Pep Guardiola tells Carragher how he has got it badly wrong over Erling Haaland

Pep Guardiola insists he is not hitting back at the pundits who have been lining up to take a dig at Erling Haaland. He says the likes of Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher - who both claim there are flaws in the Norwegian striker’s all-round game - are entitled to their opinions and he would not criticise them for airing those views.

But even so, his latest defence of this season’s leading Premier League scorer - and Golden Boot winner, Footballer of the Year and PFA Player of the Year in his one full season here - was pointedly emphatic.

And the Manchester City manager’s response to Carragher’s claim that Haaland’s all-round contribution is not Ballon D’Or standard was particularly withering.

Guardiola said: “The target is not to win the Ballon D’Or. The target is the Premier League, it is the Champions League, it is the FA Cup. And he did it. Without him, it would not have been possible. Win those titles without him? No chance. Not possible. His contribution has been exceptional since the first day he arrived.”

A run of five games with just one goal has brought 23-year-old Haaland’s wider role in City’s team under the microscope, particularly after he had little attacking joy in Madrid last Tuesday.

But Guardiola sees the bigger picture, saying: “We have scored 11 goals in three games and he helped us score some of them (by) creating lots of spaces for the other ones to score the goals.

“We scored three goals against Madrid. They had two central defenders close to him and it’s not easy, two against one. It’s the most difficult position on the pitch. He is a young player. He has some departments where he has to improve … but a 33-year-old player has margins to improve too. All players can be better before they retire.”

And while