EXCLUSIVE: When United pulled clear of City I wanted to cry, Richards reveals torment
By Ian Ladyman
PUBLISHED: 23:08, 10 April 2012 | UPDATED: 23:08, 10 April 2012
Amid the apparent chaos of Manchester City's Barclays Premier League collapse, Micah Richards sits on a hotel sofa and laughs a long, deep, infectious laugh.
We are talking about City manager Roberto Mancini's man-management, in particular his habit of agreeing with the criticism that used to be aimed at Richards by former England head coach Fabio Capello.
Is it - I ask - Mancini's version of tough love? As Richards considers his answer, his boyish, all-teeth grin lights up the lounge of the Manchester Malmaison Hotel.
'Yeh!' he laughs. 'That's exactly it. Always, always . . . tough love! To be fair, he says the same with AJ (Adam Johnson) and Joe (Hart) and other people . . . but then Vinny (Kompany) is out and he gives me the captain's armband. So he contradicts himself!
'I don't mind saying I think I should play for England. I do. But then the manager says he agrees with Capello! If he's saying it as a joke, I would have been, like, "Whatever".
'But then he was actually serious when he said it so I am, like, "Come on, gaffer . . . I'm doing well . . . give me that extra bit of confidence . . . this is your chance".
But he goes the other way. That's just his way. It's his style. I'm totally cool with it. I know he rates me, really. He's been good for me. He wouldn't make me captain otherwise, would he?'
This two-minute extract from an hour-long conversation is typical of Richards and indicative of how he has grown up. Astonishingly for a player who made his City debut six-and-a-half years ago, he is only 23.
Confident, funny and self-aware, he wants to talk and, let's face it, there's lots to talk about.
Football can do strange things to the toughest of men. At his home last week, Richards experienced something new as he watched Manchester United beat Blackburn on television.
'At half-time and at 60 minutes I thought, "You never know",' he said. 'But United do always look like they will score. So I knew it was gonna come. But when they got it and went further clear of us, I actually wanted to cry and I haven't done that or felt like that in years. Football is full of emotions. You get angry and happy but I have never wanted to cry before.
'This time I did as that is how much it means. I have been grafting so hard this season, we have played unbelievable football and to see United come like this is horrendous. It kills me. I care so much about how I play and how we do in games. If things go badly in a game, I just can't sleep.'
Richards is drinking tea and looking back at a season that promised so much and is now beginning to look as though it will deliver precisely nothing. The City full back talks positively of his team winning their remaining games, starting at home to West Bromwich Albion.
But he is not stupid enough to pretend the mountain doesn't now look rather high. Richards is adored at City, by those inside the club and in the stands. His infectious personality and a longevity that ties him to City's less glamorous past are unique in Mancini's dressing room and all the more valuable for that.
He is, however, also well qualified to assess City's problems and offer an opinion on how his club can - one day - close that gap between them and neighbours United.
As we spoke last week - unbeknown to us - Richards's teammate Mario Balotelli was involved in a car crash just a few hundred yards away. On that occasion, it wasn't Balotelli's fault but, given the discord and unwanted headlines that have formed a backdrop to City's season, it appears appropriate to ask one pertinent question: Why always City?
Richards pauses. He wants to choose his words carefully. He loves his club, but clearly feels some things need to change if City are going to fulfil their remarkable potential.
'Look, the team spirit is as good as ever at City,' he said. 'I should know. I have been in that dressing room for years. 'But I know where you are coming from. If I pick up a paper four times in a week, then three of those times I will see a story about City that we could do without. When you are trying to focus on one thing - winning the league - then this is hard. We don't need it.
'There are certain things around our club that wouldn't happen at other clubs. Well, they might but if they did then nobody would know. If something happens with us, it's in the paper every day and that can make it seem like it's a constant battle. Things happen at every club. But at City we don't help ourselves. We are the only club who have a training ground that allows the paparazzi to take pictures of training over the fence. Why is that?
'Everyone has done a fantastic job so far. To be even competing with United is great but at our club certain things always seem to happen. Do these things cause us to lose a game? No, but they certainly don't help us to win any.'
