I saw what Jack Grealish did for Erling Haaland before Man City penalty – Liverpool should take note

It’s not much of a surprise that when Manchester City go through a historic, unprecedented losing streak, the inquest reaches far and wide. No player or theory has gone ignored in a bid from fans and media to find a definitive answer to the question ‘what is going wrong at the Etihad?’

There is no simple answer, of course. The losing run wouldn’t happen without all the injuries, but there are deeper problems than simply pointing to the medical room.

One theory is that if Erling Haaland doesn’t score, City don’t score, and that is true to some extent. He missed two chances against Tottenham simply because he thought too much about them and is drastically under-performing his expected goals numbers in the last 10 games.

Pep Guardiola almost laughed off the suggestion that City were too reliant on Haaland and that is a factor in their losing run. “Tell me one team where Erling plays that would not depend on him,” he replied.

“Without Erling we would be in more trouble. We are lucky that we have Erling and every game he has three or four chances. That is what I want from my team and one day we will score two or three like we did a few years ago.”

Guardiola also asked his players to ‘follow me’ in the lead up to this game and trust the processes that have them as four-time defending champions. City started well against Feyenoord, just like they did against Tottenham, and when things got more subdued, they did what the manager asked and kept going. And when Haaland was felled in the box, City had a slightly fortunate penalty and a slice of luck that has deserted them for most of the season.

VAR checked, Feyenoord protested, and Haaland took himself away from the group. Meanwhile, a player more used to being in the middle of various mind games and controversies – Jack Grealish – took it upon himself to guard the penalty spot from any visiting players looking to scuff the turf.

Maybe for the best, as when the spot kick was confirmed, goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther was willing to use all the tricks in the book to take a sip of water, wipe his forehead, clap his hands, de-mud his boots and take as much time as possible to take his place. And keep Haaland waiting.

Haaland responded with some mind games of his own. When Wellenreuther was finally ready, only then did he place the ball on the spot, compose himself, stay still for a few seconds, and fire the ball down the middle.

As he went to smash the ball into the net again out of frustration or relief or both, his teammates rushed to the striker to playfully push and congratulate him. Haaland was ready to get the game started again, but the rest of the team knew how significant the goal was for a player carrying the weight of City’s attacking output.

They made sure to help him score, and then made sure he knew they fully backed him when he did. Even for a record-setter like Haaland, confidence remains an issue.

So when Matheus Nunes raced clear after the break, Haaland sprinted into position and slid in for a second that was a trademark of his. That was more like the instinctive striker City know.

Just like Guardiola said, it’s only a matter of time before a player like Haaland starts scoring again. He’s back, with a helping hand from his teammates, just in time for Liverpool.

It’s just a shame his defensive colleagues couldn’t back up his return to form, and Haaland looked furious at full-time. If City have any hope of turning things around at Anfield, Haaland may need to perform some more heroics.