A narrative has sprung up around Erling Haaland in recent weeks, on whether Man City are more effective without their star striker, who leads to Premier League with 21 goals.
Ahead of Man City's clash with Spurs this evening, Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher discussed the situation, and the differences between last season's Man City and this season's City.
Richards wisely stated out the obvious that no team could be considered worse with a goal scorer with such a record, while pointing out that Man City are neither better nor worse, but different.
Everyone's entitled to to their opinion. I know what you're going to ask me, 'are Man City a better team without Haaland?' It's a different team with Haaland.
They force the ball more, look for the areas to get the ball in where he is, every time the midfielders get their head up they're looking for him.
And sometimes, at times last season, they would sort of grind teams down. You know tiki-taka beautiful football, and it's just different. For someone's who has scored so many goals, he's got 20 odd goals this season already, how can anyone say they're a worse team with Haaland, they're just different.
"When a player comes in you say 'who should change, that player or the team?' I think it needs to be a mixture," added Jamie Carrager.
Jamie Carragher And Micah Richards Discuss The Impact Of Erling Haaland
🗣️ "I have to find a way to play better"
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says that it is his responsibility when Erling Haaland does not score goals ❌pic.twitter.com/ZBvzvpSAMd— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 19, 2023
READ HERE: Jamie Carragher Expertly Breaks Down One Of Haaland's Most Frightening Attributes
Carragher also touched on the subject previously and echoed the views of Richards.
"I don't think it's either; it means they're different. I said that at the start of the season: signing Haaland was no guarantee Manchester City would win the league, it just meant they would be different as a team.
"He will score lots of goals, but how many points City get normally to win a title, which is probably mid-90 points...you can't really get much more than that. They had 100 one season, [but] they're not gonna get over 100 points, I don't care who they've got in the team."
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