Mateo Kovacic Criticized by Richards Following MOTD Footage of Man City’s Victory Over West Ham

Micah Richards slammed Mateo Kovacic for his poor decision-making as Manchester City beat West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola’s side won 4-1 at the Etihad as they continued to recover from their shock slump, while the Hammers continued to struggle at the wrong end of the table under Julen Lopetegui.

One of the main reasons why Man City have struggled so badly lately has been the absence of Rodri in the middle of the park.

Ex-City defender Richards believes that Kovacic is failing to match the performances of Rodri in the midfield after spotting one moment in the game on Saturday (4 January) that allowed the Irons to get forward and attack.

“And the last one, just to finish, this is where Kovacic has to do better,” he said on Match of the Day.

“Again, in the middle of the park, there’s so much space. And if you’ve not got the energy or the legs to get back, you have to stay in those positions and that’s what Rodri was so good at – knowing when to press and knowing when to stay.”

West Ham fail to take chances v sloppy Man City
Niclas Fullkrug was on the scoresheet. West Ham had 17 shots to Man City’s 10 and they even had 44 per cent possession at the Etihad, which is as high a number as most teams can hope for there.

However, the Hammers didn’t take their chances and ultimately conceded four goals either by poor defensive errors or due to the brilliance of the in-form Savinho.

Man City are always likely to score plenty of goals but right now, with Rodri injured, they have a very soft under-belly that can be taken advantage of.

If the Irons had shown more cutting edge, they might have at the very least made the scoreline a bit more respectable, or even picked up a point or three.

Yes, Man City scored four goals and it was always unlikely that Lopetegui’s struggling side were going to match that. But a goal in between Erling Haaland’s brace, for example, would have no doubt disrupted their flow.

In other West Ham news, Kevin De Bruyne is absolutely delusional with what he said about the win against the Hammers.