Micah Richards' reaction to Man Utd star's performance 'broke the golden rule of punditry'

Micah Richards has go 1 of the starring shot pundits successful the UK successful caller years, and that has not stopped him from criticising immoderate of his erstwhile team-mates

Sky Sports and BBC pundit Micah Richards has nary qualms astir critiquing his erstwhile team-mates connected television, contempt the alleged 'golden regularisation of punditry'.

Richards, 36, transitioned into punditry successful 2019 aft injuries forced him to discontinue from football astatine the property of 31 years old. He has go 1 of the sport's favourite personalities, appearing for CBS Sport and the BBC, arsenic good arsenic Sky Sports.

As galore of his erstwhile colleagues are inactive progressive successful the Premier League, helium is often successful a tricky spot arsenic a pundit. Moreover, with perennially captious colleagues specified arsenic Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville, determination volition ever beryllium the temptation of trying to outdo the Liverpool and Manchester United legends successful presumption of criticism.

Yet, Richards recognises the information that helium is inactive comparatively caller retired of the dressing country successful examination with his older colleagues. He has spent the past fewer seasons uncovering the close equilibrium successful regards to remaining nonsubjective but not stabbing his erstwhile team-mates successful the back.

In an interrogation with the Manchester Evening News portion promoting the caller play of deed sports amusement 'A League of Their Own', Richards was asked if helium has ever been confronted by a erstwhile team-mate aft critiquing them successful the studio. With a smile, helium remembered a clip wherever helium had to slam the show of his ex-England workfellow Ashley Young.

At the time, Young, who presently plays for Everton, had precocious transitioned from a winger to a full-back astatine United and was uncovering it hard to accommodate to the caller position. Reflecting connected a challenging show by his erstwhile team-mate, Richards said: "I remember, a fewer years ago, Ashley Young had an implicit stinker of a game, but I americium bully mates with him.

"He had benignant of gone into the full-back relation erstwhile helium had played successful midfield oregon adjacent arsenic a striker oregon a No.10. So I benignant of felt for him playing arsenic a full-back, particularly erstwhile you are not arsenic agile arsenic you utilized to be, oregon possibly you're not rather arsenic speedy and you've mislaid a gait of pace.

"What I did was I enactment myself successful that position. When I was criticising, I was saying worldly like, 'and I person made that mistake too', or, 'I'd person not done this oregon not done that'.

"It's a mode of criticising radical without making it personal. We each marque mistakes and truthful galore radical fundamentally talk similar they person ne'er made a mistake successful football, erstwhile we marque mistakes each azygous week.

"So it is hard erstwhile it is idiosyncratic who you know, but you person to bash your occupation astatine the extremity of the day, due to the fact that that's what you are paid for, it's your opinion."

Match of the Day pundit Richards' attack is antithetic to that of Sky Sports colleagues Keane, Carragher and Neville, who person each routinely slated a player's show portion connected camera. But that is not, and volition apt ne'er be, Richards' benignant arsenic a pundit.

He added: "I person been successful that situation, I americium fresher retired of the dressing country and if you look astatine the elder pros, they are 15 oregon 20 years retired of the dressing room. Things person changed. It utilized to beryllium pugnacious emotion backmost successful the days erstwhile I was archetypal coming through.

"Now, players are a batch much sensitive, but they are besides unfastened and honest. They are similar ‘As agelong arsenic you beryllium just and honest, they don’t mind’. Up to now, I don’t deliberation I person ever said thing to upset anybody and if I have, it would beryllium purely connected shot matters and thing ever personal.”

Season 19 of A League of Their Own is connected Sky Max and Sky Showcase each Thursday from 9pm

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