‘The joke is good’ – Man City boss Guardiola laughs at petition to get Haaland out of football

Joe Williams
Man City striker Erling Haaland celebrates scoring a goal

Man City boss Pep Guardiola says the petition created to get Erling Haaland banned from competitive football is a “good” joke.

The Norway international has made one of the best starts to a season the Premier League has ever seen with Haaland already scoring 14 goals in eight appearances.

Haaland hit 86 goals in 89 matches for Borussia Dortmund while he bagged 21 goals in 23 caps at international level for Norway.

He is a goal-scoring machine, and an army of Premier League fans are already sick of it, with one joker creating a petition called ‘Petition to get Erling Haaland banned from Association Football because it’s just not fair’.

On Haaland not being at the World Cup, Guardiola told a press conference: “Of course not. It is amazing for a football player to play there it is a shame for the fans who want to see the best players possible. The joke is good [petition for him to be banned]. He will have a holiday for a few weeks.”

Asked whether he was in disbelief about the amount of goals Haaland has scored, Guardiola added: “It is not about disbelief. It is the fact that he has an incredible instinct. He has an incredible sense as a striker he goes one second before the ball arrives.

“These types of player, how can a manager teach him it is impossible. He is a natural. He did it Norway Austria, he smells it. Thank you for choosing us we are fortunate to have this talent.”

On possible Haaland improvements, Guardiola continued: “The connection with Kevin, Phil, Riyad, Jack. Erling when he has the ball he knows what passes I like. He can improve every part of his game. Everyone knows he can do better. We can all improve until we die.

“It will be good for Haaland to break the record but any record can be broken. Hopefully he can carry this on. After the Community Shield people had a lot of doubts but let’s just look at tomorrow and he needs to focus on that. Then at the end of the season he can look at the goals.”

On Haaland and Messi comparisons, Guardiola said: “If we play good we can put a lot of balls in the box. We are not going to rely on Haaland. We saw the last Champions League games that it is out of the control of the players and managers. Our level needs to be higher. What you have to do in the positions against you, you make sure you are good enough.

“Nothing is comparable with Leo Messi. How many new Messis is there ten or 15 but they all fail. All of the questions about Erling but the guys here accept it perfectly. Kevin is an exceptional person and he is happy to have Erling here and it goes for all the players here.”

READ MORE: Haaland should be easy to stop with these three tips as £7.02m difference is reduced to nothing