‘Ridiculous’ – Micah Richards reacts as Gary Lineker hails what he did about Everton & Erling Haaland
Everton became the latest victims of an Erling Haaland masterclass in their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.
The Toffees have had a bright start to the Premier League season, but found themselves totally outclassed by a rampant City side at the Etihad Stadium.
Haaland netted a double to down Everton, and condemned them to yet another defeat against a side that they have now beaten just once in their last 22 meetings in all competitions.
David Moyes would have been left frustrated by his side’s defeat, but it is important for him to remember the quality of opposition that they came up against.
Gary Lineker praises Micah Richards’ Erling Haaland analysis
Alan Shearer raved about Haaland’s performance against Everton on Match of the Day on Saturday night, after he took his Premier League goal tally to 11 for the season earlier in the day.
The Toffees simply couldn’t handle the Norwegian, who continues to defy both convention and logic with his feats in front of goal.
During that edition of Match of the Day, former City defender Micah Richards analysed Haaland’s performance from a defender’s perspective, with the aim of highlighting just how difficult it is to nullify a striker of his quality.
- Haaland scored from two of his five shots on Saturday
- His brace came from an xG of just 0.98
- The Norwegian also missed two big chances for his hat-trick
The 37-year-old’s analysis has now been praised by Gary Lineker on their The Rest is Football podcast (45:00), and recommended that any fans who haven’t seen it go and watch it if they can.
“I thought it was brilliant the way that you did it (the analysis),” the former Everton frontman told Richards.
“It was a good angle of doing it and you were absolutely spot on with it, I thought.”
Richards then reacted to Lineker’s suggestion by emphasising that his attention was to show how Everton’s backline did all that they could against Haaland.
“It’s ridiculous for me to try and talk about a striker when you’ve got Alan (Shearer) in the studio. But I was thinking when I was watching the clips, ‘the defenders have done all the right things and still can’t stop him (Haaland).’ So that’s when a striker becomes unplayable.”
- Read More: Micah Richards blown away by ‘unbelievable’ Man City vs Everton footage on MOTD – ‘just phenomenal’
Everton shouldn’t be disheartened by Manchester City defeat
Jack Grealish was unavailable for Everton against his parent club on Saturday, which made what was already an uphill task nigh-on impossible for Moyes’ men.
Nevertheless, it is important that the Merseysiders do not become disheartened by their defeat in Manchester at the weekend.
They have shown plenty of promise in the early stages of the season, and their battles against Pep Guardiola’s men will not be the ones that define their season.
The Friedkin Group will have a strong desire to see the club challenge the established elite in the long term, but for now, they remain a significant distance behind the top sides in the league.
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