Richards: One Utd star will be made the scapegoat after Spurs – but look at his teammates

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·17 febbraio 2025

Richards: One Utd star will be made the scapegoat after Spurs – but look at his teammates

After suffering a 12th Premier League defeat of the campaign and subsequently finishing matchweek 25 in 15th place, fingers are being pointed at Ruben Amorim and his men.

Manchester United were dealt yet another substantial blow at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur when sustaining a 1-0 defeat in North London. As a result, Spurs claimed their first-ever Premier League double over the Red Devils, having also knocked them out of the Carabao Cup in December.

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No player covered themself in glory throughout the contest – and they certainly had the chance to, as well, as Amorim’s only change of the night came on the cusp of injury time when he withdrew Casemiro in place of debutant Chido Obi, albeit much later than fans had hoped to see the young starlet.

Casemiro, in particular, struggled to match his opposing counterparts throughout his return to the fold; the absences of Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer meant the seasoned veteran was restored to the starting XI in the league for the first time since December 30.

The Brazilian lost possession 12 times, made two fouls and was dribbled past four times, as per Sofascore. He often looked in complete despair when trying to go stride-for-stride with Tottenham’s attacks.

Micah Richards feels sorry for struggling Casemiro

Casemiro has been utilised sparingly under Amorim, (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Yet, Micah Richards believes the blame shouldn’t all fall on Casemiro, as his teammates have a lot to answer for as well.

“A lot of people are quick to call Casemiro, but he needs help in there [United’s midfield],” said the ex-Manchester City defender on Match of The Day 2. “His legs are not what they were, but he’s still got quality on the ball.

“When you play three at the back, the whole point is [that] one of your centre-backs should engage. They don’t engage, then you had Spurs players in the pockets, and you had three centre-halves doing nothing. Three centre-halves marking one player.”

“To top it off, look at the distance between Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro,’ he added. “They just didn’t get it right. Did he [Amorim] ask Bruno to play to the right?

“You can get your structure in there, and if Fernandes is gonna jump, you need one of your centre-halves to jump as well. You’ve all got to work together. Instead, they were working as individuals.”