Scotland coach John Carver is hoping party boy Jack Grealish has left Erling Haaland nursing the mother of all hangovers ahead of Scotland’s crunch Euro qualifier in Oslo this weekend.
The Manchester City double act have been leading the raucous celebrations ever since helping their side complete a historic treble in Istanbul on Saturday night when they clinched the club’s first ever Champions League crown. And the boozed-up party scenes continued back in Manchester on Monday evening when Grealish and Haaland were the joint headliners during an open tour of the city.
But Haaland is needed back in his homeland ahead of Saturday’s Group A showdown with the table topping Scots. And Steve Clarke ’s right hand man is hoping the £50m striker might still be feeling the effects of a three day bender with Grealish. Carver said: “I said that before, it’s like, ‘Is he still partying?’. He’s had more parties than we did when we qualified for Euro 2020!
“Listen, he’s a professional - surely he’s looked after himself. Let’s see what he’s like when he gets there. He’s a super player for sure but they’ll be worried about some of our players as well.”
And when it was out to him that another drinking session with England pin-up Grealish might help Scotland’s chances Carver smiled: “Yeah yeah! Jack will look after him!” Deep down, however, Scotland are preparing for facing the full might of Europe’s hottest striker - and at full fitness.
Especially as Haaland knows anything less than a Norway win will all but eliminate his country from Euro 2024. But Carver will also keep his fingers crossed that this summer showdown might prove to be one too many for the red hot 22-year-old.
Carver went on: ‘It could be. Listen, it’s possible. Some players are better when they play for their country. Mitrovic was a better player for Serbia than he initially was for Fulham and Newcastle. For sure.
“Some players are better for their national team. But let’s see. He’s won the Treble and had a fantastic season. Sometimes it’s very difficult keeping yourself at that level all of the time.”
And Carver says Norway boss Stale Solbakken will also be worried about some of the big hitters inside Scotland’s dressing room - most notably Manchester United man Scott McTominay and Aston Villa’s John McGinn. He said: “Absolutely. When you see the way we played. McTominay for example – I mentioned him because he scored in the last two games – he’ll be aware of him. They’ll be concerned about him.
“They’ll be concerned about John McGinn, his form for Villa. Because he’ll be watching the Premier League. That’s just to name two, you know. He’ll look at some of the other players in the team. They’ll have their concerns about us and I’m guessing they’ll just concentrate on themselves, like we’ll concentrate on our strengths.
