Derby County journalist Ryan Conway has been sharing his thoughts on the current fitness of Rams striker Colin Kazim-Richards after his latest performance for the Midlands club during their recent 1-0 defeat against Stoke City in the Championship.
This comes after Conway recently uploaded a video onto his YouTube channel where he reflected on the defeat and other topics concerning Wayne Rooney’s side.
On the subject of Kazim-Richards and how he fared during the match, Conway had this to say on the matter.
He said: “He really wasn’t fit, every break in play he was checking his hip out, He was seeing something.
“He was wearing something around his waist as well, I think, because every break in play, he was getting this thing checked out and then at half time as everyone went down the tunnel, he stayed on the pitch for just a couple of minutes to get his hip checked out and it showed he was stiff, he was laboured in his pressing, he was laboured in his jumping.
“Rooney had banged on about movement and the lack of movement in the box. I mean, he couldn’t get across his man because his hip just wouldn’t allow him that quick burst of movement. I felt sorry for him out there, I really felt he looked tired, injured, he looked beat up.”
Derby signed Kazim-Richards earlier this season on a free transfer, with his deal set to expire at the end of the campaign.
Since joining up with the rest of the Derby squad, the 34-year-old, who is currently valued at £540k, has made 30 appearances for the club in the Championship, in which he has managed to score seven goals and provide two assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Ryan Conway’s comments about Kazim-Richards’ current fitness levels…
Given how Kazim-Richards only managed to play just over an hour of action during the game against Stoke and earn himself an uninspiring match rating of 5.93/10 (as per WhoScored), the lowest of any Derby player that started the match, along with what Conway had to say in his video, this suggests that the attacker is not at his sharpest at this moment in time.
Do you think Kazim-Richards looked unfit against Stoke?
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Moving forward, it would probably be a good idea for Rooney to give Kazim-Richards a rest and drop him from the team for their next league match against Luton Town if fitness is indeed at risk – especially with the Rams facing a relegation battle.