Manchester City have finally found some form after beating Tottenham 4-2 on Thursday, but a Dietmar Hamann tweet following their 2-1 defeat to Manchester United still needs to be talked about as City had to fight for their recent victory.
Hamann said: “Man City (were) a better team without (Erling) Haaland, even if he scores 40 goals this season.” The Sky Blues are currently second in the Premier League table with 42 points from 19 games, having won 13 games with three defeats. They scored 50 goals with 20 conceded.
This time last season, City were top of the table with 47 points from 19 games, with 15 wins and two defeats. They scored 50 goals with 12 conceded. They’re averaging less shots per game (16.9) from 2021/22 too (18.8), so it’s undeniable that City have declined.
Erling Haaland has scored 22 goals from 18 Premier League games, but he’s performing 6.5 more than his expected goals while taking more shots per game (3.9) than all but two players in the top-flight, so City have been banking too much on him delivering magic.
City had eight players with 7 or more league goals last season but have only two players with more than 4 league goals this season. Haaland has picked up the slack, but a lot is being expected of him and City are suffering for it. They need to spread the goals around more evenly so they’re not so reliant on one player.
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