... Or not, according to Pochettino. Am I correct in saying Rickie has played every minute under Mauricio, or close to it? This is one subtle difference between him and Adkins and shows how important playing your best focal players is. How many times did we wonder if it was tactical genius to leave him on the bench or play him for an hour until he was tired. I for one, was sold by that, however it appears that he can do it comfortably. I believe the high pressing game helps Rickie with this as it means we have more bodies helping him close defenders down.
Agree, he is fit enough to play the full 90m. People look at his (lack of) speed and assume he is knackered. According to the OS he is 76.7kg. For someone of 6'2" this is not bulky!
He has played every minute of every game since the 28th of October against Spurs, save for coming off twice 15 minutes before the end against Newcastle and Arsenal and his game from the bench against Chelsea. So 20 full games out of 23, 1985 minutes out of 2070. Who ate all the pies?
Rickie got super-fit after coming to Saints. Adkins made the decision to use him as a super sub before he'd even played in the PL...it worked because I bet Rickie was not only hungry but angry. He is fully capable of a full 90 min with all the support he gets and he is our talisman. He does, however, need larger shorts (SRL has a big bum).
Funnily enough, I did think he looked tired the last 10 minutes to the point that if it were down to me (and thank goodness it isn't!) I might have substituted him.
Crikey, that's just a pound over 12 stone.. For 6ft 2ins, he's positively wiry..! For the record, I'm 6ft and I wish I was that weight too.
I'm skeptical that he's as low as 76.7kg though considering several of our outfield players are listed as heavier
He also used to be subbed at about 60 minutes in-Fulham and Man Utd come to mind, and we both conceded twice in those games after he'd been subbed off. I'm 5 foot 11 and weigh a lot less than Rickie!
