Manchester City No.52 Oscar Bobb endured a difficult night on Tuesday as Norway were held to a 1-1 draw against New Zealand.
Stale Solbakken – manager of Norway – was highly critical of the City Football Academy graduate when speaking after the friendly.
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Incidentally, the Norway boss picked up on something Erling Haaland also noticed about his Manchester City teammate Bobb in a training session before the draw.
Stale Solbakken questions Oscar Bobb after pressing poorly against New Zealand
The 57-year-old was unhappy with the man born in Oslo for several reasons, questioning his decision making, positioning and pressing.
Haaland also noticed Bobb was not running a lot in training before the 1-1 draw, making the comments from Solbakken even more interesting.
The former Wolves boss is quoted by VG as saying: “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. 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.”
Oscar Bobb poses for a photo at Manchester City
Photo by Jack Thomas – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Bobb was still allowed to play the entire 90 minutes against New Zealand, but clearly has a lot to think about on his way back to the Etihad Stadium, where Pep Guardiola will not stand for these shortcomings if they persist.
In fairness to the 22-year-old, he suffered a broken leg in the summer of 2024 which led to a series of other problems arising, such as hamstring and ankle issues, so he could simply still be rusty.
Oscar Bobb set to receive a reminder of what can happen
Manchester City take on Everton this Saturday when Premier League football returns, and the match will see Jack Grealish return to the Etihad Stadium.
The England international is unable to face the Citizens due to the conditions of the loan deal, but he should be watching from the stands, and can offer a reminder to Bobb about what can happen if standards slip under Guardiola.
Despite costing £100m, Grealish admitted he let himself down at Manchester City by not always picking “the right times” to lose focus.
Guardiola was then quite ruthless in freezing the Aston Villa academy graduate out, showing Bobb what can happen if he fails to deliver for the Citizens.