Micah Richards reacts to Junior Firpo sloppy defending in Leeds United v Man City
Micah Richards wasn’t impressed with some of the defending from Leeds United as they lost 4-0 against Manchester City.
The Whites’ left-back Junior Firpo struggled throughout the game on Saturday afternoon at Elland Road.
Richards wasn’t happy with his positioning and said that the defending was simply not good enough.
“Firpo in this position just left Ake run past him. It’s not just good enough,” said Richards on Sky Sports.
“These sort of moments are why they are struggling now. When you’re playing against big teams, you’ve got to defend a lot better.”
Sloppy
There’s no shame in losing to Manchester City or Liverpool, arguably two of the best teams in the country, or probably in Europe.
Leeds did well in patches against Pep Guardiola’s side and had they taken their chances, the shoreline could have been different.
There’s clear progress visible under Jesse Marsch, but Richards is absolutely right that the defence has to be a lot better.
Of course, the injury to Liam Cooper at the start of the game didn’t help. He has been a colossal figure for the Whites since he returned from a long injury lay-off, and losing him now would be a massive blow for the club.
Likewise, Stuart Dallas got injured as well during the match and he was taken off.
Firpo hasn’t played much in recent games, and he looked shaky against the likes of Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling throughout the game.
The former Barcelona defender is good going forward with the ball, but he needs to improve on his defending.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are leading the race to complete a major signing and have already opened talks to seal a £25m deal.