Former Aston Villa striker and talkSPORT pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor has urged Pep Guardiola to drop Erling Haaland in tonight’s clash against Spurs.
Manchester City host Tottenham Hotspur in a crucial Premier League clash tonight as Pep Guardiola’s side look to close the gap to league leaders Arsenal to just five points.
Erling Haaland leads the Premier League with 21 goals so far this season and is widely regarded to be the best striker in football, however Gabriel Agbonlahor has called for the Norwegian to be dropped.
The former Aston Villa striker, who scored 74 goals in 322 Premier League games, thinks Guardiola should drop Haaland so City can get back to playing similar football as they did last season.
In 2022, the Manchester side won the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League without Haaland, who was still at Borussia Dortmund.
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😳 “I want to see Man City play with the formation they played with last season!”
👀 “Give Haaland a rest for a game.”
🔥 “Get your Phil Foden as a false 9 with Jack Grealish, Mahrez and De Bruyne!”@Ga11Agbon wants Pep to drop Haaland and get #MCFC playing like last season 🤯 pic.twitter.com/4Vk4E2eVzA
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) January 19, 2023
Agbonlahor says ‘play Phil Foden as a false nine with Grealish and Mahrez either side’
The 36-year-old from Birmingham reckons Man City should start with Phil Foden at centre-forward to give Haaland a break and have Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez either side.
“I wanna see Man City play with the formation they played last season. Give Haaland a rest for a game and play the false nine. Get Foden as a false nine with Grealish and Mahrez either side.
“De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan or Bernardo Silva in the middle. I wanna see them play how they played last season to see if they’re better with or without Haaland.
“When you’re playing against teams that are playing with no space in behind, I think you need more from Haaland to come and get involved in play.
“That’s why last season, when they played a false nine, there were so many bodies, different players were making runs into the box.
“I do think they’re better with Haaland and I’d agree Haaland has to play the majority of the games, but I wanna see them without him for a game.”
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🗣 "We have to provide more balls to him [Haaland] as much as possible."
Pep Guardiola is questioned whether Man City are still learning the best way to play with Erling Haaland pic.twitter.com/PIAL2YLkCE
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) January 18, 2023
Manchester City vs Spurs kicks-off at 8pm at the Etihad Stadium and is live on Sky Sports as the hosts look to snap a two-game losing streak to their opponents.
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