Since signing for Manchester City in 2022, Erling Haaland has made a habit of breaking records in a way that sets him apart from most players in the Premier League.
Tony Cascarino admitted he takes Haaland “for granted” due to the staggering standards he has set since donning a Manchester City shirt.
After opening the scoring against Arsenal, Haaland set an all-time Premier League record of becoming the first player to score 10 goals in five games.
Paul Scholes named Haaland as a Premier League great and claimed he is not “far off” some of the best strikers to have ever graced English football.
The Norwegian international’s tremendous goal record has been backed up by trophies — making his spell at Manchester City an undeniable success so far.
Yet, Haaland has often faced stick for his performances in a City shirt from several fans and pundits, even this season.
Jamie Carragher claimed Erling Haaland “picked the wrong club” in 2023
Thierry Henry claimed Haaland’s weakness is Harry Kane’s strength of dropping deep and making things happen when he has the ball at his feet after Manchester City’s 0-0 draw against Inter Milan in the Champions League. Jamie Carragher stated Haaland “struggles” against elite defenders — analysing his quiet outing against Inter and Real Madrid during the 2023/2024 season.
Meanwhile, last season, Roy Keane compared Haaland to a “League Two player” as the pundit slated his all-round game. Pep Guardiola disagreed with Roy Keane’s claim about Haaland and described his star striker as “exceptional.”
After Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win against Manchester City in May 2023, Jamie Carragher claimed that the 24-year-old had “picked the wrong club.”
Carragher said on Sky Sports: “I think we’ve only seen 60 per cent of Erling Haaland.”
“You think of the goal he got versus West Ham when there was space in behind and he gets in behind. I know that’s not there every time due to the way City play. He’s come from a counter-attacking league [the Bundesliga] where it’s end-to-end. You saw his blistering pace there. We don’t see it here.”
“He might have picked the wrong club to actually get the best out of him.”
“We’re not seeing everything of Haaland. City have scored the exact number of goals as last season. He’s got 25 of them but City overall have scored the same number overall. However, they’ve conceded more and are easier to counter-attack against now.”
In September, Jamie Carragher named Haaland as Manchester City’s most important player over the injured Rodri.
Carragher also likened Haaland to Jude Bellingham in terms of being a player who always had his career mapped out due to backing his unique talent.
Carragher admitted he was wrong about Haaland at Man City
During an episode of The Overlap in April 2023, Gary Neville pulled the Liverpool legend up over his comments about the two-time Premier League’s winner to sign for Manchester City.
Carragher was supposed to respond to some of his previous opinions by either admitting he is “not guilty” or “guilty about his claims.
Gary Neville asked: “Erling Haaland joined the wrong club.”
Jamie Carragher replied: “Guilty”, admitting that he was incorrect about his claim regarding Haaland.
The Norwegian international made a mockery of the popular pundit’s unpopular opinion in a matter of a few months as Manchester City went on to win the treble in the same season.
Haaland will be expected to battle such opinions surrounding him for the rest of his career, as previous greats like Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry have had to as well.
