With or without you? Guardiola is still looking for the right tactic for Haaland

Experts note that with Haaland in the line-up, City's game has changed. It's not as fluid, fast up front. Apart from the fact that some of the Sky Blues' mainstays are out of form after the World Cup (De Bruyne, Foden...), it is also due to the different formation. "In the past years, many times we came with a false nine and we had extra players in midfield," Guardiola elaborates. "But now the extra player is in the penalty box. We have to adapt to that," he adds.

The classic number nine in the penalty area is, in short, a novelty for City. Critics accuse Haaland of not being much use in the midfield and that the rest of the team and its play must be subordinated to him. Which, in their opinion, cannot work in games against tough opponents. 

The results in the new year prove them right. Against Chelsea, in the derby with United, in the double-header with Tottenham and in the domestic cup against Arsenal, Haaland played complete games and only scored once in those 450 minutes. For that goal, in the home game against Tottenham, Mahrez served the ball to his head just in front of the lone goalkeeper.

Then, when the Citizens came up empty in the rematch at the opponents' stadium, former excellent Liverpool defender and Sky Sports expert Jamie Carragher said that Haaland "may have picked the wrong club to get the best out of him." The didn't get a shot on target in that game, lost three of seven duels and fumbled every fourth pass... Overall, Haaland is 18th in the City squad for passes made per game (13.9) and 21st in the squad for pass completion (76.3%). No first-team player has a worse passing accuracy than him

He's improving, teammate appreciates

The 22-year-old sniper's goal explosion that followed the start of his new mission, when he scored goal after goal until the end of the calendar year (27 in 21 starts in all club competitions), is currently a faded memory. Since the day the calendar turned the year to 2023, Haaland has hit the target four times in eight games, a balance much skewed by a hat-trick into Wolverhampton's net.

That's why the news of the City forward's health problems didn't elicit too many desperate reactions either. Guardiola pulled him off the field at half-time against Aston Villa on Sunday. "He got a knock, he didn't feel well. It was unnecessary to take a risk at 3-0," the coach said. And he added that he had heeded the doctors' suggestion in making his move. "If the score had been closer, I probably would have let him play on," he hinted at the severity of the striker's problem. Haaland is widely expected to play a part in the key title duel.

And Guardiola will apparently try to come up with an untried scheme that could work for key duels with the Norwegian youngster at the top of the line-up. In training, he says the team is working on making Haaland fit better into the Citizens' game. And midfielder Ilkay Gündogan saw glimpses of results in the last game against Aston Villa. “We know that Erling scored a lot of goals so far but today in the first half he made the runs that we need, he went into the areas where he can create space for the other players coming in from the back," he praised.

However, it will not be until Wednesday's title battle that Haaland will be issued the most conclusive report card...