Josh Green pays tribute to the rejuvenated City full-back who is in the form of his life at present.
Power, pace and commitment, these three words plus many more describe Manchester City’s and England’s right back Micah Richards.
A product of City’s youth academy Richards broke into the first team on 22nd of October 2005 against Arsenal. Richards has now gone on to play 188 games for the first team and is now enjoying some sensational form under Roberto Mancini.
The Englishmen introduced himself to the nation with a 94th minute equalizer against Aston Villa in the FA cup whilst still only 16 years old. Everyone was talking about him and the form of the promising young defender continued for some time.
Fast forward to 2010 a mega rich Man City are being linked with the likes of Maicon and Dani Alves, two world class right backs; was Richards time up at City?
The answer is no, in fact a no of gigantic proportions. Roberto Mancini put his faith in Micah and has been repaid handsomely.
Richards has continued to progress and is one of the best in his position in the Premier League and, in my honest opinion, I think he can become the best right back in the world. He has it all; he gets up and down the line with the speed and power of freight train, he leaps like a young salmon when attacking or defending set pieces, in fact I would go as far to say his aerial ability is unrivaled by other full backs. He possesses great defensive positional sense and puts his body on the line which often leads to injuries occurring.
The press and Capello seem to begrudge giving Richards the credit he deserves but this is England’s loss and City’s gain.
The 23 year olds performance at the weekend was outstanding and further highlights Fabio Capello’s farcical decision to opt instead for Chris Smalling at right-back in the recent internationals.
With Mancini’s free flowing football this year I fully expect to see the powerful Richards as a force in attack as well as defence. He will be providing the ammunition from the wing for the in-form Edin Dzeko and the spectacular firework that is Sergio “Kun” Aguero.
The press and Capello seem to begrudge giving Richards the credit he deserves but this is England’s loss and City’s gain. With the Champions League about to start it is Micah’s chance to show the rest of Europe he is the best right back around and I think he can do that.
At times when all his spoken about is the “big money” signings and foreign superstars it is quite fitting than a home grown lad like Richards is shining.
Micah Lincoln Richards – Manchester City’s Number 2
