05 February 2023 , 22:47
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Manchester City defender Kyle Walker recognised it can be difficult for new players to fit into Pep Guardiola's set-up, amid questions over top scorer Erling Haaland.
Haaland drew a blank on Sunday as the reigning Premier League champions lost 1-0 away to Tottenham. The former Borussia Dortmund star is the Premier League's top scorer with 25 goals, but some have questioned whether his arrival has had a detrimental effect on the team
City's loss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium saw them miss a chance to close the gap on league leaders Arsenal. Mikel Arteta's side had been beaten by Everton on Saturday afternoon, but the gap remains at five points thanks to Guardiola's team falling short the following day.
“It’s a process – he’s come to Manchester City and it’s a difficult team to fit into as the manager demands so much and the way we play. It’s unique," Walker told Sky Sports after the defeat.
"Erling has been fantastic. No-one says anything when he’s scoring goals and winning. All of sudden now when we don’t win and he doesn’t score, they say ‘is it the problem, do we play better without him?’
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"I hear it all the time. But no-one is complaining when he’s scored his 25th goal of the season. This is the team we’ve got now until the end of the season. We’ll fight until the end.”
Are Man City a worse team with Haaland up front? Have your say in the comments section
Erling Haaland was kept at bay by Tottenham (Kin Cheung/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Going into Sunday's game, City had played four times under Guardiola at Spurs' new stadium and lost all four. Harry Kane's record-breaking goal made the difference this time, though Spurs finished the game with 10 men after Cristian Romero picked up a second yellow card late on.
“I’m not being negative with anyone but there are certain things we can do better around the box, making that clear-cut chance, making the goalkeeper a save, just creating more clear-cut actions rather than having possession around the box," former Tottenham defender Walker said. "Sometimes you need to have shots and shots on target."
The game came just weeks after City came from 2-0 down to beat Antonio Conte's team 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium. The Spurs manager wasn't in the dugout this time, with Cristian Stellini stepping in as Conte recovers from gallbladder surgery.
City boss Guardiola suggested City's opponents stifled his team by setting up defensively in north London. "It is not easy when 10 players defend, and sit back a little bit more than in the Etihad two weeks ago," the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager said. "We played good, started well and missed maybe the last pass, to shoot.
"Sooner or later it [the record away to Spurs] is going to change, but it is strange we haven't scored one goal, we have missed penalties in the past. To find an explanation is not easy."