Roy Keane has criticised the performance of Erling Haaland in Manchester City’s goalless draw with Arsenal and has said the forward’s all-round game is reminiscent of a League Two player.
Haaland struggled to make an impact in the 0-0 draw at the Etihad and failed to register a shot on target for the second time against Arsenal this season.
The Norwegian is the Premier League’s leading scorer on 18 goals and has broken countless records since arriving at Manchester City, including for the most prolific single season in the division’s history (36) in 2022/23.
However, former Manchester United captain Keane has said the 23-year-old must work on his overall contribution.
“The levels of his general play is so poor,” Keane said to Sky Sports.
“And not just today. His laying stuff off, headers. In front of goal he’s the best in the world but his general play for such a player is so poor and not just today. He has to improve that.
“He’s almost like a League Two player, that’s the way I look at him. His general play has to improve and it will do over the next few years. There’s been this brilliant striker, fantastic, but he has to improve his all-round game, has to.”
Fellow pundit Micah Richards also believes Haaland should be doing more to provide an outlet for his team.
“If you look at the tactics of the game when Manchester City had a goal kick, Arsenal would put five players almost man-to-man and (Stefan) Ortega’s looking for an out ball.
“The ball came over and he’s (Haaland) not using his size and his strength, or his hold-up play, to bring people in. That’s one thing I was looking at in this game, with the size of him.
“It’s never a concern because you’ve always got quality players, (Phil) Foden, (Kevin) De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, he will get fed, we saw it last season and we’ve seen it this season he will score a lot of goals. But we always look at players, how can they develop? How can they get to the next level? I just think his hold-up play can do with a little bit of work.”
