Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has defended striker Erling Haaland following Roy Keane’s criticism after Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal. The ex-Manchester United captain said Haaland’s “general play” is “so poor” and “almost like a League Two player”. “I don’t agree with him, absolutely not,” said Guardiola when asked about Keane’s comments. Haaland scored 52 goals in all competitions last season and has 29 this term – 18 in the Premier League. “
He’s the best striker in the world,” added Guardiola of the 23-year-old Norwegian. “He helped us win last season and the reason why we didn’t create many answers from Erling is we need more presence in the final third with more people. “We played an exceptional game, I reviewed the game against Arsenal but we just missed more people in the final third. The quality and different skillset we have, Haaland is exceptional.”
City are three points behind leaders Liverpool after Sunday’s match, which saw the home side fail to score in a Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium for the first time since October 2021. Speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports after the game, Keane said of Haaland: “The levels of his general play is so poor, and not just today. His general play for such a player, it is so poor, I think he has to improve that, he’s almost like a League Two player.” But Guardiola responded: “Some actions he missed, sometimes it’s the managers, sometimes the opponent is really good, there are many many reasons. “In football there is not just one reason, sometimes where you have success or you don’t have success, there are many reasons, it’s football, it’s a team sport.” Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton said Haaland just came up against “brilliant defenders” in last Sunday’s match against second-placed Arsenal.
Speaking on Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, he added: “It was total nonsense and unfair on Erling Haaland. Everybody has sung [William] Saliba and Gabriel’s praises all season. “When [Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan] Ortega was clipping balls into Haaland, they’re probably the best at working off a centre-forward’s touch, being really clever with their defending. “Could Haaland have been a bit stronger, could he have been a bit cuter, could his brain have worked better in those moments? Of course. But at times you come up against brilliant defenders, which [Saliba and Gabriel] were on Sunday. “He wasn’t brought into Manchester City to play a creative role, he was brought in to occupy the centre-halves and for others to create for him because he’s the monster finisher.
“He was never going to hit the heights he hit last season. He’s still an outstanding striker, he’s just off it.” However, former City defender Micah Richards did feel the forward could add more to his game. “No-one’s asking Erling Haaland to become a number 10, be like Harry Kane and play 30 to 40-yard balls,” he said. “All they’re asking for is that for somebody of his size, when the ball comes to him, can he just hold it up? “Gabriel and [William] Saliba on Sunday, every time they got close to him they would use their strength and get the ball back. All people are asking for is to use his body more. We’re not asking him to be a [Dennis] Bergkamp. “There are times when you’re not going to get an opportunity but you need to do other things to help the team out in terms of a build-up.”
Mayor of Paris: Russian, Belarusian athletes ‘not welcome’ at Olympics
F our months before the start of the 33rd Olympic Games of the modern era in Paris, the ambiguous position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the presence of athletes from Russia and Belarus continues to cause problems, with constant quotes and reactions from both sides. This time, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has said on Saturday that Russian and Belarusian athletes were “not welcome” at this summer’s biggest sporting event. “I want to tell the Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris. I would also like to tell the Ukrainian athletes and all the Ukrainian people that we support them very much,” she said in a video posted by Ukrainian YouTube channel, United News.
Hidalgo made her comments on a trip to Kyiv where she visited a training centre for Ukrainian athletes. Russian athletes are allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics, which run from 26 July to 11 August, but only as neutrals. Both countries have been banned from taking part in the opening ceremony, which will be held on the River Seine in the heart of the city. In response, Moscow launched a furious tirade against the International Olympic Committee, arguing that the restrictions on Russian athletes amounted to “racism and neo-Nazism”, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. The IOC suspended Russia from the 2024 Games last year, but gave its athletes the green light to compete as neutrals as long as they did not actively support the Kremlin’s attack on Ukraine.
As it’s been commonly said, that the IOC threw the stone and hid its hand. The IOC should have made a public statement condemning Hidalgo for her words or supporting her, but unfortunately they won’t do anything. As a result, with 118 days to go until the opening ceremony, it’s still unclear what will happen to the athletes from these countries. The Spanish-born Ana María Hidalgo, known as Anne Hidalgo, is a member of the Socialist Party and has been mayor of Paris since 2014, the first woman to hold the position. She has done a lot to make Paris 2024 a reality, working with the president of the organising committee, Tony Estanguet, but now her comments in Kiev could raise an issue with the IOC. Can she not welcome the athletes that the IOC allows to compete? Russia and Belarus haven’t confirmed that their athletes will take part as neutrals, otherwise both countries will end up boycotting. There are opinions in both ways. From “we should compete anyway” to “we won’t compete without our flag and anthem”.
