3 things we learned as Manchester City beat league-leaders Arsenal

3.) Guardiola has gone against his philosophy 

You hear it all the time from ex-players that have played under Pep Guardiola; if somebody can’t fit his system, they don’t play. It’s simple. Whether it be attitude, positioning, or lack of willingness to learn and change, Pep will find somebody else.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said it, and even Manchester City club legend Sergio Aguero faced this same wrath during his later years at the club under Guardiola when Jesus was quick to impress and Aguero had to face a spell on the sidelines.

However now, things seemed to have changed with Haaland. It seems Guardiola’s system has been made to fit Haaland’s style. Adding an extra man into midfield to help with build-up play, and more crosses into the box than in years past, I’m not saying that Haaland has made City worse, but City just isn’t as dynamic as in years gone by.

The goal is clear, get the ball to Haaland and let him do his thing. With 25 Premier League goals already, it’s hard to argue that the plan isn’t working. Although you look around the rest of the City squad at the moment, nobody has more than 7 goals, with Phil Foden the second leading scorer in the team.

In years past, goals came from everywhere, and teams could never put too much attention onto one player, or another would end up scoring. Now, all attention goes towards Haaland, but because of the role he plays, the spaces he occupies, and the lack of involvement in any build-up, it limits others from getting into goalscoring spaces. Time will tell if this is the right move.

It just seems odd that Guardiola does seem to have deviated from his normal style of coaching and man-management. Against Arsenal, Haaland had 37 touches, but hardly had an impact on the game, which is not uncommon for him. The man only needs one touch though, to exercise his lethal form in front of goal.