Manchester United: Doku and Malmouche are becoming more and more important, they can share Haaland s scoring responsibility

In the fourth round of the League Cup, Manchester City reversed and defeated Swansea 3-1 away from home. Doku, Malmouche, and Shirki each scored a goal. After the game, the Manchester Evening News talked about the roles of Doku and Malmouche. The performance of these two proved Guardiola's point and provided a solution to Haaland's problem.

Through this game, Manchester City seemed to prove the statement of "Haaland dependence" on the offensive end. It was difficult for the Blue Moon Army to create obvious scoring opportunities in front of Swansea. Their equalizer also came from a deflection from Doku.

In this League Cup game, Guardiola decided to give Haaland and other players with high attendance rates a break. So far this season, Haaland has scored 11 of Manchester City's 17 Premier League goals. And the league's "scorer" following the Norwegian isn't even City's own player. For example, in the sixth round of Manchester City's 5-1 victory over Burnley, the opponent's player Estefo scored an own goal.

Perhaps this League Cup will be the catalyst for two Manchester City players to share the burden of scoring goals. Doku scored the team's first goal, and Malmouche scored Manchester City's second goal in his first start since injury for Egypt in early September.

On paper, this pairing plays a vital role in Manchester City's offensive system. Doku is starting to turn his potential into consistent performances, while Malmouche has already shown glimpses of his scoring ability since his arrival.

Before the game against Swansea, Guardiola talked about these two players. He hoped to see players other than Haaland also take on the responsibility of scoring goals. Guardiola said: "No one is better than Doku in dribbling, but in terms of scoring, Malmouche is better than Doku. We need Doku to score goals, and we need Malmouche to score goals. At the same time, they both have to participate in defense."

Therefore, the Manchester City coach must be satisfied that both of them scored in this game. The idea of ​​having Malmouche playing alongside Haaland is also on Guardiola's mind, and Doku is a key point in this strategy.

Guardiola said: "Haaland's statistics are very crucial, which is certainly impressive. He has arranged many of our goals, but the team needs more goals. Malmouche is also very important. He has returned to the team, and Malmouche can partner with Harland."

"We need a real winger, and some players are better at this, but we need players to be close to Haaland and enter the gap between the full-back and the central defender, and we also have to have intensity.

"If we want a player to be close to the penalty area, Malmouche is the best choice. He is our best player in this area. The team also needs more players to control the ball in small spaces and show more control. So it ultimately depends on the needs of the team."

source:7m sport