Micah Richards has now admitted his sympathy towards Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier after the defeat on Saturday.
Richards was speaking on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast and said that he did think Dier defended well for Tottenham for the majority of the game.
However, the pundit recognised that Spurs were lacking their usual formidable duo of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven when it came to the key moments.
Richards thought Dier and Ben Davies played well, but couldn’t cope with the pressure they came under late on.
He said: “I just thought they lacked something.
“I felt a little bit sorry for Eric Dier because they actually did defend well for large parts of the game but in the key moments, when you have Romero and Van De Ven and you have that partnership, to come in and you have Davies and Dier it was so difficult.
“They just couldn’t hold on.”
Of course, the coming weeks and months will now be a huge test for Ange Postecoglou’s extended squad.
Micah Richards felt sorry for Eric Dier in Tottenham collapse at Wolves
Whilst it felt as if Postecoglou’s first eleven had picked up his message extremely quickly, there were always doubts about his strength in depth.
Eric Dier, a player Tottenham were happy to sell in the summer, is now a leader in their back line.
Similarly, Spurs simply don’t have a replacement for James Maddison.
Ange Postecoglou has only had one transfer window with his new side, and even that was delayed and dominated by the Harry Kane saga.
Perhaps Postecoglou will now be better off looking towards his academy in the near future.
Jamie Donley could actually be the most suitable candidate to replace the playmaking ability lost in James Maddison.
Moreover, Ashley Phillips now seems right on the cusp of starting his first senior game for the club after signing in the summer.
Eric Dier will improve for Tottenham, and he probably does deserve Richard’s sympathy right now given the situation he was thrown into.
However, there are options at hand if Postecoglou’s squad players aren’t able to adapt to the style of their new manager.
And this international break is surely very timely for Ange and his staff to fully assess the situation.
