Man City must find stomach after poor season, says Erling Haaland

Manchester City forward Erling Haaland reckons the club must find stomach for a fight after their catastrophic season. The Cityzens could not defend their Premier League title and were also knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

Erling Haaland has scored 21 goals for Manchester City in the Premier League this season. City will take on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on Saturday at Wembley Stadium, which would be their 14th FA Cup final.

“You cannot win every year,” Haaland told ESPN. “The club has set the standards so the bar is so high that this season is a catastrophic season, that just says it all. And yeah, next season we have to find something inside our stomach again to attack the season.

“We have to get better. First, think about the next game. Finish strong in the Premier League and win the FA Cup. Then we have to start focusing on next season straight away.”

Earlier, the Sky Blues’ head coach Pep Guardiola said winning the FA Cup won’t save Manchester City’s poor season. However, Haaland said it would mean a lot as winning the FA Cup title on 17th May, Norway’s constitution day, would bring the fans a much-needed boost.

“It would mean a lot to me on a big day in Norway, 17th of May,” he said.

“So I’ll do everything I can to make it possible and I’ll do everything I can to help the team to achieve this because it would mean a lot to me.

“For me, it would help. It’s important to win trophies. That’s what I want. That’s why I’m here. So it would help, definitely.

“But again, the standards these guys have been putting up, maybe for them it doesn’t mean anything because they put the standard so high. But for me it would help. Definitely.”