It is impossible to argue with Richards's assessment. Only last Friday - a day after our interview - Mancini told a media briefing he had been complaining for two years about how easy it is for photographers to point their lenses at his training sessions.
Richards is not the only senior City player to share Mancini's concerns. Few would be brave enough to say it, though. To borrow one of Mancini's favourite words, it is clear Richards feels the club need a tweak in 'mentality'.
'We have to learn from these experiences,' he stressed. 'Someone will take the title from United eventually and it has to be us. If you look at this season you will see Man City are by far the best team to watch. But Man United grind it out. They have done for many years.
'I don't want to disrespect them as they have outstanding players and a great team spirit that has carried them a long way this season. But we had the best start in Premier League history and to be several points behind now is a bit gutting. If I'm honest, it just hurts.
'For seven months we have been on top of the league playing good football but now, when it really matters, we have for some reason taken the foot off the gas. When United don't play well they seem to get results. When we don't play well, we get beaten. That's the difference. Man United - no matter who are playing for them - just know that they have to get the job done. They are willing to do anything.
'With us, it's like, "Oh . . . we have dropped some points but we will be OK in the next game". It's not the case. If you want to win the league, every single game you have to be on it. We all know how to play football but we have to approach every game as if it's vital. I won't give up on the title until we can't win it.'
Richards was born in Leeds but he understands his adopted city well. His assessment of the standing of its two football clubs is unerringly accurate. By his own admission, it seems a long time since City went to Old Trafford last October and won 6-1.
'Fergie . . . ,' said Richards, pausing. 'He's gotta be one of the best managers that I've come across because, if we had got beaten 6-1 that day, United would have been 20 points clear by now.
'We have a good mentality. We have shown that many times. But the way they came back from the 6-1 is phenomenal. That's down to the manager.'
It was on November 15, 2006, that Richards made his England debut against Holland. Manager Steve McClaren called him 'part of the new breed' while the late Sir Bobby Robson talked of him in the same breath as Bobby Moore. How odd, then, that he has just 13 caps.
'I got over-hyped,' said Richards. 'It was too soon. I wasn't half the player then I am now. I was just on adrenaline back then, a young lad throwing myself in there. My crossing was poor and so was my positioning.'
Richards has heard the criticism of his game. Capello said he attacked too much. It is clear that Capello's rather derisory view of Richards hurt a little. Why wouldn't it?
'Had McClaren been still in charge, I would have had 60 caps by now,' said Richards. 'McClaren believed in me and Capello believed in people like (Phil) Jones and (Chris) Smalling. That's the way it was and that's fair enough. They are great players.
'But, in my first year, I got second best player behind (Steven) Gerrard. So to get frozen out then was hard to take. People started to wonder if I was any good. All I have done is try and produce performances at City.
'Capello and I had one chat. He told me I went forward too much but that's the way they want me to play at City. I also did hear that he thought I was hanging around with people like Rio (Ferdinand) too much at England training, but when I was younger I looked up to Rio and when I was with England he took me under his wing.
'Another manager told me Capello had said I was hanging round too much with the senior pros. He thought I was big-time. What's that got to do with anything? I didn't know anyone else! I didn't deserve not to be in Capello's squad and that's the painful thing.
'He played (Phil) Jagielka ahead of me in one game even though he hadn't played right back for about six years. How am I supposed to take that? Then Tom Cleverley played half a good game at Wembley (in the Community Shield) and was in the next England squad. I was buzzing because Tom is my mate but what is that about? If you play well for United you will get straight into the England squad. At other clubs it's harder. I graft every week but feel I have to try twice as hard to get recognition.'
Understandably, Richards is looking forward to the summer's European Championship with some fresh optimism. He feels he has had a good season and he has. It is also clear that he is still learning.
'I hope people think I have matured,' he said. 'In the old days my positioning wasn't great. I used to use my speed to get me out of trouble. I didn't understand the game like I think I do now. I wasn't a natural defender. I was a striker as a kid. I have learned a lot but there is more to learn, of course.
