Pep Guardiola insists the Premier League title race is not over – but accepted his side are missing the consistency, creativity and Erling Haaland goals they require.
City are now nine points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal and, although they have a game in hand, their 1-1 draw at West Ham on Saturday night was a huge boost to the Gunners’ dreams of ending their title wait.
On Friday, Guardiola had said if City dropped points the race would be over. He rowed back on that after the game at the London Stadium but struck a concessionary tone as he noted the issues which are likely to prevent his side mounting the epic winning streak which would be needed to turn things around with eight games to play.
“No, it’s not over,” he told TNT Sports. “We didn’t lose. We continue.”
In his press conference, he noted that the team had performed better than he was anticipating this season, following their distant third-place finish last year, but said they still have much developing to do. “From the beginning we grow a lot but it’s not the finished business.”
He sees a lack of consistency as a key issue. Last weekend, Guardiola was beaming after his side produced what he called their best-ever performance at St James’ Park when they beat Newcastle in the FA Cup. But since then, a 3-0 loss at Real Madrid and draw at West Ham has left their Champions League and Premier League prospects hanging by a thread.
Added to that is a failure to score enough goals, Guardiola said. City are actually the second-top scorers in the Premier League, only one behind Arsenal, but their display at West Ham underlined their issue in opening up low blocks to score enough goals to prevent an opponent grabbing a point.
The Hammers scored with their only shot of the match. Last time out in the Premier League, Nottingham Forest converted two of their four shots on target at the Etihad to draw.
“In the end, we need the creativity and we’re struggling this season,” said Guardiola. “We had to be better in the final third. We didn’t do it. It happened in many games this season.”
But the headline issue with City’s attack right now is surely the form of Haaland.
That impressive win at Newcastle last week came with Haaland out with a knock. At the Bernabeu he didn’t manage a shot, while in east London he cut a frustrated figure.
He scored 19 times in his first 17 Premier League games this season. He’s managed just three in his past 12.
Haaland remains the Premier League top scorer but in this crucial phase of the season, the goals have dried up.
“The lack of goals, we miss him of course,” said Guardiola.
“I always believe it’s the connections and many things create the good interactions. But Erling, we need his goals.
“We need to create more, like in the [first half] he has three chances there. We have to create that threat that sometimes we didn’t have.
“He will be back.”
Guardiola may not be publicly throwing in the towel on this Premier League challenge but while Haaland and City may return to hit their former highs again, in their current situation, it looks like time has run out on a title-race turnaround.
