Manchester City striker Erling Haaland openly criticized his own performance following the team’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday.
Aston Villa handed City their latest loss after Jhon Duran gave them a 16th-minute lead, and Morgan Rogers extended the advantage just after the hour mark. Phil Foden scored a late goal for City in stoppage time, but the visitors struggled throughout the match. Haaland, in particular, had little impact, having scored just once in his last six appearances.
The Premier League’s back-to-back Golden Boot winner was limited to only 18 touches, with just one coming in Villa’s penalty area, and he failed to register a single shot on target.
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Reflecting on the 2-1 defeat in a post-match interview with TNT Sports, Haaland admitted: “We are disappointed, it’s not good enough. It’s not good enough from me.”
While acknowledging Villa’s strong performance, Haaland was critical of his own form. “They’re good players, it’s difficult to come here, but we’re Man City, we should be out there,” he said. “We have to continue, we have to believe and we have to keep working hard.”
Haaland continued, “First, I’m looking at myself. I haven’t been doing things well enough, I haven’t been scoring my chances. I have to do better, I haven’t been good enough.”
Despite outshooting Villa 12 to 11 and registering a league-high 294 attempts this season, City’s finishing remains a concern, with a conversion rate of just 9.9% — the lowest since records began in 2006/07.
However, Haaland expressed a degree of optimism about Pep Guardiola’s ability to turn things around. “He won the Premier League six times in seven years,” Haaland remarked. “We will never forget that. He will find the solutions. He has been doing that every single year. We still believe in him, and we have to work harder than ever right now.”