Italy’s made me a better player but I’ll be moving on...
MICAH RICHARDS ON A ROLLERCOASTER YEAR ABROAD
MICAH RICHARDS could get used to life here in Florence. He wakes every morning to a view of the Ponte Vecchio and after training with Fiorentina he often takes a stroll down to the Piazza del Duomo.
And when his partner is too busy running her own business back home, he will jump on a train to Milan to see friends. ‘It’s only an hour and 20 minutes,’ he says.
He seems a renaissance man. He admires the architecture, adores the food, and shuns standard footballer accessories. Not so interested in driving the latest supercar, he sticks with an old Porsche he bought from a mate. About 15 years old, it’s probably worth about the same as a Ford Mondeo but is still his ‘baby’ he admits, producing a picture of the car on his phone.
Prior to moving here last summer on loan, life was pretty good in Manchester. He had been at City since he was 14, he had a comfortable home in leafy Cheshire. His girlfriend had quit her job as a primary school teacher to start a cup-cake business. His club were winning trophies and playing Champions League football and there was the offer of a new contract.
But Richards left it all for regular firstteam football, and is likely to leave Fiorentina this summer for the same reason. The idea of sitting on the bench and counting his money is unpalatable — particularly now he is 26 and coming to his peak.
The problem at City, in his main position at right back, was Pablo Zabaleta. ‘He was No 1 and I had to accept it,’ says Richards. ‘But I couldn’t get my head around being second choice. I’d rather play for a lesser team.
‘I’d rather take a pay cut and play every week. You want to be playing at the highest level, in the Champions League.
‘When you’re fit and you’re occasionally not even getting in the 18 … it got to the stage where it didn’t matter how well I did or how fit I was, Zabaleta was playing.’
It made the meeting he had with the City hierarchy 12 months ago easy. ‘I had a conversation with Txiki Begiristain (director of football) and Ferran Soriano (chief executive), and they wanted to extend my contract,’ he says.
‘ They told me Manuel Pellegrini wanted me to stay but I said, “look, I’ve been here 12 years. I haven’t caused any problems. I’ve always given 100 per cent but I can’t sign”. I know they need to meet their quota of English players, but I couldn’t just stay second choice.’
Richards had seen other players make that choice. ‘When I was a kid I used to look at Wes Brown at Manchester United,’ he says. ‘I loved him as a player but he was always behind players like Ferdinand and Vidic.
‘Even though he played in the Champions League final and had a great career, he was never No 1. They would use him when they needed him and he was better than that.
‘If I had stayed at City I think I would have been someone who simply filled in. I’d rather be a bigger part of a smaller team.
‘When coming here, I thought, “everyone talks about English players not wanting to go abroad. I’ll give it a go”. And I did.’
The move to Fiorentina has not been without its frustrations. First-team football has not been as regular as he would have liked. Richards has made just nine starts and 17 appearances in total since arriving last August, his situation not helped by Vincenzo Montella’s decision to change the defensive formation to a back three.
‘I’ve done well when I’ve played but for the next two or three games I’ve not been in,’ says Richards. ‘I mean no disrespect — it’s not been a Zabaleta situation — but I should have been playing.
‘We had a great result at Juventus, winning there for the first time in 30 years, and I was dropped next game. And Spurs in the Europa League. Beat them 2-0. I had a solid game. And I was out for the next two games.
‘I’m always honest. Zabaleta was amazing but Fiorentina told me I’d play every game, then after I arrive they change to 3-5-2. I had to wait four or five months for a chance. If I’d known, I probably wouldn’t have come.
‘It’s a real shame because I have really settled. I’m renting this great apartment on the river from Luca Toni. I love the lads, I love the training, the city is amazing.’
Richards insists that Serie A has been a good experience.
‘I’ve learnt a lot. They’re a bit more defensively organised and it’s been a good season for Italian football. Juve are in the Champions League final. Us and Napoli got to the semi-finals of the Europa League.
‘I’m more tactically aware now. People forget I was 18 when I made my England debut. Two years before that I was playing academy football. You can’t be tactically brilliant at 18. I’d make mistakes and my pace and strength would get me out of trouble.
‘I’ve improved hugely in that area. I’m 26 and the next five years will be my best. I want to join a club where I’m going to play. Being out of contract this summer I hope I’m in a good position.’
He is open-minded about his next club club. ‘The Premier League is fantastic but I had my best season at City under Roberto Mancini and he’s at Inter Milan now, so that could be an option,’ he says.
‘He definitely got the best out of me and, given time, he could have done something special at City.’
Was he not too abrasive with players? ‘Some players are too soft,’ says Richards. ‘Under Stuart Pearce if you didn’t do what he said you’d be called all the names under the sun. Now a manager does that and it’s, “you can’t disrespect me like that”.
‘He did go overboard occasionally. The most extreme examples were with Mario (Balotelli), but they were like husband and wife. And Mario still provided the assist that won us the league.
‘I love Mario. I still speak to him. At City he was probably still a bit immature. He impressed at the World Cup. Now he’s at a club (Liverpool) where everyone seems to have an opinion and when the team wasn’t doing well, he’s become a target.’
Richards wonders if he too has become a target for criticism since refusing to be on England standby for the 2012 European Championship. Is it a factor in his exclusion from the squad since then?
When Liverpool’s Martin Kelly came in as a replacement for the injured Kyle Walker, Richards’ stance looked a mistake but his decision to opt for the Olympics came from the same desire that drives him now. He knew he would play at the Olympics. Playing at the Euros was less likely.
‘We weren’t allowed to play both so I had to make a choice,’ he says. ‘In hindsight it looked a stupid decision because Kelly went.
‘I chose not to go on standby because I wanted to play. I don’t regret it but I suspect it might have counted against me since then. I didn’t deserve to go to the World Cup in Brazil but felt a little hard done by, not getting picked in the first place for the Euros.
‘It knocked my confidence but I’d like to get back in the England squad. That’s why this next move, and next season, is massive for me.’
‘I had my best season under Mancini and he’s now at Inter — so that could be an option’