Micah Richards has criticism for one Leeds player following Everton defeat

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Micah Richards has dished out some heavy criticism for Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk on Match of the Day after Everton earned a 2-1 win over Marcelo Bielsa’s side at Elland Road on Wednesday night.

Leeds came into the match full of confidence, having beaten Newcastle United and then Leicester City last time out with a brilliant 3-1 win on Sunday. But Everton brought them back down to earth straight away.

A Lucas Digne cross found Gylfi Sigurdsson to put Everton 1-0 up, and it was two before the break – Dom Calvert-Lewin heading in at the back post. Luke Ayling has since admitted that he was “caught napping”.

Leeds did have plenty of chances and a draw would not have been a surprise, especially after Raphinha stroked home a lovely effort just after half-time. But the scoreline remained 2-1, and Richards criticised Struijk.

“They play so well Leeds, but they’re not doing the basics correctly,” Richards said. “Struijk plays Digne onside [for the first goal] but if you make a mistake there, that’s not a problem at all. But the cross comes in.

“He needs to be five yards closer to his goal to stop the ball coming in, he’s made two mistakes and he has cost his team the first goal. That gave Everton the confidence to go on and win the game.”

TBR’s view – Struijk is still learning

This week, reports from the Netherlands claimed Struijk had a phone call with Belgium manager Roberto Martinez while there is interest from Holland over his international future. He starred against Newcastle and Leicester.

He is still only 21. He is going to make mistakes and while Richards is bang on in his analysis, Struijk will be forgiven for making these errors. Had Liam Cooper made the mistake, it would have been more worrying.