Carragher: 'Haaland is angry because teammates are slow to pass'

Since Haaland joined Man City in the summer of 2022, Carragher has considered this combination unreasonable because the difference lies in the playing errors. The former Liverpool defender reiterated this view in an interview with Goal on February 15. "With Pep Guardiola's philosophy, players need to adapt," he said. "Thierry Henry also had difficulty playing left striker in Guardiola's first season in charge of Barca. And Haaland is not suitable for Man City now."

Carragher said he has commented on about five City games this season, and has repeatedly seen Haaland make angry gestures because teammates did not pass to him. "Haaland will never get the ball in situations like that, because that's not the way Guardiola plays," added Carragher. "He wants the team to pass a lot, develop the ball sequentially from the bottom and bring the whole team into the opponent's half. Haaland wants to receive the ball faster."

Haaland has scored 31 goals in 29 games for Man City this season, including 25 in 21 Premier League games. However, in eight games in 2023, he failed to score in six, and comments like Carragher's appeared even more.

Commenting with Carragher on CBS Sports on February 14, Henry said that Harry Kane is more suitable for Man City than Haaland. "Man City wanted to recruit Kane from Tottenham and was rejected, but I think they should try again. Kane is an all-round striker and fits Man City's style of play," the French striker said. .

Henry also told a story between himself and manager Arsene Wenger, when both worked at Arsenal. Wenger said to Henry: "What do you do when the team can't pass the ball to you?". That question caused Henry to change to become more comprehensive. "We all know Kevin de Bruyne can pass to Haaland, but this style of play is easier to catch," Henry said.

Haaland has lost the last three matches, and left open the possibility of playing a nail game against Arsenal on the evening of February 15 because of injury. The last time he missed four matches in a row was April 2021, when he was still playing for Dortmund.