Micah Richards - new leaf?

[johnny crossan]

catching this rebellion talk innit?

Micah Richards threatens to quit Manchester City if he is not first choice after talks with England manager Fabio Capello
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER

Micah Richards has handed Manchester City a stunning ultimatum, telling boss Roberto Mancini to give him regular first team football or he will look for a new club.
The 22-year-old revealed a conversation with England manager Fabio Capello convinced him he must be playing every week to win back his spot in the national side, admitting he is fed up of sometimes playing second fiddle to the likes of Jerome Boateng and Pablo Zabaleta.
Despite playing a full 90 minutes in the mid-week draw at Arsenal, Richards has started just two league game in the last seven under Mancini.

On his way: Micah Richards has warned Manchester City he will leave if he is not picked week in, week out
After ending his three-year international exile in a cameo outing in November's defeat at Wembley against France, Richards says his heart-to-heart with Capello prompted his demands to play or leave Eastlands.
'Mr Capello has told me that if I'm not playing regularly he will find it hard to pick me,' Richards said, speaking to The Sun.
'Being back in the England set-up after so long away from it really got me buzzing again and I know I'm good enough to make that right-back position my own.
'But that won't happen if I'm not playing consistently.'
With City going strong in the race for the title in second place behind rivals Manchester United, Richards conceded his timing was a little peculiar but insisted his need to play regularly was far more important.

National service: Richards wants a full return to the England squad after a three-year exile
'I know people will be reading this wondering why I don't just shut up,' he added.
'City are second and they will say what the manager is doing is working and keeping us fresh but I know my ability and I want to show it.
'I'm not the sort of player who can just sit around and bank his wages.'
Richards insists he has no problem with manager Mancini despite his frank outburst but said he is growing tired of coming in and out of the first team.
'I've got no problem with the club or Roberto Mancini as a manager but he knows how I feel,' he said.
'I went to see the boss and told him how frustrated I was.
'He said I was part of his plans but I went three Premier League games without even getting on, started against Aston Villa, then didn't play against Blackpool.
'Sometimes I'm in, then Jerome Boateng comes in instead, or Pablo Zabaleta, or two of us play. It's in, out, in, out, mix and match.'
Richards believes his revival in form has coincided with his return from international wilderness and says he has matured as a person and a player after dropping out of form under former boss Mark Hughes.
He added: 'I could understand being left out when Mark Hughes was in charge because I wasn't playing that well and was going through a bad time.
'We didn't have so many good players but I wasn't at my best.
'I wasn't in the team at the end of last season under Mancini either but I worked really hard in pre-season and was determined to become an important part of the team.
'I feel I've been playing well. I'm confident in my ability and know when my game is in good shape, which right now it is.
'When I first got into the team as a teenager everything was going great but I hadn't really learned the game properly and I sort of crashed for a while.
'But I'm a different person now, I've learned, and I'm happy with my game again.'
However, his comments could land him trouble with City boss Mancini after Richards complained that sitting on the bench is 'unacceptable' for him.
He said: 'Mancini says I've improved a lot but it's not getting me regular starts.
'I've never really been used to sitting on the bench and not playing and I hate it. I don't feel it's acceptable to me if I'm honest.


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[avoidconfusion]

IMO He is better than Boateng.

Maybe at the moment he looks better than Boateng because when he played he played quite well. Boateng needs some more time to settle but there is no doubt in my mind that Boateng is a vastly superior footballer and a better crosser of the ball than Richards ever will be.

Richards is an athlete.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

IMO He is better than Boateng.

Maybe at the moment he looks better than Boateng because when he played he played quite well. Boateng needs some more time to settle but there is no doubt in my mind that Boateng is a vastly superior footballer and a better crosser of the ball than Richards ever will be.

Richards is an athlete.

Richards is obselete.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Maybe at the moment he looks better than Boateng because when he played he played quite well. Boateng needs some more time to settle but there is no doubt in my mind that Boateng is a vastly superior footballer and a better crosser of the ball than Richards ever will be.

Richards is an athlete.

Richards is obselete.

A point we vehemently disagree on, Tolm.

Boateng is a centre half. Zabaleta can't distribute and has no pace. Richards is the best of the bunch for me - quick and strong, and a threat from corners to boot. Next season I would expect us to bring a top drawer right back in but he'd be great around the squad - if he'll do it of course.

For this year I'd give him the shirt and tell him it's his to lose.

 

[Seosa]

Richards is obselete.

A point we vehemently disagree on, Tolm.

