“It’s only a matter of time.”
There will be some individuals out there on planet earth, this weekend, telling themselves that Erling Haaland may not be all that he is cracked up to be. Roy Keane is not one of them.
Haaland had a tough competitive debut for Manchester City as he missed two gilt-edged chances in their 3-1 Community Shield defeat to Liverpool.
He had the fewest touches of any player, from both sides, in the first half and his injury time miss, with Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian lying on the goal-line, was a shocker.
Erling Haaland really missed this 😳 pic.twitter.com/rfs1TGRaEw
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 30, 2022
Roy Keane and Ian Wright praise for Erling Haaland
As much as that late miss will do the rounds on TV and across social media for the next couple of days, both Ian Wright and Roy Keane found a lot of positives in Erling Haaland’s performance.
Wright, a former striker with Arsenal and England, noted how Haaland is now the focal point of Manchester City attacks, in a change to how the club played when the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Ferran Torres and even Raheem Sterling were leading the line. On ITV, at half-time in the game, Wright said:
“They got him in to do what he’s doing, and he is doing it in this game. We know City like to play those high [attacking] lines and they like to cut the ball back.
“But this is exactly what Erling Haaland is about – running into that space behind defences… He’s bending his runs and getting in there. At some stage, the City players are going to look up and see he’s making those runs.
Wright was critical of one big Haaland chance that he missed, 30 minutes into the game. The striker had already been denied by a fine Adrian save when the ball was crossed back into the box. “He should have headed it,” said Wright, “but he’s gone with the right foot – the most difficult way to take that chance.”
Here's @ManCity's number 9⃣'s best chance of the game so farpic.twitter.com/PkGmrmVOmW
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) July 30, 2022
“There’s goals to come” – Roy Keane
As Ian Wright was stating that Erling Haaland and his teammates will really get into their stride once the Premier League kicks off, Roy Keane said, “We still like what we see. It’s only a matter of time.”
Both Wright and Keane were present at the King Power Stadium to cover the game, and the former Manchester United captain raved about Haaland’s overall contribution:
“Love watching him live,” Keane gushed. “It’s brilliant watching him. His movement is outstanding and it is only a matter of time, especially when City get that sharpness back, going forward. There’s goals to come. His movement is unbelievable.”
The general ‘more to come’ theme was revisited by both pundits after the game, with Wright predicting a big season ahead for the Norwegian.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, meanwhile pointed out that many of the people that will be criticising Haaland, over the coming days, would be as misguided as the ones that were slagging off Darwin Núñez.
The #Haaland banter compilations will be everywhere this week after that miss, just like #Nunez last week. From 🤡 who have never kicked a ball in their life 🤷♂️
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) July 30, 2022
After scoring 134 goals in 137 games for club(s) and country since 2018, we suspect Erling Haaland will quickly get over the disappointment of his misfiring debut and bag plenty for City, this season.
