Garth Crooks has questioned why Erling Haaland is criticised about one part of his game.
At the end of the season, any such criticism towards Erling Haaland has largely been disproven by him as he has made history. The 23-year-old became the first player in the Premier League era to win back-to-back Golden Boot awards while also winning successive titles.
Garth Crooks cannot understand why Man City player is questioned
Garth Crooks, who named Manchester City striker Erling Haaland in his Premier League Team of the Season questioned why his overall game is a constant topic of discussion.
The pundit wrote for BBC Sport: “Whatever you may think about Erling Haaland’s contribution or hold-up play outside the penalty area for Manchester City, one thing is for sure, there is no doubting his ability to put the ball in the back of the net.”
“Haaland appears to have broken nearly every goalscoring record the Premier League has to offer, so why anyone would be remotely interested in his contribution to the game outside the box is a complete mystery to me.”
The £51 million man’s game has been criticised by many, whether it be this season or during his debut campaign in England and it might continue throughout his career due to how much of a big name he is.
Last month, Jamie Carragher claimed that while Erling Haaland is a “great goalscorer”, he is not a “great player.”
In March, Roy Keane also controversially compared the two-time Premier League winner’s all-round game to that of a “League Two player.”
The discourse surrounding Erling Haaland is absurd
In our view, Garth Crooks is correct in how he views Erling Haaland as a player.
The Norwegian international is a tremendous goalscorer and as Crooks stated, this aspect of his game should dominate conversations about him.
Instead, the discourse around Haaland seems to downplay the difficulty of scoring as many goals as he does.
The Leeds-born striker simply makes his job look far too easy.
The likes of Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba failed to score as many combined goals in two Premier League seasons as Erling Haaland has (63).
Yet, Haaland’s flaws are constantly highlighted — despite him treating arguably the best league in the world like “schoolboy” football, as Daniel Sturridge recently stated.
Advising Erling Haaland to improve parts of his game is acceptable.
But failing to acknowledge Haaland’s brilliance as a player due to his limitations as a technician is reductive analysis.