Steve Nicol has said that Erling Haaland has been far from his best in a Manchester City shirt so far this season.
Speaking on ESPN UK, the outspoken pundit gave his two cents on the £51 million (Metro) man’s performance in his side’s 2-1 win against Sheffield United.
It’s safe to say that Steve Nicol believes that Erling Haaland has not looked his frightening self three games into the 2023/2024 campaign.
Steve Nicol says Manchester City megastar Erling Haaland ‘hasn’t been great’ this season
Branded as ‘amazing’ by Ilkay Gundogan, the Norwegian superstar missed a couple of chances against the Blades, notably a penalty in the first half and another close-range opportunity that was brilliantly kept out by Wes Foderingham.
However, the 23-year-old eventually redeemed himself by heading City’s equaliser in from an inch-perfect Jack Grealish cross.
Steve Nicol argued that not only did Erling Haaland look out-of-sorts against Sheffield United but has to a degree this season as a whole.
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“The problem is, Haaland is there to put the ball in the net and he put the ball in the net, to be fair. So, it’s very difficult to kill him because he should have had three, maybe four goals today. But at the end of the day, he did get a goal. He did do the job today but I guess because he’s Haaland, what he gets paid and his standard in the game, he has to do better.”
Steve Nicol also pinpointed how the all-round display from Erling Haaland underwhelmed at Bramall Lane, saying, “Not just with the chances. I guess every striker’s going to miss chances. But I’ll tell you what, his hold-up play wasn’t particularly great today. There were too many times where the second touch was a tackle. Classic. So, overall, he did his job because he scored but his whole game, he wasn’t great. And he hasn’t been great since he started the season. But he’s contributed, he’s got some goals.”