Martin Keown believes Premier League defenders have got to be more physical with Erling Haaland, who is scoring goals for fun at Manchester City.
The Norwegian has taken England's top flight by storm and going into Saturday's clash with Southampton he had 14 goals after eight games, including three hat-tricks. Haaland, who had a stellar reputation before he arrived in the Premier League, has given City a new dimension and already looks set for the Golden Boot.
His athleticism and physical attributes mean he can score all types of goals. That said, Keown, who played in a solid Arsenal back four during his peak, believes there needs to be more of an old school approach taken towards Haaland. Legendary Italian Alessandro Nesta recently claimed he could live with the City star and spoke of the need to be more physical and deny him space.
Keown said on BBC : "He's just in goal heaven at the moment. He's so ruthless, so clinical, his intelligence, he's so driven and can you stop him? I'd almost be embarrassed if I was a central defender playing right now. To hear old players who have finished, I hear Nesta, and Rio Ferdinand say something similar, why is no one disrupting him?
"It is really nice for him out there. I'd be the one who would want to make it difficult for him, be his worst nightmare. You're going to have to bump him, make it difficult, get in his ear. But he has got everything, he's almost the complete player, even now at his age."
The pundit also added that Haaland has enjoyed a pleasant start to Premier League life with his opponents making things too easy for him. He continued: "I was a contact defender - there's two types. You've got the ball player - someone who picks and chooses with his interceptions. I was always up against my opponents.
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"I'd be in his ear, telling him how poor he was, having myself because self esteem has to be massive. I'd be bumping into him, some of those runs he makes - he'd have to run around me or through me because he's not going to get to that ball. It has been made too easy for him."
Haaland's last outing saw him score three of City's six in the Manchester derby, when he was up against the likes of Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof. Next week he will come up against Liverpool and Virgil van Dijk, who has been the league's most consistent defender in recent years.
His manager Pep Guardiola claims even the numbers and the stats do not do his forward justice. He said: “The numbers speak for themselves and inside, in the locker room, and on the pitch we see things that are not in the stats that make us feel happy to have him here.”
