Interview: Former Man City defender Richards on Premier League title race, racism and the Pep effect

Two months ago, Rochdale left everyone stunned after a staggering team goal against Southend in the League One division. The ball was worked out from the back, players exchanged slick passes in a 16-pass move before forward Ian Henderson tapped the ball into the back of the net.

Rochdale’s goals were all the most fascinating, given it was coming from a team from the third division where it’s more about hoofing the ball upfront and playing from there. As the goal did the rounds on social media, it was not the team or the players who were the topic of discussion. It was a certain Pep Guardiola.

Perhaps, no other manager like the Spaniard has influenced English football so much in the past few years. There has been a process behind his methodology of not just grinding out results but also backing it up with a vision and doing it the right way.

Despite the failure of finishing trophy-less during his first year in England (also his first as manager), Guardiola guided City to the 2017-’18 Premier League title in record-breaking fashion along with League Cup and Community Shield. That was followed up with an unprecedented domestic treble in the 2018-’19 season, making it seven domestic trophies across two seasons which is a herculean feat.

The start to this season, though, has been bumpy. A 1-3 defeat to leaders Liverpool at Anfield earlier this month has left them reeling in fourth place in the league standings, nine points behind their rivals Liverpool. But given the sheer competitiveness and unpredictability surrounding the Premier League, many believe City can still catch up with the Reds and challenge for the title. Micah Richards is one of them, having spent 10 years with the Citizens while making 246 appearances for the club.

A tough tackler who was always easy on the ball, Richards was unfortunate not to play under the Spaniard but maintains there has been a stark contrast in playing styles since Guardiola took over the league.

“Pep has evolved the game since I started in the Premier League. The way everyone sees football now is completely different. It was known to be physical, back then it was just big strong strikers and now it is just more technical. It has become so fast, explosive and Pep’s brought the technical ability into that and taken it to another level,” he said on the sidelines of the Cityzens giving project in Mumbai on Thursday.

For all the praise that Guardiola has received for revolutionising the beautiful game in England, critics too, have had their say. He has been accused of making his team commit ‘tactical fouls’, a ploy where players make necessary fouls whenever they fail to retain the ball quickly to avoid counter-attacks.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrini and many others have spoken about it openly. Recently, even Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp took a dig at Guardiola over the same issue after he labelled Sadio Mane a ‘diver’.

“I think that just everyone trying to plant a seed into the referee’s mind (about tactical fouls) so that they are made aware of that. Stats only tell you one part of the game. City have the ball for the majority of the time, but I disagree that tactical fouls are making the game look ugly,” he spoke to Scroll.in, defending the criticism against the former Barcelona manager.

Known for his no-nonsense defending and putting his body on the line, Richards progressed through the ranks from the club academy to establish himself as one of the club’s favourites.

He was a part of the team when City lifted their first Premier League of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed era in 2011-’12, in what was a dramatic finish to the season after Sergio Aguero’s historic title-winning goal in their final game against Queens Park Rangers. Richards said it was Mancini who transformed City from an average team to world-class.

“Mancini treated me and (Mario) Balotelli like his kids. He’d shout at us the most but then he’d put his arm around us. Mancini was great because he would give us tough love.

“He always wanted to get the best out of his players, he wouldn’t stop until he did that. When he brought the Premier League back to Man City after 44 years it was just unbelievable. He was up there against Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger,” he explained.

The right-back was also a part of Manuel Pellegrini’s 2013-’14 title-winning season but missed out a league medal due to fewer league appearances because of injuries.

“Pellegrini was Mr. Nice. He would talk to players, ask how they would be feeling. I wouldn’t say Mancini wasn’t approachable but Mancini would tell you while Pellegrini would ask you. He was the boss. We’d been good in the Champions League, were threatening in the Premier League but until Mancini came it all got serious. He is the one who changed everything at Manchester,” he added.

‘What did you expect me to be?’

As a teenager, Richards was destined for bigger things. At 18, he was the youngest defender after Rio Ferdinand to ever play for the Three Lions. He was touted as a long-term successor to Gary Neville in the England squad and during the early stages of his career, lived up to that reputation before poor form and persistent injuries brought about his fall from grace.

On many occasions, he was portrayed in a bad light by the media due to the colour of his skin, mostly during the twilight stages of his career at Villa. He believes the stereotype of black players hasn’t changed drastically.

“Some of my pictures, I look big and angry, don’t I? (laughs)”

“The stigma with all players is still there. If you’re on the paper, the news is about your earnings, the car you have, the house you’re living in. So for a fan watching the game and you hear all these things, you see a player reacting a certain way on the field, it is human nature to feel that way.

Even Raheem Sterling last year hit out at the English media for fueling racism by portraying false prejudices.

Richards continued, “People said, ‘Oh you are actually a nice guy.’ And I was like, ‘What did you expect me to be like?’ Media will be media. I think it’s slowly changing but with the amount of money that is going around, it’s just an excuse to talk negatively. It was the same with me and the Villa fans. Journalists need to take time to write about facts rather than what they are thinking. It is slowly changing but there’s still a long way to go.”

An academy graduate himself, Richards understands the frustration behind not getting enough playing chances. Many of City’s promising academy starlets have already left the club for greener pastures including Jadon Sancho and Brahim Diaz. There has also been a raging debate whether Phil Foden should follow suit, given he has fallen behind in the pecking order to experienced first-team regulars.

“He’s still young. No disrespect to Foden but who does he play ahead of? (David) Silva, (Kevin) De Bruyne, Fernandinho. It is easy for people to say that young players deserve a chance but he is unfortunate that there is so much class in front of him. In football, everyone feels you have to rush. He has got the quality to play at the Premier League level but if he goes on loan, does he go to a team that’s going to get beaten every week? It’s better to stay at City learning from the best,” he explained.

With Premier League action resuming again this week, Liverpool are in the driving seat but Richards believes the title race has not died down yet.

“Leicester (City) are doing well, Spurs have got Mourinho, even Man United are going to be taking off points. I know City are going to have to win the majority of their games to keep the pressure on. But even last season, they were seven points behind and they came back to win it. There’s no reason why they can’t,” he stated.