Man City star told ‘he is lacking everything’ by brutal national boss after ‘weakest performance’
Manchester City star Oscar Bobb has been torn to shreds by Norway boss Stale Solbakken after his side’s 1-1 draw with New Zealand on Tuesday.
Norway beat Israel 5-0 on Saturday to retain their 100 per cent record in the World Cup qualifiers as they sit top of Group I ahead of Italy.
Bobb earned his 13th cap in that game as Erling Haaland bagged yet another hat-trick to push their goal difference to an absurd +26 after just six games.
A video then emerged of the 22-year-old in training being criticised by City teammate Haaland. “Oscar. Oscar. Oscar, please can’t you start running?” Haaland said.
And his lack of work-rate against New Zealand was highlighted by Solbakken after the friendly, in a brutal public dressing down by the Norway manager.
Solbakken told reporters, via VG: “He was very poor in the first half. He is lacking everything.
“He takes too long with the ball, positions himself strangely and doesn’t press well. He’s done that in training and been very good at it.
“But if you ask Oscar, I think he’ll say that the first half was his weakest performance for the national team. The second half was the next weakest.”
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Solbakken did though insist that this performance was out of the norm for Bobb and that “it’s not a concern”.
Solbakken added: “I’m not wasting any energy on that. He has performed very, very well in almost every game, both further up the pitch and further out. It’s not a concern.”
Bobb later admitted his manager’s thoughts were reasonable, responding: “It’s a fair assessment.”
Haaland was sent away from the Norway squad for the clash with New Zealand along with other ‘players with particularly tight match schedules’, but was asked about potentially playing in the World Cup next summer before he left.
Haaland said: “I don’t think I’ll say too much about that (World Cup chances). I’m just focused on winning the next match. That was my mindset in the last game, and it still is now.”
READ MORE: The ridiculous stats of Erling Haaland as he matches Dimitar Berbatov’s Premier League goals
The striker already has 21 goals for club and country this season, and speaking recently about his fine form, he said: “I think it’s about preparation, first of all. Getting ready for the games. I spoke so many times about it before, you can be physically ready, but you need to be mentally ready as well. To be honest, I think with a kid, it makes me even better, because I actually disconnect more than ever.”
