Originally Posted by
jloome
Cooper doesn't rate him defensively at all. He gave him five appearances in the Championship and a couple of exhibitions. Richie acquitted himself well in all, but had several moments where he couldn't read the offensive movement and left the backside uncovered.
I think they're simply of the opinion that his style doesn't suit English football particularly, which is EXTREMELY tactically inflexible and system based. Cristian Ramirez, the former Minnesota striker, scored 15 goals for Aberdeen last year in the SPL but is now benched because they don't like his attitude. But that mostly seems to stem from them insisting he never make decisions on the ball at the expense of tactical shape. He said himself in an interview that the tactical rigidity was really surprising when he got there, and difficult to adapt to.
Having said that... I think on the balance Cooper is wrong. His wide players spend more time going forward than coming back and Richie's not that bad a defender; I'd say he's decent at marking and blocking, not so hot at tackling. He's using Neco Williams right now and it's an utter shit show. The boy is completely out of his depth, whereas some of the defenders they face are so large and slow, Richie would ghost them like he wasn't there (which in his few appearances for them, he did; he had a potential assist in every game he played, usually muffed point-blank.)
They focus on concrete movement and responsibilities, guys being cogs to pull apart the opposition shape and expose space; MLS and Mexican coaches stress tendencies and dominating the most dangerous areas of the pitch. (And the best now seem to demand both).
So, he's not going to stay with Forest.
Hull inquired about a loan last year AND a purchase this year, but it was rejected so quickly it sounds like they were trying a sub-million swoop.
I suspect we have the inside track, as he wasn't seen enough there, and teams do generally avoid using the cup as an arbiter. But if a team in the Championship or Turkey is desperate for a right back he might go elsewhere, because he's two-sided, which is extremely valuable in a rotation/backup player.
