Roy Keane blasts Erling Haaland AGAIN and says his ‘general play is nowhere NEAR good enough’, doubling down on ‘League Two’ jibe, as Jamie Carragher says Man City star ‘doesn’t care’ about link-up play

Roy Keane has doubled down on his comments about Erling Haaland’s overall play not being good enough as he discussed his post-match comments with Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Gary Neville.

Keane’s scathing assessment of the Norwegian striker came after Manchester City were held to a goalless draw by their Premier League rivals Arsenal at the Etihad earlier this month.

Haaland endured a frustrating afternoon against the Gunners’ frugal defence, which limited him to a few touches in the match and allowed Keane to single in his post-match analysis.

Keane believed the performance at the Etihad was indicative of Haaland’s overall quality in open play and demanded his all-round game improve despite being the Premier League’s top scorer.

Keane has doubled down on his comments during the latest episode of Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky bet – claim that the striker’s ‘general play is not nearly good enough’.

Keane has doubled down on his comments about Haaland’s overall play not being good enough

Haaland was taken out of the game earlier this month due to Arsenal’s aggressive defensive plan

Carragher, Wright and Neville all discussed Keane’s comments on the show – with the majority agreeing with the sentiment of the Irishman’s comments but questioning the reference to League Two.

Keane said of his post-match comments: ‘I don’t know what the problem is, I praise Erling Haaland every week, I praise Manchester City, and I think he’s a great striker. But his overall game is that of a League Two player. And I’m glad you don’t agree with me, I don’t expect people to agree with me.

‘His overall play, week in, week out, is not nearly good enough. As a goalscorer and striker the best – and I said so. His combination play, the way he puts the ball away, sometimes the options he gives his teammates or the options he doesn’t give them – as a striker and goalscorer he is the best in the world, but his other game is that of a League Two player.

“The game against Arsenal was tough because they did a good job of controlling the whole game, but overall I don’t think what I said was a big problem. He is a young player and he will improve. I guarantee you that Pep Guardiola will stick with his staff through everything and say he has to do more, especially if he doesn’t get chances or many goals.’

Wright agreed with most of Keane’s comments about Haaland but said he was wrong for calling the Norwegian striker a League Two player. He also said Haaland should be given more time because he is “still young and still learning the game.”

Wright said: “Roy Keane’s criticism of Erling Haaland is quite justified. The only thing I have a problem with is mentioning the League Two player as that’s what everyone remembers as it’s all about clicks.

“When you see him score, he clocks that level when the players around him have time, they can pass it to him and he continues to score.

Wright agreed with most of Keane’s comments about Haaland but said he was wrong for calling the Norwegian striker a League Two player

Jamie Carragher said Haaland looked uncomfortable when asked to dive deeper into midfield last season, while Wright insists the striker is ‘still learning the game’

“But there are games like the one we saw against Arsenal where he struggled because there wasn’t that much time on the ball for either team.

‘The game they played against Arsenal last season when they beat them 4-1, Haaland had Rob Holding against him and he could deal with that, but when you play against such a caliber of defender you have to do more to ensure that you can keep the ball away from you.

“If you see Haaland in the game against Arsenal, they managed to eliminate Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, so Haaland must be smarter.

‘But we have to remember that he is only 23, he is still learning the game, but you have to be smarter in how you are going to make moves to get time on the ball, and what we see is that he is not doing it . that currently.

“If we talk about Haaland and him going to play for the best teams, he will have to improve.

“The problem he will have is that he will be targeted. My weakness was holding and connecting the play, so you have to do more so that you get some time to control the ball. “I think if 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.”

While Carragher added: ‘Erling Haaland is a great goalscorer, but he is not a great player and sometimes there is a difference between the two.

“I mean, the problem with Haaland is that I don’t think he cares about the other things in his game. There was a period last season where Pep Guardiola asked him to go deeper and get involved in midfield, and he looked a bit strange, it just doesn’t suit him, and I don’t think he’s interested.

‘I think the way Manchester City plays, they have so many players who can fit in with Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, so it doesn’t matter to him. “I remember his performance at Anfield last season where he didn’t get much action in the game, and I think if he doesn’t score you don’t know if he’s right.”

Neville ended by saying: ‘With the Erling Haaland issues, I use another example of something similar. I think when Andy Cole and Ruud van Nistelrooy came to Manchester United, their play between them was not at the level you would expect.

But the work that went on, on the training pitch, just playing balls into it after training, helped enormously, and I’m sure Pep Guardiola and his staff are doing that with Haaland.

‘I think the problem for Haaland at Borussia Dortmund is that he was always ahead, and that’s where his strength lies, whereas I think he came to Manchester City and never got ahead.

‘He always has his back to the goal and he’s in those spaces where the deep defenders are playing in front of him and he has to have tight ball contacts, so he’s being asked to play in a very different way to how he played in Germany. ‘