“He was very bad” – National Team boss launches scathing attack on Manchester City first-team star | OneFootball

Norway manager Ståle Solbakken did not pull any punches in his criticism of Oscar Bobb’s performance in a 1-1 draw with New Zealand on Wednesday.

Bobb played the full 90 minutes for his nation in their friendly with New Zealand, with Erling Haaland missing from the camp after returning to England over the weekend to rest and recuperate ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League game with Everton on Thursday.

After breaking a leg in training just days after helping Manchester City to victory in the 2024 FA Community Shield last August, Bobb has endured a tough going as the young winger looks to leave his injury troubles behind him and progress his career.

The 22-year-old burst onto the scene after netting a brilliant last-minute winner for Manchester City in a hard-fought 3-2 win away at Newcastle in December 2023 – a monumental comeback triumph for the Blues en route to their fourth successive Premier League title.

However, the leg break sustained in training in pre-season in 2024 kept the Norwegian on the sidelines till the business end of Manchester City’s recent season, with Bobb only making his return to action in April in a 2-0 win over Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola is understood to be a big fan of Bobb – whose impressive displays in training were part of the reason why Manchester City allowed Cole Palmer to join Chelsea for £40 million after winning a historic treble in 2023.

Having enjoyed an impressive FIFA Club World Cup in the summer and subsequent pre-season, Bobb is finally fit and firing as he looks to establish himself as a regular feature in the Manchester City starting XI after the most difficult 12 months of his career.

City are not short of options in the wide attacking positions and Bobb – despite the skill and talent he possesses – has shown since August that it will be some time before he can be entrusted to produce to the levels of Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling – who were huge successes at Bobb’s age on the wings under Guardiola.

Guardiola and his staff have been patient with Bobb but the spotlight is on the Norway international to deliver this season as Manchester City look to fight on all fronts after enduring a sub-standard 2024-25 season.

Bobb was far from his best against New Zealand on Wednesday and Norway manager Ståle Solbakken did not hold back from letting his feelings known. “He was very bad in the first half,” Solbakken said after Norway’s 1-1 draw, as quoted by Fotball Norge.

“He (Bobb) lacked everything today; spent a long time with the ball, positioned himself strangely and didn’t hit the pressing game.”

It remains to be seen whether Bobb will make the starting XI for Manchester City against Everton this weekend, with Manchester City in a rich vein of form since a drab start to the season left them in the bottom half of the Premier League table courtesy of back-to-back losses to Tottenham and Brighton in their opening three league fixtures.