Micah Richards spent a large chunk of his playing career at Manchester City.
Having worked his way through the City’s youth academy, Richards made 246 senior appearances for the Manchester club in total.
Chipping in with nine goals and 13 assists, the former right-back won four trophies with the Blues and worked under numerous managers at the Etihad Stadium in the process.
Now though, the 36-year-old has made a claim about one of the managers he was coached by during his time at City.
- READ MORE: Who is Micah Richards? Step into former Man City right-back and larger-than-life pundit’s world
Micah Richards reflects on his time at Man City with Sven-Goran Eriksson
After the news broke of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s death following a battle with cancer, Richards had this to say about him in a recent edition of The Rest Is Football.
He said: “I think when we talk about people, we always say, what a man, what a person, what a bloke, whatever it may be, but he was truly special.
“He was a truly special human being in terms of his aura. And we had a little talk about him before when he broke the news that he wasn’t doing very well.
“Obviously it was a very sad day, but to hear the news that he’s gone, I shed a little tear earlier on. He’s just the person who would just lift your spirits.
“You go into training, no matter what’s going on in your life, he would speak positively about any situation.
“Always go the extra mile to make sure you’re okay. Anything you need, he was always there for you. You could speak to him in front of people. You could speak to him privately.
“He was just a top, inspirational person and to play underneath him, and not just that, because Stuart Pearce gave me my debut, but I played probably arguably the best football under Sven and that’s because of his leadership and he allowed me to express myself more than any manager I’ve played with.
“We always talk about managers and what sort of style are they, they’ve got the [Roberto] Mancini style that worked for me, sort of like tough love and then there was sort of this father figure in Sven who you could go to with any problems.
“I can’t speak highly enough of him. Devastating day. As a coach as well, he was very good, but the thing is, I remember him for is the person.”
Richards was a prominent player for City under Eriksson
Eriksson had one season in charge of City, which was the 2007/08 campaign where he led the Blues to a ninth-place finish in the Premier League.
Out of those 38 league matches, the Manchester club won 15, drew 10 and lost 13, bagging 45 goals and conceding 53 along the way.
In terms of Richards‘ role in the team, the former defender started all 25 league games he appeared in, with an injury keeping him sidelined for a large portion of the campaign.
Now that the pundit has highlighted how much he enjoyed working with Eriksson during their short time together at City and how he feels he played his best football under him, this should further showcase just how much of a likeable and capable manager he was.
