Micah Richards praises 'brilliant' former Man Utd star Erik ten Hag sold
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Micah Richards and Gary Lineker have heaped praise on one former Manchester United star after his ‘brilliant performance’ in the Premier League over the weekend.
On Sunday, West Ham earned a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa as Emerson Palmieri’s late header cancelled out Jacob Ramsey’s early strike.
Though Graham Potter has won just one of his first four games since replacing Julen Lopetegui, the Irons look rejuvenated under the former Chelsea and Brighton manager.
One player who stood out at Villa Park was Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who joined West Ham last summer after five years at Old Trafford.
Though the right-back initially struggled following his £15million transfer, he has shown great improvement over the course of the season, with Lineker saying he put in a ‘brilliant performance’ against the Villans.
‘I thought Wan-Bissaka was outstanding, I really do,’ ex-Manchester City right-back Richards added on The Rest is Football podcast.
‘His energy, his work-rate, his delivery at times, his recovery runs, his tackles – it was just brilliant to see.
‘[Tomas] Soucek as well was outstanding, he covers so much ground. When you’re watching the game you’re looking for someone to do the skill – [Lucas] Paqueta had a really good game.
‘But I just thought the energy from Soucek and Wan-Bissaka allowed them to push up and do what they needed to do.’
Wan-Bissaka was tipped for big things upon his £50m move to United in 2019 following a breakout season with Crystal Palace.
Solid defensively but unspectacular going forward, he fell out of favour under Erik ten Hag and was replaced by Noussair Mazraoui last summer.
But given his recent displays, it is possible he could have done a job for Ruben Amorim, with wing-back a problem position and a lack of energy and pressing an issue the new head coach is struggling to turnaround.
‘We’ve talked about this so many times – especially with Manchester United – when you go to a five-at-the-back, you can sometimes just stay there and not get out,’ Richards added.
‘But they [West Ham] managed to get out at the right times and the defend at the right times. Tactically they did very, very well.’
Shortly after West Ham’s draw with Villa, United managed to get a 1-0 win at Fulham thanks to Lisandro Martinez’s late, deflected goal.
Next up, the Irons travel to Potter’s former side Chelsea next Monday, while the Red Devils take on FCSB in their final Europa League league phase match on Thursday.
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