Erling Haaland, the Norwegian striker of Manchester City and one of the greatest figures Nowadays in football worldwide, it is in the eye of the hurricane of public opinion after receiving a lot of criticism and accusations in which its poor level of play and performance has been criticized after a series of matches in which it was not has been able to find with the goal.
Among the voices that have pointed out and judged him the most is that of the legend of the Manchester United Red Devils, Roy Keane who did not hesitate to make his dissatisfaction with the Norwegian forward’s performance known.
What did Keane say about Haaland?
In statements to the British sports channel Sky Sports, Keane stated that Haaland’s level of play is “very poor”, even comparing him to a player in the English fourth category, League Two. According to Irishman Roy Keane, although Haaland can be considered the best player currently due to his characteristics and goal-scoring abilities, his overall game leaves a lot to be desired.
Haaland is currently the Premier League’s top scorer with a total of 18 goals to his name, but he only managed to score one goal in Manchester City’s last four matches and in the most recent match against Arsenal he was unable to do so. The English team led by Mikel Arteta managed to nullify Haaland quite efficiently and had no problems in the development of the match.
Pep Guardiola came out in defense of Erling Haaland
Given Keane’s strong criticism of Haaland, the Manchester coach City, Pep Guardiola, had the following words on the matter: “I don’t agree with him at all. It is as if he were saying that he is a second or third division coach.”
Likewise, the Catalan coach commented that he did not expect this type of statements on Keane’s part, especially when he is a former player, and Guardiola also highlighted the importance of Haaland in the successes obtained at the club last season:
“Erling is the best striker in the world and he helped us win what we won last season. “It surprises me when criticism comes from former players… I’m not a guy who is going to criticize my teammates when I retire,” Guardiola said.
Although Guardiola defended Haaland, he emphasized the need for scoring that the team has and that the forward needs to improve in creating opportunities that lead him to score goals, but this is not exclusively the fault of Haaland but of the entire team, were the words of the Spanish coach.
For Guardiola, Haaland is an exemplary player who is “sick” in terms of his dedication with football and also explained the recovery process that the Norwegian has had after having an injury in recent times: “His recovery is not so easy compared to others, due to the size of his body. He needs special treatment, but he is aware. His surroundings, City, the doctors, everyone is aware,” analyzed the ‘Citizen’ coach.
Roy Keane has history talking about Haaland
The first time Roy Keane spoke about Haaland was in 2023 after City’s victory against United by a 3-0 win with two goals scored by the Norwegian number 9 and it was there where Keane had already expressed his dissatisfaction with Haaland’s game.
“You can talk about it in the locker room. What really is the problem? It was a nice header from Haaland, yes, but there’s no need to talk about it on the pitch for five minutes. Go down the locker room tunnel and celebrate your victory with your player there,” commented the former Red Devils player, who defended United’s colors for 12 seasons (1995 to 2003).
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