One of Manchester City’s main stars looked absolutely “fuming” during Saturday’s Premier League loss to Tottenham Hotspur, according to BBC Sport pundit Pat Nevin.
Manchester City had a day to forget last Saturday, with Tottenham once again leaving the Etihad Stadium with all three points.
The Citizens’ unbeaten home record came crashing down when Spurs ran out 4-0 winners at the Etihad less than a year ago.
And Man City were unable to make amends this time round as Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha struck for the visitors in the first half.
Nevin also said there was something else that concerned him about City’s play that doesn’t bode well going forward.
Erling Haaland ‘fuming’ he wasn’t set up after losing his marker
Nevin noted how Erling Haaland made a number of his trademark runs on Saturday in anticipation of an eye-of-a-needle pass, but it never came.
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On one occasion, Haaland looked visibly annoyed, and Nevin worries whether Man City’s new recruits can assist the Norwegian in a similar manner to Kevin De Bruyne or Phil Foden.
“Erling Haaland made one of his trademark runs finally losing his marker, and that through-ball was on,” Nevin wrote on BBC Sport.
“He makes dozens of these runs every match in the hope that he gets free once or twice. His problem was that Kevin De Bruyne has departed and it wasn’t Phil Foden on the ball.
“The pass wasn’t played and the chance was gone in a heartbeat. Haaland was fuming and I am sure Pep was disappointed.
“The new generation he has brought in such as Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki and Nico Gonzalez are fine players but are they going to reach the world class levels of their predecessors?
“If they do not see those types of passes as a matter of course, they could fall short of the admittedly stellar levels that are demanded at City.”
How Erling Haaland’s teammates are hoping to get the best out of him
With Kevin De Bruyne leaving Man City and joining Napoli, Haaland will be hoping that another player can replace the Belgian as his partner-in-crime up top.
Rayan Cherki vowed to make Haaland more dangerous over the course of the campaign by creating chances aplenty for the striker.
More recently, it has been reported that Jeremy Doku is working on building chemistry with Haaland in a bid to create more chances for him.
It’s still very early days in the campaign – City will go from strength to strength over the coming weeks and months.