Danny Murphy has praised one Manchester City player for his mindset and style of play.
Since the recent international break, the Citizens have got through two big games in their chase to regain the Premier League title, drawing 0-0 with Arsenal and beating Aston Villa 4-1.
After the stalemate against the Gunners, one figure in Pep Guardiola’s squad found himself on the receiving end of some criticism for his lack of involvement in the game.
Now though, one pundit and former top-flight player has highlighted how the aspect of the City player’s game that has been criticised is actually something that should be admired.
Murphy says one Man City player has an unbelievable mentality
Speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy had this to say about Erling Haaland and the recent criticism of him and his style of play.
He said: “Haaland’s perceived weakness is actually his strength.
“This thing about needing 20, 30, 40 touches as a striker, his discipline to stay high, stay out the way and not come and be egotistical enough to get lots of nice touches and look pretty on the eye in a side like Manchester City, who keep the ball better than anyone, is actually incredible that he has the strength of mind to do that job.
“Haaland is not interested, he’s a ruthless goalscoring machine.”
In 24 Premier League appearances this season, the 23-year-old has had 481 touches of the ball, leaving 15 players in the City squad with more.
Looking back over the draw against the Gunners, Haaland had 23 touches in total, the fewest in the City team.
However, the striker has still managed to score 18 goals in the league this season, more than any other player in the division.
Now that Murphy has highlighted how Haaland’s lack of regular touches of the ball stems from him having a focused mindset when it comes to being a lethal goalscorer in the positions and situations that make the most difference in a game, this should quieten the criticism aimed towards him saying otherwise.
