THIERRY HENRY and Micah Richards have pinpointed Erling Haaland’s biggest flaw that “Harry Kane can do.”
The pair were both on CBS Sports last night to bring coverage of the latest Champions League matches.
After seeing Aston Villa and Liverpool win their fixtures, City went up against Italian champs Inter Milan looking to start their campaign with victory.
But Simone Inzaghi’s men dropped deep and their back five helped grind out a 0-0 draw.
Haaland barely had a sniff as City struggled to create chances.
And he also failed to drop deep in an attempt to get on the ball.
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Haaland’s lack of involvement was a major talking point at full-time as the CBS studio dissected his performance.
Former Arsenal striker Henry questioned whether Haaland needs to improve his link-up play, insisting the Norwegian goal machine is unable to carve out opportunities like England captain Harry Kane.
Ex-Man City star Richards echoed Henry’s sentiments.
But he also insisted that it’s not an aspect of the beautiful game Haaland needs to be overly concerned about, having already netted nine goals this season.
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Henry started the debate by saying: “Can he drop and get the ball?”
Richards fired back: “It’s not his game.”
But Henry was undeterred and continued: “I know it’s not but do you think he can drop, get the ball and make things happen?”
Richards answered: “Not as well as we’d like to see him, but I do believe his all-round game this season has improved.”
Henry noted: “Can he go in the middle and play like Kane can do? Right now? No.
“I think he can improve, but right now he can’t do that.”
City boss Pep Guardiola defended Haaland’s performance, saying: “There were six players around him, three behind, three in front.
“That makes it difficult for any player. We tried to use the spaces, that is why Gundogan had a couple of chances.
“We knew Inter would play like that. Credit to them. We created a couple of really clear opportunities but we didn’t score.”
What will happen to Man City?
MAN CITY are favourites to win the Premier League title yet again – but there is one elephant in the room that threatens to put the skids under the Etihad giants.
Sunsport’s MARTIN LIPTON discusses what the next few months could hold with Head of Sport SHAUN CUSTIS….
Custis: So the big question – will there be a resolution this season?
Lipton: Yes…. probably! We know the case will start to be dealt with in October or November.
It will take at least a month to go through the evidence. So I suspect around March, April time, we will get a result. But that’s where it starts to get tricky.
Custis: Why is that?
Lipton: If the result is in City’s favour, that’s the end of the matter. They will be cleared. They will have no punishment to face.
But if City are found guilty, these will be the heaviest penalties ever imposed by the Premier League.
I suspect if they are found guilty, they will be expelled from the league or given a massive points deduction and a huge fine so that they’re not in the Premier League next season.
Check out the full discussion on Man City’s future.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
