Micah Richards has now been discussing Tottenham Hotspur’s approach and fortunes against Manchester City yesterday.
Richards was speaking on ‘The Rest Is Football’ Podcast and as well as praising Tottenham, he did also have concerns regarding one performance against City.
The pundit thought that Ange Postecoglou’s side showed a ton of courage to continue to pedal their brave philosophy.
However, Richards did think that Emerson Royal struggled to cope with the game plan, a player who became targeted by City.
Richards said: “It was always going to be difficult with Emerson Royal playing as a centre half along with Davies.
“I thought Davies did really well on the ball but when you looked and saw the analysis, Man City was actually letting Emerson have the ball and then as soon as he got the ball they would pounce at it.
“On another day it could have been six or seven for Man City but what I liked about Spurs is that they kept playing and doing the things that they are good at.
MORE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STORIES
“He mentioned at half-time they had a bit of a rollocking but that’s expected.
“After the results they had against Villa and Chelsea you are thinking, can you buy into what the manager is telling us? Is it going to work?
“But they stuck at the task and it paid dividends at the end, that’s what I liked the most about Spurs’s performance.”
Micah Richards thought Tottenham’s Emerson Royal was targeted by Man City
Richards certainly wasn’t alone in expressing his concern over Royal’s fortunes at centre-back.
Jamie Carragher was also very surprised to see how much Royal ‘struggled’ with the ball at his feet.
Of course, these concerns will now be allayed by the return of Cristian Romero to the first team fold at Spurs.
It seems very likely that Romero will now partner Davies at the back as he returns from suspension.
And that is a partnership that is now likely to serve Tottenham until the January window opens, and Micky van de Ven nears a return.
Postecoglou and Tottenham will surely target a centre-back, and they could now have identified a clever £13m signing.
Richards was right in pointing out that City were targeting Tottenham’s £26m Royal yesterday, but the Brazilian should receive some sympathy.
The full-back has been crying out for more first team chances, but probably wasn’t expecting to end up as a centre-back at the Etihad.