Marco Rose jokingly says he'll take Haaland if City don't want him!
Before joining Manchester City, Erling Haaland was under the guidance of Marco Rose who is now surprised by the negative comments the player has been receiving.
RB Leipzig boss Marco Rose does not understand why Erling Haaland's performances for Manchester City are being criticized, quipping:
"If you don't want him, send him to me."
Leipzig will face Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium. They drew 1-1 in the first leg. Rose, who coached Haaland during his time at Borussia Dortmund, managed to contain him during the first leg.
However, the Norwegian striker has been in superb form in the Premier League this season, scoring 28 goals in 26 appearances. Despite concerns about whether he is suited to Pep Guardiola's style of play, Rose does not see any drawbacks to
Haaland's presence in City's team and thinks it is impossible to completely silence him.
"If you don't want him, send him to me! I'll take him,"
Rose said at Monday's pre-match press conference.
"Even just for the last 10 games. After that, you can have him back!
"I'm really surprised about that [criticism]. He's scored 28 goals in 26 league games. If you take those goals away, I don't know where City would be in the league.
"I don't know what we're talking about. Everyone knows about Haaland's qualities. We were able to defend well against him in the first leg, but you'll never be able to keep him completely quiet.
"They don't just have Erling – there will be many world-class players we'll need to be alert for."
Throughout his career, Haaland has scored 17 goals in 11 home Champions League matches, averaging a goal every 49 minutes in those games. He has scored two or more goals on seven occasions in this competition.
Despite City's impressive unbeaten streak of 23 matches in the Champions League at the Etihad, Rose believes that Leipzig will need to produce their best performance of the season if they hope to advance in the competition.
"We played against Man City three weeks ago. We know what we'll come up against,"
he said.
"In the end, you have to find the right balance against a top team like that.
"Trust, confidence and us playing our best game of the season are what we need tomorrow."
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