With eight Premier League strikes already, you would think his family would be showering the 19-year-old with praise, but Kroupi, the son of another striker, has revealed how key his dad has been in his development. You may like Eli Kroupi Snr was a renowned bagsman in Ligue 1 for the likes of Nancy and Lorient, winning the 2002 Coupe de France final with the latter, over 20 years prior to his son representing the club. Junior Kroupi, as he's known, has inherited his dad's two-footedness and eye for goal and he explains to FourFourTwo how his dad coached his trademark thumping finish over the years.
"To win, you have to create chances," he said. "There are many teams that have game-changers. We're on the path we're on; we'll win games even if we don't shoot much. As a coach, I don't see any other way than to keep trying. "May Lady Luck grant us a victory. We get what we deserve because we don't convert the chances we create. The team is doing well, but it needs to improve its finishing."
We need to improve our choices in the box. We put the ball into dangerous areas many times, both in the first and second half, but we never found the right touch to redirect it. That's where we have to grow. We played a good match, a very good match. The result always makes the difference, of course, but there were clear steps forward in our performance. David is a penalty taker, and he takes them very well. He made the right choice, going down the middle; he just didn't lift it enough.
We did everything right. We had a lot of shots. We had a lot of chances. We just came up short, Pucks did not bounce our way, I want to be honest. I like the way we are playing. I love the way we compete. Sometimes you have to throw pucks at the net and find ways to get those rebounds. There was urgency, and we needed a shot from the top.
"He [Haaland] could have scored four or five at the end. He's our key man," said Guardiola. "At the same time, we cannot do good things with just Erling. Our wingers, attacking midfielders and the other players have to make a step up."
You can see it in every tackle, every gut-busting run and in the frustrated body language when a pass doesn't quite come off. That energy is matched on the sideline, Rehanne Skinner animated throughout their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa hold the line, come closer, talk to her and Fion can't get out are among the many commands from the technical area, with those behind the dugout treated to the thoughts of the manager while the action is under way.
