s form.

Sutton remarked, “He is a striker who has pretty much scored goals all the time.” He will be a good man once more.

Given that Haaland has scored 20 goals in 22 games in the Premier League, but in City’s last eight games, Haaland has not scored any goals in open play.

Guardiola has mentioned the fixture pile-up, but has anything else changed to explain this alarming state of play?

This suited Haaland massively, but attacking in a quicker fashion has implications for how the team defends. Teams are more likely to lose the ball and find themselves with fewer players behind the ball before being counter-attacked themselves by attacking more quickly.

Guardiola made a subtly hints that he wanted to reintroduce a more measured approach to his previously successful teams when discussing this version of City, saying: “I love how much we run] and last season we didn’t have that. But it’s not enough, we have to play better]so] we could run less”, after their 3-0 win against West Ham in December.

As the season progressed, it seems like this was the case. In theory, City would concede fewer counter-attacks while facing more low-block if played more subduedly.

However, recent injuries to many City players have impacted their ability to perform these tactics both technically and physically.

What does Haaland’s interpretation of this mean?

How quickly can City enter dangerous positions is shortened by the absence of ball-playing defenders. There are fewer passes played from deep for Haaland to run on to. Additionally, the ability of City to pin teams in is declining.

In the Premier League this year, Gvardiol is second in terms of both line-breaking passes (11.9) and progressive carries (11.7) per 90 minutes. Without him, City are often stuck in between the two situations Haaland has shown quality against.

Haaland typically has two options if City can retaliate against opponents.

The first is that Haaland will initiate a darting run before slowing down or stopping. The defenders around him will continue moving towards their own goal, often in response to a winger’s movement. After being cut back, Haaland is left in the open for scoring.

Moving to the backpost to receive crosses is another common strategy used by Haaland to combat low blocks. He does it much more frequently than he does attacking close-post attacks. The space at the near post is often free for a teammate to attack – in the past, Ilkay Gundogan, and at present Phil Foden or Reijnders.

Reijnders has increased the scoring burden by attacking these areas, where teams frequently use two players and man-marking to put pressure on City’s number nine.

City must therefore make room for him, whether it is through direct dribbling or defensive backflips or by being willing to accelerate play and launch an offensive attack quickly.