Rio Ferdinand Backs Erling Haaland Despite Arsenal Woes, Slams Roy Keane’s Brutal ‘League Two’ Jibe

Manchester City, fresh off their 2023 Premier League title win, are chasing a historic second consecutive treble. They’re still alive in both the Champions League and FA Cup, but the Premier League race is proving to be their toughest in recent memory. Yesterday’s goalless draw against Arsenal saw Erling Haaland under fire, with Roy Keane criticizing his gameplay. However, Keane’s former teammate, Rio Ferdinand, came to the City player’s defense, acknowledging Keane’s tendency for harsh critiques.

While attributing Haaland’s quiet performance to strong pressure from Arsenal’s defense, Ferdinand took issue with the severity of Keane’s criticism. Ferdinand claimed that Keane’s comments were exaggerated. Speaking on his show Five, Ferdinand said, “Listen, What Roy Keane said yesterday, I don’t think it’s anything. It’s not a surprise. Division 2 is a bit far-fetched, Let’s have it right. League Two player yeah, it’s a bit far-fetched.” Rio Ferdinand himself was under fire by Keane on a few occasions during his playing days despite being an ex-teammate.

Keane after yesterday’s performance heavily criticized the Norwegian’s game by saying, “In terms of front of goal he’s best in the world, but his general play is so poor.” “He’s almost like a League Two player. That is the way I look at him. His general play has to improve.” The 0-0 draw did not amuse the fans who even claimed Arsenal to be ‘parking the bus’ for being too defensive. However, the lack of incisiveness from Haaland and City was the reason for Keane calling them out.

Nevertheless, Ferdinand felt that Haaland was low on confidence, being surrounded by Gabriel and Saliba, leading to his restricted movement. Ferdinand also said, “He’s playing against two and it’s like every time he goes up for a challenge, one of them is under his shirt. One of them is behind him, one of them in front of him.” Keane however feels that it was his all-round game that needs improvement.

Roy Keane points out what went wrong with Erling Haaland and Manchester City

Despite taking a jibe at Erling Haaland, Roy Keane felt Pep Guardiola’s men were very good in the first sixty minutes. But the main issue was their creativity according to the Irishman who said, “but the link-up play was non-existent,” though Haaland took efforts to run and get into different positions. Roy Keane added that Haaland had to put ‘more’ effort to get out of Gabriel and Saliba’s pockets.

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On the other hand, Erling Haaland also had an opportunity to score off Doku’s ball when he missed a shot just a couple of meters away from the goal. Nonetheless, Keane was sure about Haaland’s brilliance with shooting but it is his gameplay that needs to get clinical. But will Haaland take City to another PL win to silence the critics? Let us know in the comments.

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