Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany is not concerned that the Citizens have had to heavily rely on Erling Haaland's goalscoring brilliance this season and has named four players who could provide backup to the Norwegian if he were to be rested or ruled out through injury.
The 24-year-old was named August's Premier League Player of the Month after scoring seven goals in his opening three matches, and he has since increased his goal tally to nine in just four games after netting a brace in City's 2-1 comeback win over Brentford last weekend.
Haaland has scored a whopping 81.18% of Man City's 11 Premier League goals thus far, and while Pep Guardiola would seemingly like to see a few of his other attacking stars chipping in with goals, McInerney does not believe that it is an immediate issue in the early stages of the campaign.
Asked during an exclusive interview with Sports Mole if the lack of goals being spread around Man City's team is a concern, McInerney said: "Maybe, but does it really matter when you've got Haaland and he's scoring more than every other team in the Premier League, which is crazy!
"Potentially (it could be a concern), but it's worth bearing in mind that Rodri was a regular goalscorer (last season). He got [nine] and he's now back in the team. [Ilkay] Gundogan will score goals when he's fully adapted. [Kevin] De Bruyne is good for a goal. Then, of course, the PFA Player of the Year is about to return in Phil Foden, who scored [27 goals] last season. I've got no doubt he'll bring goals as well.
McInerney 'not concerned' by Man City's reliance on Haaland
"Savinho was a goalscorer in La Liga, an [11-goal, 10-assist] player. I suspect he'll start chipping in. I think it's just a matter of time (before others contribute to scoring goals), but early on, there's no harm in leaning on Haaland and I think it's probably natural that we do, given we're still finding rhythm and we're finding form a little bit.
"Some players should have had a couple of goals. Rico Lewis [is one who] should had have a couple of goals already. I think it's just a matter of time when the goals start to spread out a little bit, so I'm not concerned."
Man City are in the midst of a busy fixture schedule, with six games across three different competitions to prepare for in an 18-day period, starting with their opening Champions League home match against Inter Milan on Wednesday, before facing Premier League title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
Just 49 hours later, the Citizens will square off against Watford in the EFL Cup third round, before testing their mettle in matches versus Newcastle United, Slovan Bratislava (in the Champions League) and Fulham.
It appears likely that Guardiola will look to rest Haaland in at least one of those fixtures, but following the club-record sale of Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid in the summer, Man City do not have a standout like-for-like replacement in the centre-forward department.
McInerney has suggested that Haaland is not irreplaceable and Guardiola will revert back to using a false nine or two, which worked wonders during City's 2020-21 title-winning campaign when club legend Sergio Aguero was edging towards an emotional farewell.
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Which Man City players could provide backup for Haaland?
"It's not ideal to not have a backup for Haaland," said McInerney. "But we've been there and done it before, and every single time we looked at Guardiola and said: 'What's he going to do here?' He always has an answer. He has about 10 answers and usually chooses the best one.
"We saw it a few years back when Aguero was on the wane and injured, City had a couple of false nine seasons with various players stepping into that role. I think the return of Gundogan makes that idea a little easier as well.
"You go back to a few years ago, you'd have a bunch of forward players and they'd all take turns in the centre, just moving as a fluid system. You'd have Foden, [Riyad] Mahrez, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Bernardo [Silva], all those players rotated and they'd all end up central every now and then.
"I would expect something reasonably similar (without Haaland), not exactly the same, because I think we've played with more traditional wingers these days. I can't really see [Jeremy] Doku or Savinho taking shifts there. Savinho is quite Mahrez-like, but I don't think he's quite there yet to do that. I suspect it'd be just someone like Foden (who plays centrally)."
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McAtee to be given first-team chance if Haaland is rested?
McInerney has also suggested that academy graduate James McAtee could step up to fill the void left by Haaland and operate as a false nine, particularly in domestic cup matches when the Norwegian striker is more likely to be rested.
"In pre-season, and I suspect this is something we'll see in the Carabao Cup games, James McAtee got a chance [to play as a false nine], the young academy lad who returned from his loan at Sheffield United," McInerney added.
"I think he'd get a chance there, because he did play there in pre-season [and] scored as well at one point (in a 3-2 friendly loss to AC Milan). I think he'd be the cup game choice."
McAtee chipped in with 14 goals and eight assists in 75 appearances during two successive loan spells at Sheffield United and was named their Young Player of the Year in 2022-23.
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"I do trust Guardiola to find a solution"
For the 'bigger' fixtures in Man City's schedule, McInerney has named three first-team stars who could provide backup for Haaland in the unfortunate event that he is unavailable.
"In the big games, De Bruyne, Foden, Gundogan, one of them will do it," said McInerney. "I suspect we'll go back to peak Guardiola where it's all control, control, control.
"If Foden is playing through the middle, I could guarantee [Jack] Grealish would be on the left and Bernardo will be on the right, and then Gundogan and De Bruyne will be ahead of Rodri, or something like that.
"All the intricate footballers who play the little four or five-yard passes around the area and the little one-twos. It'd be something like that I would guess because there's no point having tricky wingers who look up, get a cross in and Haaland's is not there.
"I think [Guardiola will] change how we play, and ultimately, I do trust Guardiola to find a solution. It's not ideal. I don't think City are quite as suitable to the false nine system as we were a few years back, given the players have changed a little bit, but I'm sure we've got more than enough to find a solution."
Haaland is expected to start for Man City in their next two matches against Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday and against Premier League title rivals Arsenal on Sunday, but he could be rested for the EFL Cup clash with Watford next Tuesday.
Oliver Thomas
