Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola confirmed that his striker, Erling Haaland, scores goals with a natural instinct that is impossible to learn, and he met with sarcastic demands to punish the Norwegian player for his extreme skill with laughter, warning his player against the nickname “New Messi”.
Haaland scored 14 of City’s 29 Premier League goals this season, with hat-tricks in his last three home games.
“What can I teach him?” Guardiola told reporters ahead of Saturday’s home game against Southampton, which could send City to the top. To move here or there for a meter?
“He has an incredible sense as a striker of where the ball will go. He goes there one second before the ball arrives.
“He has talent and quality, it’s not about scoring goals,” he added. He is present at all times, whether the ball is rebounded (from the opponent) or crossed.
He continued: How can I, as a coach, teach him (to score goals)?… It is impossible. It’s a natural instinct, he’s (gifted) by nature. He’s done it in Norway, in Austria and Germany, and he’s doing it here. You cannot say anything.
Halland, 22, became the talk of England this season, and joking petitions appeared on social media calling for him to be stopped “because he is a robot” or “because what he is doing is not fair.”
And published by Changdot. Organizing a petition that reads: Erling Haaland is a serious problem. He appears suddenly in the attack of (the blue), and constantly destroys the weekend (matches) of the toiling people of this great nation.
City defender Emeric Laporte mocked his colleague Halland on Twitter by attaching a video copy of the fake petition, in response to a tweet by the striker, who scored two goals in the team’s 5-0 victory over Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Guardiola added that Haaland will have a few weeks off during the World Cup in Qatar, which will start on November 20, after Norway failed to qualify for the finals, and that the media attention to the striker does not cause a problem for the team.
“There are 15 questions about Erling in every press conference,” he said. For me it’s okay. We are fortunate that the men here are so accepting.
“At other clubs there are people who don’t like it. Here, people like Kevin (De Bruyne) and he’s exceptional… I’m glad to have him, because they know they can play better together.”
“It’s the same for everyone. We don’t have great players (who say) for example ‘Why do people only talk about him?’ This happens in a lot of clubs. That’s why it’s a pleasure to watch or coach these kinds of players.”
And on comparing Halland with Messi, Pep said: Well, how many times has a player appeared in the world of football and was said to be the new Messi? 10? 15 times? They always fail! Haaland has to make his own career, his own business.