How Impressive Was Chris Richards’ Passing Performance? 2022 World Cup Vet Explains

It’s always impressive when you see a player go an entire game without an incomplete pass attempt, but that’s not something a center back will necessarily strive to achieve. No center back is going to go out there with the idea of, “I want to improve my completion percentage.” That’s not the job of a defender over 90 minutes. A center back’s primary focus entering a game is, obviously, the defensive responsibilities. On the ball, you’re looking to make plays on the ball that are creating attacks. You’re also trying to be reliable and consistent so you can say at the end of the match, “I had a positive impact.” There’s definitely a fine balance between picking your moments and determining when you have an 80% chance of squeezing a pass through and creating a potential opportunity going forward. Chris Richards’ 83-for-83 passing mark was an opportunity provided to him by Paraguay. Chris’ defensive partner, Tim Ream, was 84-of-90 with his passing and had the most touches of any player on the pitch with 102. To put that number into perspective, the player with the most passes attempted in the USA midfield was Tyler Adams, who was 52-of-59. The USA’s opponent last Friday night wasn’t pressing very high up the field and was content to sit in a low block and defend. The USA was able to play the ball around its back line, feeding Alex Freeman on the right side of defense or Antonee Robinson a little further up the field on the left. A big key for us for creating numerical mismatches in wide positions, and it’s easier for the center backs to find guys in those positions than it is further up the field. Paraguay was always going to sit back and allow the USA to have the ball in spots on the field that aren’t immediately dangerous. It was the kind of game that definitely catered to Chris and Tim being able to keep a lot of possession. The last thing on your mind in a game like that is, “Oh, what am I going to do with the ball?” That’s because you’re always in control. What did surprise me is that Paraguay did not step up the pressure after the second USA goal, which was Flo Balogun’s first of the game. At that point, I expected more of a sense of urgency from Paraguay, but it remained content to sit back and defend – and paid for that mentality. It shows how reliable Richards is. His return was a boost to the American backline, and it’s clear how comfortable he is next to Ream. Chris is also playing different kinds of passes compared to Tim. The USA captain played a more progressive game because Robinson was further up the field on his side compared to Freeman on the right side next to Richards. Expect a different kind of game for the USA backline on Friday against Australia. While Australia will also be content to defend, the difference between the Socceroos and Paraguay is that they can hurt you even more in transition. Australia has more speed going forward. We saw winger Nestroy Irankunda put his speed and dribbling on display with his goal against Türkiye on Saturday night, which gave the Aussies a 1-0 lead. If he gets more people in one-on-one situations in the rest of the tournament, there will be more of that. Australia will play with five defenders and three in midfield who will sit pretty deep. A lot of the time when we have the ball, there will be eight or nine players behind the ball.​Chris Richards didn’t miss a pass attempt against Paraguay. A World Cup veteran defender puts the feat in context.