Erling Haaland's dad hits back at Roy Keane's 'League Two player' jibe

Erling Haaland’s dad has hit back at Roy Keane’s ‘League Two player’ jibe, claiming that the Manchester United legend has an ‘agenda’ against his son.

Keane’s comments about Haaland’s overall play came after a disappointing performance in Manchester City’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal on Easter Sunday – a game which the forward earned a 4/10 rating from 90min for his subpar outing.

The ex-Man Utd midfielder, speaking during Sky Sports’ coverage of the game, was keen to dig out Haaland for showing, saying:

“In front of goal he is the best in the world but his general play for such a player is so poor,” Keane said.

“He is almost like a League Two player. He’s a brilliant striker but he has to improve his all-round game.”

Haaland in action / Matt McNulty/GettyImages

Haaland’s father, Alf-Inge, has now come out in defence of his son, insisting that Keane has an ‘agenda’ against the forward. Keane infamously ended Alf-Inge Haaland’s career with a horror challenge in a Manchester derby in 2001 – something which he later admitted to intentionally doing.

Speaking on Viaplay Football, Alf-Inge said: “You have the background of Keane and other experts, who may have a slightly different agenda.

“They probably think it’s a bit okay to come up with that [the criticism]. But the team wins, and Erling is still top scorer, so it can’t have been that bad.”

Along with Alf-Inge, Man City manager Pep Guardiola has also recently come out in defence of his star striker’s performances: “I am not agreeing with him [Keane],” Guardiola stated.

“It’s like I said: ‘He’s a manager for the second or third league ‘ I don’t think so’. He’s the best striker in the world and helped us to win what we won last season, and the reason why we don’t create many chances is not because of Erling. We played an exceptional game against Arsenal.

“I reviewed it – we just missed more people in the final third, maybe for the quality and different skills we have. I am surprised it [the criticism] has come from former players. From journalists I understand, because they have never been on the pitch.”