Haaland’s dark arts exposed as Mee reveals striker’s tricks to put off defenders

BEN MEE has exposed the dark arts that Manchester City star Erling Haaland uses to put off defenders.

The Brentford centre-back was on punditry duty for Sky Sports ahead of Leeds taking on Liverpool when he revealed the on-pitch secret.

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Mee claims that Haaland pinches his opponents in attempt to distract and bully them.

He said: “He is a powerful lad and we have had a little bit of a jostle.

“Obviously we are trying to be physical with him and use our body in and around the box to stop him from getting into any positions he wants to.

“Little pinches here and there between me and him.”

Fellow pundit Jamie Carragher then asked if the pinches were coming from him or Haaland.

And Mee responded: “More from him to be fair. But I don’t mind that, I quite like that.”

The 33-year-old at the heart of the Brentford defence frustrated Haaland when they met earlier this season with the Bees winning 2-1.

Mee also analysed how his team dealt with Kevin De Bruyne feeding Haaland, who has netted 32 goals in 28 league appearances.

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The tactic involved the ex-Burnley captain stepping out of the defence to pressure the Belgian midfielder to stop him passing forward.

Brentford and City are set to meet again on April 28, which is the last day of the season.

Pep Guardiola’s side will hope to wrap up the title then with them just four points behind Arsenal with the Gunners to play and a game in hand.