Dean Saunders jumped to a Manchester City player’s defence after Roy Keane criticised him on Sunday.
With City and Arsenal drawing 0-0 at the Etihad Stadium, it was no surprise that pundits had plenty to say in the aftermath of the contest.
After what was arguably the biggest game of the Premier League season between Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta’s side, there were plenty of talking points.
Dean Saunders defends Erling Haaland after Roy Keane compares him to a “League Two player”
Some questioned why City had as much of a risk-averse approach going forward, considering they could have leapfrogged Arsenal in the league table and kept up the pressure on Liverpool.
Others perhaps wondered why the Gunners sat back throughout the contest, considering a win would have meant they maintained their spot at the top of the league table.
Hindsight leads fans and pundits alike to pose several questions about players, managers and tactics after big games.
After Roy Keane compared Erling Haaland to a “League Two player” in the aftermath of the clash, Dean Saunders defended him on talkSPORT.
“It’s the type of thing that would happen in a League Two game where the ball has gone across the goal and it’s gone under the centre-forward’s foot. A mistake like that, you don’t expect it to happen to [Erling] Haaland”, Saunders initially said about the late Haaland miss late into the game when breaking down the comments from Keane.
Saunders continued, “But I mean, we’ve all been there. I’ve missed open goals, Roy’s [Keane] missed open goals, you can’t believe you’ve missed it until after it’s happened. You know, how have I missed that? And he’ll be thinking that.”
Dean Saunders also claimed that it is not easy for a striker to play against William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
“But the two centre-backs are good, Gabriel [Magalhaes], [William] Saliba. You wouldn’t want to play against them two, they’re both quick, they’re both determined, it’s like Martin Keown, I used to hate playing against Martin. He’s like a rash. You couldn’t shrug him off and most of all, at that level, it’s who switches off. Speed of thought, the higher up you go, speed of thought.”
“Michael Owen, speed of thought, off the mark, he’s thought about it before you have and he’s gone. Haaland’s like that but Saliba and Gabriel, they’re quick thinkers as well so that’s why it was like a 0-0 draw, wasn’t it because they’ve snuffed him out.”
Saunders’ analysis of how Haaland fared against Arsenal was a lot fairer
Dean Saunders is correct about Erling Haaland struggling against Arsenal but at the same time, he has also been more rational in his analysis of him than Roy Keane, in our view.
Arsenal’s centre-back duo were incredible on Sunday and Gabriel in particular did a brilliant job of taming the £51 million man.
But to compare Erling Haaland to a League Two player, as Roy Keane did was a massive stretch and unlike Dean Saunders, he did not analyse his struggles.
Ultimately, Erling Haaland will likely come across all the comments that have been made about him and will likely be determined to silence his doubters after an off day for him against Arsenal.