Micah Richards was once touted as a great prospect for not just Manchester City but for the England national team. Richards made his first team debut at the young age of 17 in 2005/06 and until the 2011-2012 season, was an important full back for the club.
Richards however seems to have declined since that title winning season and knows that the excellent play of Pablo Zabaleta hasn’t made playing time easy to come by. “He was number one and I had to accept that. He has been outstanding.” said Richards in an interview with the Daily Mail.
In his last season in Manchester, Richards only started two games and was at times not part of the bench. Richards went on to say in the interview that he was offered an extension at the club last year, but said no because he didn’t want to be a bench player and just collect money.
“I’ve been here for 12 years, I haven’t caused any problems. I’ve always given 100 per cent. I can’t sign. I can’t sign for another few years. I know they need to meet their quota on of English players, but for my career I felt I had to move on. I couldn’t just stay second choice.”
Last summer Richards made the decision to play for a team that offered him more minutes, rather than stay at a team that would pay him to be a bench player. Richards was excited to come to the Serie A and Florence, but when La Viola manager Vincenzo Montella changed the formation to a 3-5-2, Richards found the bench again.
For Fiorentina this season, the Englishmen has made 17 appearances in all competitions, starting in only seven games and registering an assist. Richards explained that he is upset he hasn’t played as much as Fiorentina said he would, but does hold any grudges to the coach or players.
“I had to wait four or five months to be given a chance in the 3-5-2 formation, and if I’d known that was going to happen, I probably wouldn’t have come.” Richards went on to say that he has been treated extremely well and that even though he hasn’t played as much as he was told he would, it has been a good experience.
Now, Richards is about to become a free agent, with Man City not looking to re-sign the full back. He has said that now, he will look to join another EPL side or maybe even a lesser known team in Europe, if it means he will play more. He also hinted that he could be reunited with ex City manager Roberto Mancini at Inter.
Richards has grown as a player and mentioned in the interview he has become more tactically aware since joining Fiorentina. Something he was lacking. Richards is that full back who will use his pace and strength to push the ball up, and then set up a cross or a short pass to start a play.
Hopefully for his career’s sake, he can find a team that will give him regular minutes, and find himself back in the England squad in the future.