'The way City play, the full backs have to bomb on. When we play with David Silva and Samir Nasri, they are not going to stay wide so sometimes as a full back you have to sacrifice defending to get forward. In the Champions League it cost us. You can't go the way you do in the Premier League.
'Bayern (Munich) away was like that. People were telling me to go and go, but against (Arjen) Robben and (Franck) Ribery you just can't do that as you will get exposed. And I did.
'We had (Philipp) Lahm bombing on and then Ribery. World-class players. It was tough. I had David Silva ahead of me that day and he isn't going to track back. Fair enough. That's not his game and he is amazing in other ways. But I was left two on one quite a lot.
'It doesn't matter how good you are, if you are playing against worldclass players, if you are not willing to wo r k , y o u wi l l g e t punished for it. If I play with James Milner on the right, I can go forward as much as I like because I just know he will run back and fill in for me. He is a dream to play with. In the 6-1 (against United) I was going forward for fun because I knew James would cover for me. Every time I play with Milner it's so easy. 'I would play Silva, still, but just in a different role. But I am not the manager!'
In February this year Richards chose to close his Twitter account after receiving racist abuse. 'I loved Twitter,' he said. 'But I was going to end up saying something that would get me into trouble. I have kept a clean nose for a couple of years and wouldn't want something like Twitter to ruin it.
'I loved the banter with the fans and the thought I was giving something back to the people who support me. But then you get people telling me to go and play for Africa. What do they mean by that? It's so narrow-minded and it's hard to take.
'I have been called the N-word, and the feeling is one of the lowest you can have, especially when I am English. If I was being a pain in the arse and was disrespecting England, then ok , I could understand the anger. But I am English. For people to say these things is hard to take.'
Richards and I met three days before City's weekend defeat at Arsenal. That afternoon not only ended City's title ambitions but also, of course, proved traumatic for team-mate Balotelli, sent off for the second time this season. The two men are contrasting characters but Richards knows how it feels to struggle with the attention that the Premier League brings.
'What happened to me at a young age was a big deal,' he recalled. 'Everything I did was in the papers, similar to Mario now. You can get carried away. I made mistakes but I learned. It's hard. When you are a footballer and black then people think "young" and "flashy", but when you have come from Chapeltown in Leeds, which is a rough area, and you are doing well and earning decent money, then you want to spend it and look after your family.
'I appreciate what I have and, when people called me flash in the past, it hurt. I read an article not long ago saying I had given up all the bling and was concentrating on my football. Forget the football articles, that was one of the most satisfying things I have ever read about myself.'
Our interview ends with Richards posing for photographs on a balcony outside the hotel. Once again he is howling with laughter. In their young defender, City have a huge asset. He is one of many reasons for the club to be optimistic, despite their recent problems. The conversation ends on a similar note to how it began.
'United used to have Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez and Berbatov,' he reflected. 'It was terrifying. Now - if you are talking about really special young players - then they only have Wayne Rooney. But as a team they are unbelievable. They know how to win. If we can learn some of what they have then next season we will be twice the team we are now.
'And then we will take some stopping.'
-
My toughest opponents
Gareth Bale: He made me feel an inch tall. Took me to pieces. He just doesn’t stop running. It's ridiculous.
Emmanuel Adebayor: I played centre back
against him when he was at Arsenal. He was
unplayable: fast, good technique and so fit.
Arjen Robben: Faced him in my England debut and I didn't get a minute's peace. When he is fit he is one of the very best.
-
On City
'Someone will take the title from United
eventually, and it has to be us . . . for seven
months we've been top playing good football
but when it really matters we have taken the
foot off the gas.'
On the Champions League
'You can't play the same way as in the Premier
League or you will get exposed.
And I did. I had David Silva ahead of me, and he isn't going to track back. I'd play Silva in a different role, but I'm not the manager.'
On Capello
'I heard he thought I was big-time, hanging
round too much with Rio. What’s that got to do
with anything? I didn’t know anyone else'
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