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Rio Ferdinand has joked that Roy Keane’s recent comments about Erling Haaland may have been influenced by his infamous feud with the Manchester City striker’s father.
Haaland struggled to make an impact as Pep Guardiola’s side drew 0-0 with title rivals Arsenal last weekend, and Keane offered a scathing assessment of his performance.
“The levels of his overall play are very poor, and not just today, I think his overall attacks, headers or whatever in terms of facing goal are the best in the world,” Keane said on Sky Sports. Post-match coverage.
“But his overall game for a player like that is so poor, not just today, that I think he has to improve to make him almost like a League Two player.”
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Speaking ahead of City’s clash against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Ferdinand insisted Keane’s comments may have been exacerbated by his infamous rivalry with Alf-Inge Haaland.
“I think Roy Keane has some history with the family so I can’t accept too much of what he said.” The former United defender said on TNT Sports.
The elder Haaland also plied his trade for Manchester’s blue side and entered into a bitter rivalry with Keane which reportedly led to his career coming to a premature end.
During a Manchester Derby in 2001, Keane was sent off for a brutal challenge which left the Norwegian with ongoing knee injuries, and an FA investigation was later launched after Keane claimed in his autobiography that he intended to injure to Haaland.
Although Ferdinand was quick to dismiss his former team-mate’s ‘League Two’ comment, he insisted that Erling Haaland is a more limited striker than the likes of Harry Kane.
‘I don’t totally agree (with Keane): the second division is a bit crazy. He wouldn’t be as good as someone like Harry Kane.
‘His all-round game is not as good as Harry Kane’s. But this man was not brought here to link play, but to finish off the chances created by the playmakers. That’s his game.
“We’ve seen him countless times and sometimes he has 10, 11 touches and scores a goal. He doesn’t get discouraged by having minimal touches in the game or having a couple of bad touches. His game is not based on that.
“Whatever you saw from him as a kid or at Dortmund, it was always about running and scoring goals. That’s who he is and I don’t think that will change.”
More to follow
