Roy Keane tears into Erling Haaland again with brutal verdict on Man City star - 'Nowhere near good enough'

Roy Keane tears into Erling Haaland again with brutal verdict on Man City star - 'Nowhere near good enough'

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Lewis Winter

By Lewis Winter


Published: 11/04/2024

- 08:52

The pundit has caused controversy with his view on the prolific striker

Roy Keane has doubled down on his opinion that Erling Haaland has 'League Two' qualities and says that side of his game is 'nowhere near good enough'.

Keane received criticism for his opinion on the Manchester City striker late last month but has now reiterated his controversial view.


Haaland has scored an incredible 82 goals in 90 appearances for City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.

He broke the Premier League record for most goals in a 38-game season in his debut campaign and is again leading the race for the Golden Boot this term.

Erling Haaland and Roy Keane

Roy Keane has again given a brutal opinion on Erling Haaland

Getty/YouTube

Keane has no doubt that Haaland is a great goalscorer but said after the goalless draw with Arsenal that his link-up play was similar to a player from the fourth tier of English football.

And, speaking on the latest edition of the Stick to Football podcast, he has given another brutal verdict.

Keane said: "I don't know what the big deal is, I give Erling Haaland praise every week, I give Manchester City praise, and I think he's an amazing striker.

"But his general play is that of a League Two player. And I'm glad you are not agreeing with me, I don't expect people to agree with me.

"His general play, week in, week out is nowhere near good enough. As a goal scorer and a striker, the best – and I said that.

"His link-up play, the way he lays the ball off, sometimes the options he gives his teammates or the options he doesn't give them – as a striker and a goal scorer the best in the world, but his other play is that of a League Two player.

"The game against Arsenal was tough because they did well to contain the whole game, but in general, I don't think what I said was a big deal.

"He's a young player and he will improve, and I guarantee you that Pep Guardiola sits with his staff on everything and say that he needs to do more, specifically when he's not getting of chances or loads of goals."

Arsenal legend Ian Wright says he has an 'issue' with Keane using the League Two comparison but agrees with the premise of his argument.

Wright said: "Roy's critique of Erling Haaland is pretty on point. The only thing that I have an issue with is mentioning the League Two player because that's what everyone remembers as it's all about clicks.

"When you look at him scoring, he's clocking that level in respect of when the players around him have time, they can play it through to him and he goes on to score.

"However, there's games like the one we saw against Arsenal where he struggled because there wasn't that much time on the ball for either team.

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Roy Keane and Ian Wright

Roy Keane and Ian Wright agree that Erling Haaland needs to improve

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"The game they played Arsenal in last season, when they beat them 4-1, Haaland had Rob Holding up against him and he was able to deal with that.

"But when you're playing against that kind of calibre of defender, you have to do more to make sure that you can keep hold off the ball.

"When you watch Haaland in the game against Arsenal, they managed to shut down Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, so that's when you need Haaland to be more savvy.

"But we need to remember he's only 23, he's still learning the game, but you need to be more savvy in how you're going to make moves to get time on the ball, and what we're seeing is that he's not doing that currently.

Erling Haaland and Antonio Rudiger

Erling Haaland's hold-up player has been criticised in recent weeks

Getty

"If we're talking about Haaland and that he's going to be playing for the best teams, he's going to have to improve.

"The problem he will have is that he will be targeted. My weakness was holding and linking the play, so you have to do more so you can get a bit of time to control the ball.

"I think as he goes to the top level, he will be targeted because if you can stop the other guys around him, the opposition will turn the ball over."

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