Onouha's missed opportunity

A small footnote in the 3-1 victory over Fulham on Saturday was the return to first team of action of Nedum Onuha, after being out of action for a number of months with injury.

Whilst the rise of Micah Richards has been more than impressive, it is easy to forget that going into last season it was Onouha who was the player challenging Danny Mills and Sun Jihai for the right-back position and he himself who was being mentioned as a future England player.

But for those injuries, could it have been Onouha lining up in Amsterdam last week making his England debut?

As a comparison between the two players now, I think it is clear that at right-back Richards offers far more than Onouha. A competent, strong defender Richards is also an attacking threat - both with the ball marauding forward and also as a danger from set pieces.

However, as a 'pure' defender Onouha possibly holds the edge and from what I have seen from him so far would probably be a better fit as a central defender. He is quick, strong defensively - although he still needs to work on his distribution, which is a reason for him spending time at right-back if I am correct.

I remember his debut away at Arsenal and he more than held his own and looked to have that classy look that top central defenders possess. Hopefully he has put his recent injury woes behind him and although he is now some way behind Richards, he can get back to threatening for a position in the starting line-up.