Are you listening Keane?
Haaland insists it’s irrelevant how many touches he has… his one job is scoring goals
Erling Haaland has dismissed critics of his general play and claimed players can succeed at the highest level without touching the ball.
With 25 Premier league goals in his second season, the Manchester City striker looks set to become the first man since Harry Kane in 2017 to clinch consecutive golden Boot awards.
But the 23-year-old has been the subject of intense debate about how he fits into Pep guardiola’s team, with the City boss regularly jumping to his defence.
roy Keane and Jamie Carragher are among those to have criticised Haaland but the norwegian insisted those comments have fallen on deaf ears.
‘There has always been this discussion on how many times i should touch the ball,’ Haaland told the podcast Men In Blazers.
‘When i score nobody talks about this but, when i don’t, people start to mention my touches. This is a part of my life, how people will speak and i can’t control what people say about me.
‘i just have to focus on what i should do on the pitch and my job isn’t to be like rodri, to control a game. it’s being in the box and finishing the attacks. That’s my focus and i don’t care about what people say.’
Haaland added: ‘in the end you can play football without touching the ball, even if it sounds funny for some to hear that. You can do it with movements, the mental part, and the awareness. it’s a huge part of the game. it’s not only about touching the ball. i know my role in this team.’
Haaland also clarified the storm around his substitution during last Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Wolves. after netting four goals, the forward cut a frustrated figure when coming off late on.
Keane labelled him a ‘ spoilt brat’ on the assumption that Haaland’s agitation was aimed at guardiola. ‘i wasn’t mad because of that,’ said Haaland. ‘i was mad for something completely different. i was super happy because Julian alvarez came on and scored. i’m happy for the guy who came on for me, Julian, and that’s how it is.’
City can inch closer to an unprecedented fourth straight league title with victory at Fulham in the lunchtime game today. Before his £51million move from Borussia dortmund in 2022, Haaland said he struggled to understand how guardiola managed to achieve the level of consistency shown by City over the years. ‘Sometimes i ask myself the question,’ he said.
‘i’ve been watching City since before i came here. How can they keep on doing this? Then i come here, experience it, get to see the people, the players, the whole of the club and how they work. That is what impresses me so much. last year we won the Treble and this year we are still fighting for the league (and the Fa Cup).
‘That is truly something special. i want more. i want to win more of these big trophies because the feeling of the Treble was unreal.’ ⬤ MANCHESTER CITY brought an end to leeds United’s fairytale run as they turned on the style to win the Fa Youth Cup final 4-0.
Second-half goals from Justin Oboavwoduo, Jayden Heskey, Stephen Mfuni and Matty Warhurst secured City their fourth Youth Cup, and first since 2020.