Manchester City striker Erling Haaland feels the lack of hunger led to their poor season. City is in third place in the Premier League standings with 64 points after 35 matches and they could not defend their title.
On the other hand, the Cityzens also suffered an exit from UEFA Champions League after suffering a loss against Real Madrid.
Injuries to key players like Rodri have also played a key role in Sky Blues’ downfall. City could not come up with a collective effort and Haaland admitted they have not been playing at their absolute best, which hasn’t helped them.
“Of course, you can find excuses, injuries, many injuries at bad times, but in the end we haven’t been performing well enough,” Haaland said in an exclusive interview with ESPN.
“We haven’t had fully the hunger inside of us. I haven’t been good enough. I haven’t helped the team enough. In the end, we haven’t been good enough.”
Meanwhile, the Norwegian scored 30 goals in 40 matches this season across all competitions.
Haaland has spent the last month on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury in the 2-1 win over Bournemouth in March.
“It was horrible to be injured, but what can you do?,” he said.
“You have to recover as quickly as you can and to come back as fit as you can. Now I’m back with loads of energy.
“I’m feeling good and moving good and I’m ready.”
Pep Guardiola’s team will take on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on 17th May at Wembley Stadium.