Fulham star Tom Cairney has described Manchester City’s Erling Haaland as a “straight killer” and hit back at Roy Keane’s “League Two player” jibe.
♦ Keane makes ‘League Two’ jibe at Haaland
♦ Guardiola defends Manchester City star
♦ Striker described as a ‘straight killer’
WHAT HAPPENED?
Following Haaland’s underwhelming display for Manchester City against Arsenal last weekend, pundit Keane said the striker’s general play is “so poor” and was akin to a “League Two player”. Cityzens boss Pep Guardiola defended the 23-year-old, saying he is the “best striker in the world” and now Fulham’s Cairney and West Ham forward Michail Antonio have come to the defence of the Norwegian international too.
WHAT CAIRNEY AND ANTONIO SAID
Speaking on The Players Channel, Cairney said: “Is his [Haaland’s] football brain his best asset? No. But you don’t buy Erling Haaland for that. Do you want him to come down in the 10 [position], turn and switch a 30, 40-yard pass like Harry Kane? No. He’s a straight killer. Let him do what he does. He’s got nearly 250 goals and he’s 23 years old. He does the hardest thing in the world and he sticks the ball in the back of the net.”
Antonio added: “If you’re going to mark someone on one thing that they don’t do, then everybody’s terrible. When Roy Keane was playing someone could have called him a ‘brute’, ‘he’s a chopper’. Roy Keane is known for these comments, these crazy comments so no one is going to be surprised by it.”
Cairney then asked Antonio if you forget your bad games more when you get older, to which Antonio replied: “Bro, 100%. You always forget the negative side of things, you always think about the positive. Like me, mate, when I retire, [I will say] I was probably better than [Cristiano] Ronaldo.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
As Cairney alluded to, Haaland has been a prolific striker throughout his young career, scoring 236 goals in 288 games. The 6’4 attacker has scored 27 goals in 31 matches for Norway and he is arguably the best striker on the planet. While parts of his game could improve, that does not detract from his ruthlessness in front of goal. He is paid to score goals and he is very successful in that facet of the game.
WHAT NEXT?
Haaland is likely to feature in Manchester City’s trip to Crystal Palace in Saturday’s early kick-off at Selhurst Park. If he does not play in that match, the former Borussia Dortmund star will surely play in the first leg of their quarter-final Champions League clash at Real Madrid on Tuesday.