Not sure how you can say he has been underrated. He barely played until this past transfer window. Most saw his potential, he just needed to start playing reguarly.
I understand why people wait for players to "prove it"....but for me he did a long time ago. Not going off of what he has "proven" just off the eye test....
From today’s press conference from his coach: “Chris Richards came to us relatively inexperienced. He then showed immediately that he is Bundesliga worthy. I have known him for awhile, it’s a lot of fun to work with him.” „Chris #Richards ist relativ unerfahren zu uns gekommen. Er hat aber dann sofort gezeigt, dass er bundesligatauglich ist. Ich kenne ihn schon länger, es macht sehr viel Spaß mit ihm zu arbeiten.“🗣️ Sebastian #Hoeneß #TSGBMG | @eastmamba pic.twitter.com/MEVJxNzEUJ— TSG Hoffenheim (@tsghoffenheim) April 20, 2021
Your eye test was spot on, but I'm a lot more convinced by the eye test after it happened in multiple consecutive starts against Bundesliga and Europa League clubs. Plenty of people are intriguing by the eye test in spot minutes or against reserves.
Nicklaus Sule is apparently drawing the interest of Chelsea. I believe he shunned Chelsea to sign with Bayern when he was at Hoffenheim. It could be another obstacle cleared for Richards is Sule leaves.
Bayern are losing Boateng and Alaba at CB. Hard to believe they would let Süle go as well but there is always a price.
sule is effective and has incredible high end speed when he gets going, but he seems like a bull in a china shop at times. i am not sure he is a bayern quality cb. not saying that means richards is, but wouldnt be surprised to see bayern let him go
High end speed? Bull in a china shop? German? Not good enough for Bayern? Maybe really expensive? He's the perfect addition to the Timo Werner collection at Chelsea!
If Bayern end up with Upemecano/Sule/Richards/Pavard-in-emergency as their CB situation, that's a pretty good spot for Chris. I'd expect them to being in at least one more starter quality CB though given their budgets and amount of games to play. If they don't, it's quite the stamp of approval for him.
There are only 5 games left, so it's not really relevant. As a loan player, he's going back to Bayern on June 30th and his location for next season will be decided in August. With Flick leaving, there'll be a new coach to impress and Richards will be keen to stake his claim to a starting place. He'll owe to himself to give that a proper go before thinking too much about loan destinations.
Starts: ⚡ A-U-F-S-T-E-L-L-U-N-G ⚡Unser Team für #TSGBMG ⤵️#TSG pic.twitter.com/kYqd3IF5hH— TSG Hoffenheim (@tsghoffenheim) April 21, 2021 Up 3-2 in the 65th after being down 2-0 at the half.
gutty display from hoffenheim to come back and win. richards not great on either goal imo. first was just one of those things where he couldve hustled a bit more to get back but the ball pinballed the right way for gladbach. not sure how to assess fault on second where lazaro split richards and other hoffenheim defender, but richards definitely in the picture even if it wasnt him who lost his marker
More like the physio's room. They've registered 8 other CBs (no, that's not a typo) this season, of whom two, club captain Hubner and veteran BL defender Bicakic, have missed all of it, while Akpoguma's hamstring has kept him out since January 9th and Nordveidt struggles to stay fit for more than a half-dozen games. The coach is almost wedded to a 3-4-3, but an recent injury to regular starter Vogt has seen them experiment with a back 4 rather than give even cameos to the two backups. Signing Chris may have been the difference between mid-table stability and a real relegation struggle.
Yesterday I had my choice to watch the following players live: Weston, Gio, Sargent, Brooks and Richards. All played at roughly the same time.... and I chose Richards. That is how high I am on him. Such a touch position to master at this level and he has been remarkable given his age/experience. Likely making it difficult for Bayern to allow him to leave. Sure would be cool for Bayern to have a backline w/ Richards and Upamecano... and since they sometimes play with three 3CBs... Richards might actually get legit playing time there next season. But I still would rather him spend another year at a club that plays him game in and game out like they have at Hoff.
I feel Bayern will be tempted to recall him. But I share your hope he gets another season on loan, preferably at Hoffenheim.
Starts again 🔹 A-U-F-S-T-E-L-L-U-N-G 🔹Diese Elf schickt Sebastian #Hoeneß auf den Rasen ⤵️#SCFTSG pic.twitter.com/zxvVSuZL2D— TSG Hoffenheim (@tsghoffenheim) April 24, 2021