ETIHAD — Chasing the game, while still creating chances with 10 players, Pep Guardiola decided to pick a Champions League knockout tie against Real Madrid to do something he had never done before.
Erling Haaland is a shadow of his normal self in 2026. The numbers more human. Yet when you need goals, to take him off with a third of the match to go is a decision that won’t have been taken lightly, with a message to be garnered from such a bold move.
Haaland has been withdrawn before, but when City have been out of sight and the legs needed to be saved. To take off the greatest, pound-for-pound, Premier League goalscorer of all time, when you needed his phenom-like superpowers in front of goal more than ever, suggests Guardiola could be heading back to his footballing roots one final time.
Deploying an out-and-out striker goes against Guardiola’s Johan Cruyff-inspired principles, but he has made an exception for two of the greatest to ever do it at Manchester City – Sergio Aguero and Haaland. Output you just cannot leave on the sidelines.
When Aguero called it a day, Guardiola did not entertain the idea of a replacement. He could not wait to conquer all with a False 9, to unprecedented success on our shores. The fact he could achieve 100-point seasons, successive league titles, without a recognised striker was his footballing dreams becoming a reality.
Haaland was a club purchase, a market opportunity City simply could not pass up. Guardiola again had to put his ideology to one side. The trophies continued to flow.
Haaland is not a Pep-style player (Photo: PA)Now Haaland is amid the worst goalscoring drought of his entire career – four goals in three months – Guardiola, in perhaps his last opportunity to leave one final Cruyffian legacy, may be more willing to attempt an end-of-season revival with the Norwegian on the periphery.
“No,” Guardiola insisted when asked if an injury to Haaland was the reason for taking him off.
“I wanted fresh legs and other people.”
It is the lack of conviction in his shooting that gives Haaland disciples the biggest cause for concern. Even with his goal, ultimately in vain, against Real, the struggling striker did his level best to miss the opportunity from point-blank range, scuffing the ball home.
While Thibaut Courtois was the scourge of the boys in blue once more at the Etihad, many of his saves from close-range Haaland efforts were again far too close to the Belgian stopper.
If the goals fail to flow, there are not many other reasons to persist with Haaland. He barely touches the ball – 16 all game against Real – unless he is eight yards from goal.
Omar Marmoush is much more suited to the striker-less forwardline. Antoine Semenyo adept at playing highest up the pitch. Guardiola formations are never rigid, but his penchant for a fluid 4-2-2-2 setup this season has posed plenty of fresh problems for opponents.
Should p at least push Arsenal close and win a trophy or two in this system, the chances of Guardiola staying on for another year will also increase exponentially.
It is not out of the question that Sunday could be the start of one, final strikerless fling. Haaland cannot be kept on the bench for long and is not the sort of person to take omission lightly.
If anyone has the gall to take such a bold step, however, it is Guardiola. Especially one who is uncertain himself whether he really wants to see out his contract. Another trophy-laden False 9 unit, perfected next season, is exactly how he would want to bow out.
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