Paul Merson has said that Manchester City play very differently when they don’t have one specific player in the team.
With 33 Premier League games played this season, the Citizens have won 23, drawn seven and lost three, scoring 80 goals and conceding 32 along the way.
Having seen City get knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-final round but securing a place in the FA Cup final, one pundit has made a claim about how different the team are when one particular figure isn’t on the pitch.
Merson says City are different when one player isn’t in the team
In his latest column for Sportskeeda, Merson had this to say on the matter.
He said: “It’s hard to say if Manchester City are a better team without [Erling] Haaland as he scores bags of goals, but they dominate games a lot more without him, if that makes sense.”
In 39 appearances across all competitions this season, the centre-forward, who City paid £51m to sign from Borussia Dortmund during the 2022 summer transfer window, has scored 31 goals in total.
The striker has not featured 14 games for Pep Guardiola’s side across all competitions this season, mostly due to injury.
Out of those 14 games, City have won 12, drawn one and lost one, which, on the face of it, doesn’t suggest that his absence doesn’t have a particularly big impact on the team.
Erling Haaland is vital for Man City
Their last game saw the Treble winners beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 away from home, during which they had 65% possession in total and registered 14 attempts at goal.
Similarly in the 1-0 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final, a game that Haaland also missed, City had 62% possession and 12 shots at goal.
So, in regards to what Merson has said, the Citizens have proven over their two previous games that they are capable of dominating teams when they don’t have Haaland in the team.
However, the clear goalscoring prowess he has makes him a vital figure for them, in our view.