Boateng is a centre half. Zabaleta can't distribute and has no pace. Richards is the best of the bunch for me - quick and strong, and a threat from corners to boot. Next season I would expect us to bring a top drawer right back in but he'd be great around the squad - if he'll do it of course.

For this year I'd give him the shirt and tell him it's his to lose.

Course, and you were spot on in your blind faith in other certain players with the initials SI and NO were you Dave....

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Richards is obselete.

A point we vehemently disagree on, Tolm.

Boateng is a centre half. Zabaleta can't distribute and has no pace. Richards is the best of the bunch for me - quick and strong, and a threat from corners to boot. Next season I would expect us to bring a top drawer right back in but he'd be great around the squad - if he'll do it of course.

For this year I'd give him the shirt and tell him it's his to lose.

I'm not disputing the current squad make-up. For me, Zab is accused of no pace, yet against Walcott the other night, he was immense as the game played out.

In fact, every player of reputed pace, seems to fail to utilise it against him.

Richards' own mentality and attitude renders him obselete. He will never make it at the top level.

Physicality takes you a long way, granted. But he is simply marking time and clearly has a perception of himself greater than the manager's.

Richards has it all, accept where it matters, up top.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Zabaleta has been much better this year and you are right, he stood off Walcott excellently which meant he didn't get done. I think he's a great utility man. But he doesn't get forward enough and can't cross the ball. Whist Richards's distribution is patchy, his bold runs and dribbles down that right are a threat.

I think he will make it - mental capacity and football ability are not close relatives. Look at our own Mr Tevez and United's Mr Rooney.

 

[GStar]

Zabaleta has been much better this year and you are right, he stood off Walcott excellently which meant he didn't get done. I think he's a great utility man. But he doesn't get forward enough and can't cross the ball. Whist Richards's distribution is patchy, his bold runs and dribbles down that right are a threat.

I think he will make it - mental capacity and football ability are not close relatives. Look at our own Mr Tevez and United's Mr Rooney.

Zabba's distribution from deep is down there with Joe Hart's//// he can cross a ball though.

Micah may make one forward run (with the ball) every other game, yet he won't cross (i think the statistics showed he made 3 (o successful) crosses last season) that's from a RB, you won't find those stats anywhere else in the league.

His goal against Stoke shows that when he wants to, he can play football, but all to often he stops, puts his foot on the balls, wobbles, and passes to Kolo.

If he keeps improving he can be a real player, if he thinks he's out grown us then more fool him as Mancini is turning him into a decent player and seems to be doing it right.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Zabaleta has been much better this year and you are right, he stood off Walcott excellently which meant he didn't get done. I think he's a great utility man. But he doesn't get forward enough and can't cross the ball. Whist Richards's distribution is patchy, his bold runs and dribbles down that right are a threat.

I think he will make it - mental capacity and football ability are not close relatives. Look at our own Mr Tevez and United's Mr Rooney.

I know where you are coming from. My only viewpoint being I don't believe Richards has any natural talent whatsoever.

He is the product of a system which put brawn before brains. He was always going to come through the ranks, certainly in state we were in.

Richards may offer more visible signs of attack than Zab, but it generally without intelligence, purpose or end product (Stoke aside).

His power affords him the opportunity to overcome only so far up the pitch, his lack of positonal sense and aerobic capacity, renders him a liability when he attempts to do so.

I stopped falling for the dying swan routine long time ago. If he's happy to accept a squad role, no probs.

But his ill-advised comments today suggest his head is still in the clouds as to ability.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Zabaleta has been much better this year and you are right, he stood off Walcott excellently which meant he didn't get done. I think he's a great utility man. But he doesn't get forward enough and can't cross the ball. Whist Richards's distribution is patchy, his bold runs and dribbles down that right are a threat.

I think he will make it - mental capacity and football ability are not close relatives. Look at our own Mr Tevez and United's Mr Rooney.

Zabba's distribution from deep is down there with Joe Hart's//// he can cross a ball though.

Micah may make one forward run (with the ball) every other game, yet he won't cross (i think the statistics showed he made 3 (o successful) crosses last season) that's from a RB, you won't find those stats anywhere else in the league.

His goal against Stoke shows that when he wants to, he can play football, but all to often he stops, puts his foot on the balls, wobbles, and passes to Kolo.

If he keeps improving he can be a real player, if he thinks he's out grown us then more fool him as Mancini is turning him into a decent player and seems to be doing it right.

Some reasonable points I'd say. I think he's intimating we've outgrown him rather than the other way round.

I've always felt it mattered to have a few Academy players around the place too.