THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 58

Author

Howard Hockin
September 09, 2025

Hello and welcome to the 93:20 Newsletter, Issue 58, and another bonus, midweek edition, sparked by a conversation I had on Bluesky last week, that awakened some dormant views I hold on a certain topic. You may agree, you probably won’t.

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On with the newsletter, and a single topic to discuss.

So, the topic can be summarised by the following simple question: who was to blame for the defeat to Brighton – Matheus Nunes or Erling Haaland?

Weird question I hear many proclaim. The answer is obvious. And understandable. We have talked as fans about how Nunes, and Walker before him, have regularly given up a goal a game due to mistakes. These mistakes have literally cost points galore, and in a way have a snowball effect, as dropped points lower confidence, and the cycle becomes more likely to repeat.

So does it make me an edge lord to suggest that Erling Haaland was as much to blame for the defeat to Brighton as Matheus Nunes was? Is it the sort of comment that would get me a regular slot on the Overlap? Am I courting controversy so I can spend time with Rory Jennings? Have I had a recent knock to the head?

Problem is, it's sort of true. 

No one (in my online bubble at least) talks about how Haaland has given up a goal a game with his misses, intermittently for over a year now. Sometimes more. Hard to when a disappointing season in a disappointing team still brings over 30 goals. Nevertheless, I think back to the nadir of the Spurs 0-4 defeat last season, and the lack of discussion on how Haaland could have had five goals that day. I forced myself to rewatch the highlights. Early on, Haaland hesitates when put through on goal, before shooting wide. He then has an excellent chance that the keeper saves with his feet. Later in the half, with City by now having gifted Spurs two goals, he fires over the bar from another cross whilst in front of goal. Another excellent chance in the 2nd half when put through is saved by the keeper. And so on. More attention was paid to the mistakes made for the final nail in the coffin, the 4th goal at the end. But even if City had put in a defensive masterclass that day, they would not have won. The Brighton match of this season mirrored the defeat there last season, even if the issues were different, another game that preceded an international break. City spurned dominance in the first half to go on to lose. But were those that spurned chances the focus, or did we all hone in on the late collapse? Last season, Savinho missed an excellent early chance when put through, saved by the keeper (quelle surprise). Haaland scores as you know, though there is some fortune to it after an initial save and he then spurns a further chance, before heading over an empty goal with the keeper stranded. You get the idea.

Because in very basic terms, Erling Haaland, or any other player, not scoring a chance he should score, has as big an effect on the final score as a defender needlessly conceding a penalty does. The difference is, only one of those players will get it in the neck afterwards. 

There is context to add, naturally. Timing is key. Nunes’ mistake turned the game for sure, and City never recovered. But a deadly Haaland in the 1st half would never have allowed the opportunity for a game to turn on a handball. The game would have been almost dead.

We perhaps need to differentiate between bad and stupid. Missing a one-on-one is bad. But a bad we are all accustomed to, even at the highest level. Games are full of “he should score there” moments, and the world’s best players miss sitters.
On the other hand, conceding a penalty by raising your arm to a cross or shot is outright stupid. So perhaps it's understandable that stupid acts attract greater criticism than bad ones. We’re not seeking perfection from players, they are not robots. But we do expect them to avoid stupidity. I am often disappointed with individual players’ performances, but it's not very often I’m genuinely angry at a football player. That’s more likely to be down to a stupid red card than a needless handball or a missed sitter. Rodri can win all the Ballon D’ors in the world, but his red card v Nottingham Forest had me creating new expletives due to its needlessness and his willingness to be played by Gibbs-White, and losing the three games during his absence did not help my mood.

But back to whatever point I am desperately grasping for here. A philosophical question will now follow. If Erling Haaland scored one goal but missed two absolute sitters in every match for the rest of his career, should he be criticised for each performance? How would you judge him? He is so unique, it is hard to analyse him with clarity, once you accept the obvious superlatives. There are deficiencies alongside the god-given talents, but his position on the pitch only highlights such traits.

Now don’t get the wrong impression here. Haaland is a god to me, for reasons that do not need explaining. I mean, just look at him, just listen to him, just watch him. The don. But it’s a topic that’s been swilling around at the back of my mind for a while now, especially during review podcasts. I have no intention to pile in on players, so it’s no big deal, and our review podcasts exist to take a measured look at what happened, and avoid two-footed tackles. There’s no point really, and it’s not our style. But measured criticism is fine and should be expected, and it does occur to me sometimes that certain players are immune to this from our fan base, I’m hardly being controversial here by saying it. There is always favouritism in every fanbase for the squad they follow, and there can be a natural bias according to the positions they occupy on the pitch. Stats are a Mecca for forward players, and if the stats are good, it is hard to criticise. That’s why our wide players receive understandable opprobrium. Defenders don’t have easily-digestible stats to fall back on. Take a clean sheet, for example. It’s too broad to define how a defensive player performed. Duels, tackles, interceptions, passing accuracy are all important, but I would wager large swathes of fans pay no attention to such data. It’s the eye test above all, and then it’s pre-conceived assumptions, it’s a sprinkling of prejudice and a splattering of favouritism, backed up by what they personally expect to see from players in each position. It’s why Ederson could never be truly loved by all blues, because he wasn’t brilliant at the basics we had grown up expecting from our keepers of the goal.

All the while, Erling Haaland just trundles along, breaking record after record. And he does it during lean periods for the team. He does it during criticism that the team lacks creativity. That he doesn't touch the ball enough. He does it despite his poor heading, that should have seen him have at least three additional goals this season alone. He misses all these chances supposedly, but the records keep tumbling. This is a guy who scored hattricks in three successive home games, and I am suggesting criticizing him? The fastest player to reach 100 goal involvements in the Premier League, surpassing the longstanding record held by Alan Shearer. He reached the impressive landmark in just 94 matches, six games faster than Shearer’s previous record, with 84 goals and 16 assists. In his first year, Haaland scored 36 goals in the Premier League, beating the previous single-season record of 34 jointly held by Shearer and Andy Cole. He then went on to become the fastest player to reach 50 goals the following season, taking just 48 games. But hey, imagine the outcry if Nunes had handed over penalty duties during a cup final that City went on to lose. Credit in the bank counts for a lot – and that is not a wholly bad thing. Pep has it in spades, after all. And with those stats, it is understandable that Haaland is allowed the freedom to falter.

The purpose of this newsletter, if there is one, is not to call out Haaland, but to protect Nunes, to wonder why he gets so more of the criticism in an under-performing team. Look, we all know he didn't come to the club to play as a right-back, we all know he can't possibly the long-term solution. We're essentially laying into him because of the club's recruitment failures. Whilst not being good enough should not excuse regular bozo moments, playing in an unnatural position may make them more likely to occur. Of course Matheus Nunes will receive more criticism. And of course he should. But he is not the key reason City lost at Brighton.

There's something wrong, something off-kilter about how we judge players. Reasoned criticism should be applicable to all, and stats alone should not be used as a deflection not to do so. When discussing an individual defeat, what any player has done in the past is irrelevant.

I guess I am shouting at clouds to expect a sports fan to judge with 100% impartiality, and without favouritism. In many respects, that is the essence of fandom. 1800 words later therefore, and I am back where I started <:O).

Coming up on Friday – all the usual nonsense, and some media barbs, plus a few words on the departed players, and what it all means (to me, at least). I am guessing APT might get the odd mention too – I got palpitations when I got the news alert!

And speaking of palpitations, I will attempt to keep the newsletter a derby-free environment, a safe space prior to the weekend.

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