Manchester City told ‘they were better without Erling Haaland’

Manchester City have been told that they were better without star striker Erling Haaland after their disappointing Manchester derby defeat against Manchester United.

Haaland joined City from Borussia Dortmund in the summer and was in prolific form before the World Cup break.

He has scored 21 goals in the Premier League already, plus five in the Champions League.

However, since the turn of the year, the Norway superstar is yet to find the back of the net as City have also been struggling in recent weeks.

Haaland failed to get into the match on Saturday as Pep Guardiola’s side fell to a 2-1 defeat against United in the Manchester derby.

The 22-year-old only managed a mere two shots during the whole match, whilst only registering 19 touches across 90 minutes.

After the match, former City player Didi Hamann took to social media and claimed that Guardiola’s side were a better team without Haaland.

The German former midfielder tweeted: “Man City was a better team without Haaland, even if he scores 40 goals this season.”

Back in the summer of 2022, Hamann spoke about the challengers Guardiola will face after signing the Norwegian.

He told talkSPORT: “He [Guardiola] likes to play wide players or midfielders up top who like to link play – he’s good with his feet but he’s not as good as a Grealish, or a Foden, or a Sterling who have played up top.

“It’ll be interesting to see how they play because you’ve got to feed him, but I don’t think they’ll be able to play the way they used to play because the more direct you play, the more goals he’ll probably get you.

“It’s fascinating because last year I said I can see him going anywhere, but not Manchester City because he’s just not a player that Pep Guardiola wants up top.”

He added: “He’s got him now and maybe he thinks he’s got to change to win the biggest trophy in club football, the Champions League, but how they play remains to be seen.”