Micah Richards believes Manchester City are a 'different' team with Erling Haaland present but rubbished talk of his former side being worse with the Norwegian.
City endured a dismal week that saw them knocked out of the Carabao Cup at Southampton before Saturday's 2-1 defeat against Manchester United, but managed to round it off with a brilliant 4-2 comeback win at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday - Haaland finding the net in the second half as Pep Guardiola's side came from 2-0 down.
The Manchester derby defeat in particular saw Haaland suppressed inside the borders of the United penalty area, instead dropping deep and trying to link play. That such a performance came two weeks after Everton managed to keep the Norwegian relatively quiet - his goal a rare victory over the relentless Ben Godfrey - raised questions as to whether the 22-year-old's brutish style diminishes the intricate play of his new team, and while Richards rubbished such claims, he admitted City are a 'different' side with their star striker.
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"It’s a different team with Haaland, they force the ball more, look for the areas to get the ball into him," Richards told Sky Sports. "In the midfield areas they’ll get their heads up looking for him, and sometimes, at times last season, they would grind teams down - tika taka beautiful football - and it’s just different.
"For someone who’s scored so many goals already this season, how can anyone say they’re a worse team? They’re just different. I don’t know how many times we talked about City and the end of last season saying they needed a number nine, needed a different option.
"I always go back to that game in the Champions League against Real Madrid where you’ve got defenders going up in the last 15 minutes of the game - Man City needed something different. He’s been outstanding, he makes them different, not worse."
Despite a slow start to 2023, Haaland still has 22 goals in 19 Premier League games and is two goals away from surpassing last season's Golden Boot tally. The Norwegian has added a dimension to Guardiola's side that many have demanded in seasons gone by, and former Liverpool man Carragher believes both player and team need to find a compromise.
"I don’t think we’re seeing the full package of Erling Haaland at Manchester City, just because of the way they play," Carragher added. "At Manchester City he’s in the box, they play balls across the box and he puts it in - he's got a great goal record and we know that - but I think there’s so much more in terms of making runs.
"That one against West Ham at the start of the season, we haven’t seen that enough and against Manchester United those centre backs were getting dragged out but then City went back to how they play. I understand that a little bit, but you’ve still got to adapt a little bit more to the player that they have, because he’s special."
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