Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards has revealed why Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu caught his eye in Manchester United’s 2-1 Premier League defeat to Aston Villa.
Diogo Dalot returned to the right side of the pitch for Manchester United on Sunday evening, having played as an inverted wing-back multiple times this season.
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Ruben Amorim deployed the 26-year-old Portuguese right-back in the wing-back role on the right after losing Amad Diallo to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations competition.
The 40-year-old United manager had Patrick Dorgu operating on the left flank as a wing-back, with the Red Devils falling short of Aston Villa at the weekend
Both Dalot and Dorgu saw out the full 90 minutes under Ruben Amorim in United’s 2-1 defeat to Villa in the Premier League clash at Villa Park.
Micah Richards’ verdict on Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu spoke volumes after Man Utd’s defeat to Aston Villa
Speaking after Manchester United’s loss to Aston Villa, Micah Richards admitted that Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu’s presence was much more apparent in the match.
The ex-Manchester City and Villa right-back pointed out that Dalot and Dorgu were finally playing the roles that they are expected to do in Ruben Amorim’s system.
“And I actually think that’s down to Man United’s tactics,” Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast.
“If you look at Dalot and Dorgu, they [were] a lot higher. But then in the midfield, normally when Man United play with two [No] 10s, they’re just staying that number two 10s position and don’t really get involved.”
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Richards felt that Dalot was proactive in his role at right wing-back and the Portugal international showed better positioning with his performance against Villa.
The Sky Sports pundit added that Dalot and Dorgu allowed Bruno Fernandes, Manuel Ugarte, Matheus Cunha and Mason Mount to operate more freely for United.
“So, it was almost [like] Ugarte was staying, then Fernandes was coming, and then Mount and Cunha,” Richards continued.
“And then if you look at Dalot’s position, at times when he was trying to get the ball back, he was, his positioning was so good in terms of he was doing half and half, so stopping it [and] going wide, but then inside as well, so they couldn’t get dominated in the field.”
Micah Richards’ reaction to Man Utd’s overall Premier League performance against Aston Villa
Despite Villa beating United to pick up all three Premier League points, Richards believes that the Red Devils produced one of their standout displays under Amorim.
“That’s one of the best performances I’ve seen Man United play,” he told Gary Lineker.
Because it’s very hard to play in that system when it seems as though you’ve got an overload everywhere, but no-one wants to take responsibility for where they need to be on the pitch.
“But I thought Man United smothered them in midfield, and Villa just couldn’t get near them. However, on the counter-attack, they look very dangerous.”
Morgan Rogers scored a stunning brace for Villa at the weekend to clinch the 2-1 Premier League win for Unai Emery’s men at Villa Park.
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