Jay Bothroyd believes Erling Haaland was far too uninvolved for Manchester City in their 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield.
Joey Barton suggested that the Norwegian goalscorer was completely anonymous while claiming that Jarrell Quansah kept him quiet.
Stewart Robson also criticised the treble-winner for not doing more to get on the ball and hand it to Kevin De Bruyne, as he did against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium last season.
Jay Bothroyd says Erling Haaland “needs to do more when he doesn’t score” after Manchester City drew to Liverpool
Considering Erling Haaland’s blunt response to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s much-discussed comments about City, it seemed like he would be in the mood to ruin Jurgen Klopp’s farewell campaign.
Instead, Haaland put in a similar display to his showing at Anfield during his debut season at City during the Reds’ 1-0 win.
After Manchester City and Liverpool took a point apiece from their box-office clash, Joy Bothroyd was critical of how Erling Haaland fared.
“I think this is the reason why Rodri was upset. When Liverpool are pressing and they’ve got no outlet, the only thing they can do is put it up to [Erling] Haaland, he has to get hold of the ball”, he said on Sky Sports.
Jay Bothroyd claimed that considering how tall and strong Erling Haaland is, he should have taken more of an onus to dominate the Liverpool defence for his Manchester City side.
“You’re not putting it up to [Sergio] Aguero, just like five foot seven. You’re putting it up to someone that’s six foot four, he’s strong, everyone knows that, he has to get hold of that ball.”
“And it becomes frustrating because when you lose it, Liverpool come straight back at you and Rodri’s the one putting in all the tackles and the midfielders are the ones that are defending. He needs to do more when he doesn’t score and that’s my criticism of Haaland.”
“He’s a great goalscorer, he’s a threat, he will occupy defenders. But when he’s playing against top teams like Liverpool, [Virgil] Van Dijk and [Jarrell] Quansah yesterday, when he played in the Champions League last year, in the final, it was the same kind of thing.”
Bothroyd continued, “He’s not really involved in the game and he’s not held to the same standards as other strikers because of his goalscoring ability. Like Ollie Watkins, Aston Villa. If Ollie Watkins touches the ball 10 times, he’s had a bad game and it’s the same with everyone else pretty much.”
“If they touch the ball 10 times, they’ve had a bad game. I remember when I used to play, if I’m touching the ball 15 times and I haven’t scored, I’ve been marked out of the game. When people used to say that to me, that would hurt me, ‘you’ve been marked out of the game.’ I think, overall, he was marked out of the game by Quansah and Van Dijk.”
It might be worth dropping Erling Haaland deeper in such games
While Jay Bothroyd raises interesting points, perhaps it might have been a tactical decision from Manchester City to ensure Erling Haaland stays in an advanced position against Liverpool.
However, Haaland has been tasked to come short and link the attack with his teammates, such as during the FA Cup final against Manchester United and he did a commendable job.
The former Borussia Dortmund striker allows City to have an extra man in deeper areas, while potentially throwing a spanner in the works for the opposition backline as they may be forced to press higher to contain him.
As a result, Erling Haaland’s teammates are provided more space to exploit in behind the opposition defence and perhaps Pep Guardiola may employ this tactic once again in the next few games.
