With Erling Haaland nearing an incredibly fast scoring record, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola understands he can’t expect too much more from his top striker. Guardiola believes he won’t need to.
“The experience of playing game after game, they will improve,” Guardiola said about Haaland’s goal-scoring stats.
Since joining Manchester City in the summer of 2022, the Norway international has scored 99 goals in 103 matches.
He might reach his 100th goal against Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“The more games he plays for this club, he will be a better player,” Guardiola said. “And in a natural way. Not because we did something special or he practices something special, just a natural way.”
Haaland scored 52 goals in 53 games across all competitions in his first season after moving from Borussia Dortmund. Guardiola was amazed because Haaland had muscle issues early on and “struggled a bit.”
This season, Guardiola mentioned that Haaland is free from injuries and mentally refreshed after Norway didn’t make it to the European Championship, allowing him a summer break.
By following up two hat tricks with two goals against Brentford in a 2-1 win in the English Premier League on Saturday, Haaland has scored nine goals in his first four games of the season.
“I don’t expect every single game he scores three, two, three, two goals,” Guardiola said. “The moment it happens, it’s not a problem because I know the quality is there.
“But the difference to last season is he’s good, no problems, and when a player has that feeling, he can perform his best.”
Wednesday’s match will be a repeat of the 2023 Champions League final, where City won 1-0 — with a second-half goal from Rodri — to win the European title for the first time.
