Micah Richards

[OB1]

We can field the best back four in the league, whether it includes Micah or Zab. Both are too good to be second choice all the time so they need to rotated frequently. Being able to rotate your full backs is useful, given their workload.

 

[lust overlord]

I've a feeling Micah will prove you wrong this year.

Nice problem to have. What Zab is is a great squad member of course, and a good player to have on the bench as he can play at left back and holding midfielder in a crisis.

More than happy if he does.

Over the last two years, and it maybe down to injury problems, Zabs has proven he is better in both defense and attack and this has been recognised by fans players and pundits with widespread acknowledgement that he is one of the best in europe.

Zab is better in attack?

Zab will run into the space on the right but he can't get around a fullback and he can't cross. He's a very solid defender who has learned to work around the limitations of his game - pace. But last year, with our narrow system, Zab's ineffectiveness going forward cost us. It's one of the reasons we stuggled to break down defensive teams.

Correct imo.l love Zabba but we missed Rihards power and pace last season on the overlap.
Zabba is better overall defensively but Micahs prowess at supporting attacks outweighs this.

 

[Joehannes]

If Navas plays then Richards has to play. They looked awesome together.

I expect horses for courses through the season. I would suggest if Milly plays then so does Zabs as they are more solid but Richards and Navas going forward looked superb today.

Would personally put them the other way around. I think pairing Navas and Zaba together and Micah and Milner and rotating them as a pair will work nicely for our right hand side.

Zabba offers the better defensive protection but isn't as good going forward or as pacey as Richards. Which is where Navas comes in, but also it means Zaba isn't constantly bombing on and taking up navas' open space to run at players. Additionally, zaba is more intelligent with his runs, he often under-laps the winger and pops up in the pocket between the centre half and the fullback which again allows Navas the space out wide and provides another option.

The other pairing is basically the opposite, Richards will give you the attacking threat and pace to get up their and provide another option on the flank knowing that Milner will provide excellent cover for him defensively. And Milner is a more crafty player who although is capable of getting down the outside of the fullback and putting in a great ball likes to come inside more and create a different angle which then allows the space for Micah to bomb on into.

I'm sure they'll all get rotated well and in different combinations presuming they stay fit but i wouldn't be surprised if we start to see a pattern in how they are paired together as the weeks progress.

Good post and reflects the point I made earlier. The two are actually very complimentary in that zab offers nothing going forward but that won't matter much with navas in the side. Without navas Micah can give you the pace and overlaps on the right that zab can't.

It's going to be very interesting to see which players win the battles for their places early in the season.

Aye, like that composure in goal scoring positions that Richards has in abundance.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Aye, like that composure in goal scoring positions that Richards has in abundance.

Who's talking about goalscoring? No club in the world relies on their full backs for goals.

A good attacking fullback offers you overlaps, cutbacks and dangerous balls into the box.

 

[the originalkippaxman]

My only complaint on Micah are those awful attempted dives that he does when he is in the box. It is like re-enacting fucking superman.

He makes that c*nt young look like Nijinsky

 

[NQCitizen]

We have the perfect balance at RB. Zabba and Richards both have different qualities but you can trust them both in big games. Wish i could say the same about the Left side with Kolarov.

Both excellent players but both positionally poor, I think without Milner and VKs covering it could cause big problems in europe.

 

[Jumanji]

People always refer to him being faster, stronger etc. and this is true.....he is a great athlete. But the problem is his lack of defensive quality/positional skills against top players and top teams.

If he can improve that part of his game then he would be a world beater for sure.

That is bollocks. He snuffed Ribery, the best winger he'll ever have to play and did superbly against the likes of Robben as a youth.

Rarely have I seen Richards get beat in a 1 on 1.

Richards wouldn't have let Ronaldo skip over him like a fairy like he did to Zaba, who has a tendency of stabbing too much.

 

[Joehannes]

Aye, like that composure in goal scoring positions that Richards has in abundance.

Who's talking about goalscoring? No club in the world relies on their full backs for goals.

A good attacking fullback offers you overlaps, cutbacks and dangerous balls into the box.

And when in positions in which he can, scores goals.

 

[Sparkys-Army]

Aye, like that composure in goal scoring positions that Richards has in abundance.

Who's talking about goalscoring? No club in the world relies on their full backs for goals.

A good attacking fullback offers you overlaps, cutbacks and dangerous balls into the box.

And when in positions in which he can, scores goals.

Correct me if i'm wrong but Richards has scored more goals than Pab?

 

[Joehannes]

Who's talking about goalscoring? No club in the world relies on their full backs for goals.

A good attacking fullback offers you overlaps, cutbacks and dangerous balls into the box.

And when in positions in which he can, scores goals.

Correct me if i'm wrong but Richards has scored more goals than Pab?

Reckon they've scored same amount but fair few of Micah's come from set pieces, I think. That's no knock on his part, just that Zab scores more from open play which is odd for a player who "offers nothing going forward".