Manchester City Need to Learn How to Serve Erling Haaland Again

ATLANTA, SATURDAY — Erling Haaland is undoubtedly one of the best number nines in the world today. However, Manchester City is beginning to show signs of being able to reduce their dependence on goals from the Norwegian striker.

The second match in Group G of the 2025 Club World Cup against Al Ain could be an opportunity to restore Haaland's contribution to the attacking line of "The Citizens." Haaland has a great chance to make his official FIFA tournament debut when facing Al Ain on Monday (23/6/2025) at 08:00 WIB, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

In City's opening game of the 2025 Club World Cup campaign against Wydad Casablanca, manager Pep Guardiola deployed a false nine tactic that deployed Omar Marmoush as a shadow striker. Marmoush's role was not limited to roaming in the penalty box or the final third of the opponent's defense.

Marmoush's high mobility opens up opportunities for Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki, two attacking midfielders, to frequently reach the dangerous zones of Wydad.

The movement of the three players was able to dismantle the layered defense of Wydad, which employed a low defensive zone. Moreover, the two wing midfielders, Savinho and Jeremy Doku, also had the opportunity to accelerate for offensive one-on-one duels with the opposing defenders.

A total of 13 shots resulted in two goals for City with the tactic of playing without a pure striker. Foden and Doku registered their names on the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, when Haaland came on in the 60th minute, City's attacking line became sluggish. There were only two additional shots produced by City in the final 30 minutes of the match. Both were taken by Haaland, with only one on target.

Entering the final three months of the 2024-2025 competition campaign, Haaland's role at City has begun to fade. The injuries he has suffered have allowed City to gradually seek solutions for the goals that have long been reliant on him.

That can be seen from the goal record through open play. It has been almost three months since Haaland scored a goal through open play. The last time that moment occurred was when City eliminated Bournemouth 2-1, March 30.

This is different from Haaland's performance in the two qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup earlier this June. The two goals scored by Haaland for Norway's victories over Italy (3-0) and Estonia (1-0) were achieved through open play.

Guardiola understands the underwhelming performance of several of his key players. He stated that he will provide another opportunity for different players to start the match, including Haaland, when facing Al Ain, a team from the United Arab Emirates.

"We will gradually try to improve our game and be at the right tempo. In the next match (against Al Ain), I will try 10 different players to attempt to win the match," Guardiola stated as reported by the City website.

Foden stated that his team is preparing to face the second match with a positive atmosphere. The victory over Wydad, he continued, helps City to prepare better ahead of facing Al Ain.

"Winning the first game was important for us. It's a new competition with quality opponents, so we have to improve every game to be the best," Foden told DAZN.

In addition to reintroducing the false nine, Guardiola also has the opportunity to sharpen City's strengths on the wings. An attack that combines the improvisation of fast wingers with slick dribbling skills could be City's deadly weapon in the 2025-2026 season.

Apart from Doku and Savinho, Guardiola has young wingers, namely Claudio Echeverri and Oscar Bobb.

The acquisition of left wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri shows Guardiola's desire to strengthen the game on the outside. The Citizens will reduce the role of the inverted wing-back who became an additional central midfielder. As a result, City's game is much wider.

With that pattern, they can maximize the cut back or cross from the edge of the field that directs the ball into the penalty box away from the goal. Such a pass service is favored by Foden, then the two new midfielders, Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders.

In the first game, the roles of Cherki and Reijnders were not optimal. With 32 goal contributions for Lyon in the 2024-2025 season, Cherki did not produce a single shot. Meanwhile, Reijnders, who scored 15 goals and provided five assists for AC Milan last season, also did not display his goal-scoring instinct as he played as a defensive midfielder.

"They are players who can immediately fit into the team. Their quality is incredible. I am sure they will play a big role in our efforts to achieve many achievements this season (2025-2026)," said Foden of his two midfield colleagues.

Meanwhile, Al Ain is trying to recover after being defeated by Juventus 0-5 in their opening match. The result against Juve further underscores a poor season for Al Ain.

As the champion of the 2023-2024 Asian Champions League, Al Ain failed to maintain their dominance in Asia, finishing only in fifth place in the 2024-2025 United Arab Emirates League. This has resulted in their absence from the Asian stage in the upcoming season.

Al Ain coach Vladimir Ivic acknowledged that many aspects need to be improved in his team after suffering a heavy defeat to Juve. "We want to fix everything; regarding attacking, defending, transitions, and set pieces. These are the things that can make the team play better," Ivic told FIFA.

Although he admires Guardiola, Ivic emphasized that he aims for Al Ain to surprise City. Unexpected results are not uncommon in the Club World Cup. Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) held Real Madrid, Botafogo defeated Paris Saint-Germain, and Flamengo triumphed over Chelsea.

"When facing one of the best managers in the world, regardless of whether you are a coach, player, or supporter, there is certainly an ambition to defeat him (Guardiola)," said Ivic.