It was a damaging weekend for Aston Villa as Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham ran out 4-0 winners on Sunday afternoon.
The loss was compounded by John McGinn seeing a red card for a reckless tackle on Destiny Udogie midway through the second half.
The 29-year-old will now miss three Premier League games at a crucial time in the season for Unai Emery’s side.
It was a rash tackle, and pundits have picked apart the midfielder’s conduct throughout the weekend.
“It’s ugly, it’s cynical, it’s a horrible tackle. Is it dangerous? It’s open to interpretation,” said Don Goodman.
Another pundit who has had his say in Micah Richards and the former Villa defender admitted it was hard to call out his “mate”.
Micah Richards shares difficult Aston Villa verdict
Talking on the Rest is Football Podcast, Richards said: “You know what it’s like when you’re doing broadcasting. There are four of us in the studio.
“If you’re a striker you might get the offensive stuff, if you’re a defender you get the defensive stuff. Two people had already gone and were like, ‘John McGinn here, Micah’.”
The Sky Sports pundit admitted he had to be honest about the midfielder’s tackle.
“John McGinn’s my mate; I don’t want to put him away,” he added.
“I was like ‘yeah he’s a good lad’. That is the worst part about punditry. Obviously, we’ve got to be honest about the situation, but when it’s your mate, give it to someone else.”
Should McGinn have been sent off?
It’s a decision that has divided opinion.
Objectively, it was a rash tackle that could have caused harm to the Tottenham left-back. Furthermore, there was no intention to play the ball.
However, the contact wasn’t particularly high, and his studs were down. The red card was shown due to the evident frustration and McGinn looking to take out the defender no matter the cost.
The midfielder’s headloss could be a significant blow, with the influential midfielder now out of the reckoning.
Emery could now call upon Tim Iroegbunam in the upcoming Premier League fixtures, with doubts remaining over Jacob Ramsey’s fitness after the midfielder was forced off against Luton Town.
