Michael Owen has praised recently called-up England star and Leeds summer transfer target Ivan Toney for his performances in Brentford colours by comparing him to Erling Haaland.
The striker turned pundit praised the ‘athleticism’ in Toney’s game and how he scores ‘all types of goals’, as he proved against Leeds United a number of weeks ago.
The 26-year-old netted a brilliant hat-trick against Jesse Marsch’s side and it’s probably a big reason why he got called up by Gareth Southgate for England – it’s also probably why Leeds wanted to sign him during the 2022 summer transfer window.
Toney is hitting the right notes, at the right time and it’s now put him on track to earn that golden ticket to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup in November.
Things didn’t go as planned for the former Newcastle player during his last game when his side were outclassed by Arsenal, but it’s probably only the free-scoring Haaland who is outdoing him in the striker department in the Premier League so far.
One of the areas you would associate the two is the brute strength they have in their game and Owen thinks if you get on the wrong side of that, then you have no chance, as he told Premier League Productions.
“Big centre-forwards, we associate them with winning flick-ons and being a target man,” said Owen. “Nowadays, you see the likes of Haaland and Toney, they aren’t just that.
“They are running in-behind. They are showing pace. They are showing athleticism. Scoring all different types of goals.
“The other thing I like about Toney, and Haaland does it as well, if you get the wrong side of Toney as a defender, then you can’t get back. He’s just too strong, holds you off and then just shoots.
“For somebody of the size of him, you just don’t associate this with him (his free-kick goal against Leeds). It’s unbelievable for a man of that size, it’s such an amazing goal.”
TONEY TO THE WORLD CUP?
Harry Kane is the main guy for England and that won’t change regardless of what form the Tottenham striker is in going into the World Cup.
But, after that, there does seem to be a space open for Toney to take because it seems as though Southgate will take one extra striker after the Spurs man for Qatar.
He did just that at Euro 2020, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin the man selected and now it’s Roma’s thriving star, Tammy Abraham the man Toney will have to battle.
Given that Abraham is already comfortable in the England environment and playing at a higher level, then it probably puts him ahead of the Brentford man, at this moment in time, but Toney still has every chance to push through during these coming months.
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