Roy Keane blasts Erling Haaland AGAIN and says his 'general play is nowhere NEAR good enough', doubling down on 'League Two' jibe, as Jamie Carragher says Man City star 'doesn't care' about link-up play

Roy Keane has doubled down on his comments about Erling Haaland's general play not being good enough, having criticised the Manchester City striker following his poor performance against Arsenal last month.

Manchester City were held to a goalless draw by their Premier League rivals at the Etihad on March 31, and Keane has now stood by his scathing assessment of the Norwegian forward in a discussion with  Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Gary Neville.

Haaland endured a frustrating afternoon against the Gunners' thrifty defence which restricted him to few touches in the game and caused Keane to hit out in his post-match analysis. 

Keane felt that the performance at the Etihad was indicative of Haaland's overall quality in open play and demanded that his all-round game improve, despite being the Premier League's top goal scorer. 

And he has doubled down on his comments during the latest episode of Stick to Football - brought to you by Sky Bet - claiming the striker's 'general play is nowhere near good enough'. 

Carragher, Wright and Neville all discussed Keane's comments on the show - with the majority of them agreeing with the sentiment of the Irishman's remarks but taking issue with the League Two reference.

Speaking about his post-match comments, Keane said: 'I don't know what the big deal is, I give Erling Haaland praise every week, I give Manchester City praise, and I think he's an amazing striker. But his general play is that of a League Two player. And I'm glad you are not agreeing with me, I don't expect people to agree with me.

'His general play, week in, week out is nowhere near good enough. As a goal scorer and a striker, the best – and I said that. His link-up play, the way he lays the ball off, sometimes the options he gives his teammates or the options he doesn't give them – as a striker and a goal scorer the best in the world, but his other play is that of a League Two player.

'The game against Arsenal was tough because they did well to contain the whole game, but in general, I don't think what I said was a big deal. He's a young player and he will improve, and I guarantee you that Pep Guardiola sits with his staff on everything and say that he needs to do more, specifically when he's not getting of chances or loads of goals.'

Wright agreed with the majority of Keane's comments about Haaland but said he was wrong for calling the Norwegian striker a League Two player. He also said Haaland should be afforded more time as he's 'only young and still learning the game'. 

Wright said: 'Roy Keane's critique of Erling Haaland is pretty on point. The only thing that I have an issue with is mentioning the League Two player because that's what everyone remembers as it's all about clicks.

'When you look at him scoring, he's clocking that level in respect of when the players around him have time, they can play it through to him and he goes on to score. 

'However, there's games like the one we saw against Arsenal where he struggled because there wasn't that much time on the ball for either team. 

'The game they played Arsenal in last season, when they beat them 4-1, Haaland had Rob Holding up against him and he was able to deal with that, but when you're playing against that kind of calibre of defender, you have to do more to make sure that you can keep hold off the ball.

'When you watch Haaland in the game against Arsenal, they managed to shut down Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, so that's when you need Haaland to be more savvy. 

'But we need to remember he's only 23, he's still learning the game, but you need to be more savvy in how you're going to make moves to get time on the ball, and what we're seeing is that he's not doing that currently.

'If we're talking about Haaland and that he's going to be playing for the best teams, he's going to have to improve.

'The problem he will have is that he will be targeted. My weakness was holding and linking the play, so you have to do more so you can get a bit of time to control the ball. I think as he goes to the top level, he will be targeted because if you can stop the other guys around him, the opposition will turn the ball over.'

While Carragher went on to add: 'Erling Haaland is a great goal scorer, but he's not a great player and sometimes there is a difference between the two.

'I mean the thing with Haaland is that I don't think he cares about the other stuff to his game. There was a spell last season where Pep Guardiola was asking him to actually come deeper and get involved in midfield, and he looked a bit awkward, it just doesn't suit him, and I don't think he's interested.

'I think the way Manchester City plays, they've got so many players who can do the link up play in Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, so he doesn't care about it. I remember his performance at Anfield last season where he didn't get much action in the game, and I think if he doesn't score, you don't know if he's right.'

Neville finished by saying: 'With the issues with Erling Haaland, I use a different example of something similar. I think that when Andy Cole and Ruud van Nistelrooy came to Manchester United, their general link up play wasn't of the standard that you would expect.

'But the work that went on, on the training ground into them just having balls played into them after training, that helped massively, and I'm sure Pep Guardiola and his staff are doing that with Haaland.

'I think the problem for Haaland at Borussia Dortmund is that he was always running forward, and that's where his strength is, whereas I think he's come to Manchester City and he's never running forward. 

'He's always got his back to goal, and he's in those spaces where the deep defenders play in front of him and he's got to have tight touches, so he's being asked to play a completely different way to how he was playing in Germany.'