Speaking to the BBC Radio 5 Live, Micah Richards has broken down Newcastle’s cup final performance, giving a fair, honest and insightful assessment following the 2-0 defeat to Man Utd.
He thought we started excellently – I did feel we looked the better side in the early stages – then lost belief after Man Utd’s quickfire double.
Interestingly, Richards felt we didn’t look nervous overawed by the occasion, but explains why some of our attacking play became little too predictable; a concern some fans have raised in recent months.
As you can read below, he references Almiron always cutting inside – he relies too much on his left foot – Trippier often going down the outside in search of a cross and Saint-Maximin’s final product letting down his ‘flashes’ of brilliance.
Richards feels that sprinkle of quality was the difference between the two sides, insisting it would’ve been a completely different game had one of our first half chances gone in following a promising start.
Here’s what he had to say when speaking on the BBC’s Monday Night Club, where he also praises the ‘amazing’ Newcastle fans:
“I thought Newcastle United were excellent until Man U’s first goal.
“This took the wind out of them a little bit and then they [Man U] got the second goal just six minutes later.
“At that time, you could just see the belief drain out of them a little bit.
“The game was quite scrappy at times and I thought Newcastle were going to be nervous, but it turned out they weren’t, I just think with Newcastle at times, you know what they are going to do.
“Almiron is going to come inside. Trippier is going to go down the right side and get in a cross.
“Saint-Maximin was brilliant in flashes, but again, we talk about his end product.
“He did some lovely skills past Dalot and you are thinking ‘he’s going to put it away’ [just before Man U went up the other end and scored their first goal].
“Newcastle just needed one of those many chances to go in and it would have been a completely different game. But the quality between the two teams showed in the end over 90 minutes. One team that took their chances and ended up winning the game.
“Newcastle fans were amazing. The atmosphere at Wembley was quality from watching it on TV.
“But I just think it was Man U’s quality in the end, that I think Newcastle just couldn’t get over.”
