Inter-squad rivalry is something that Manchester City have had to deal with for a long time now.
Indeed, as one of the very best teams in the world over the past 15 years, City have had a number of quality players who’ve had to jostle for position in the squad.
Fernandinho and Rodri had to compete for gametime a few years ago – before Rodri became a Ballon d’Or winner, while Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland were battling for minutes last year.
Jack Grealish isn’t getting enough starts at City at the moment either as Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and Savinho compete in the wide areas.
Cast your mind back 15 years or so, and you’ll remember that Roberto Mancini had plenty of selection dilemmas during his time at City.
Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov were two solid options at left-back, while choosing between Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero on a weekly basis was incredibly difficult too.
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However, perhaps Mancini’s biggest selection headache was at right-back as Pablo Zabaleta and Micah Richards both pushed for a spot in the starting XI.
Zabaleta was often preferred to Richards in the big games, much to the annoyance of the full-back turned pundit.
Speaking on the BBC Match of the Day Top 10 Podcast, Richards has been discussing his rivalry with Zabaleta, and he says that he’s fed up of hearing about Zabaleta and how important he was to the City squad.
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Micah Richards fed up of hearing about Pablo Zabaleta
Richards spoke about his rivalry with Zabaleta at right-back at Man City.
The pundit spoke about the fact he doesn’t quite feel like a Premier League winner due to the fact he didn’t start against QPR on that final day in 2012.
However, Richards did defend his case, noting that he was nominated for Player of the Year at City and he did start more than the £7m man that year.
“There’s a certain part of you that feels like that. If it wasn’t for that final day I wouldn’t have a Premier League medal,” Richards said.
“Is there a doubt in your mind that you don’t feel like a Premier League winner because you didn’t feature against QPR?” Richards was asked..
“I’ve told you there’s a doubt, of course there is a doubt in my mind. But I started more games than Zabaleta that year. There was the 6-1, I was nominated for Player of the Year. I’m sick to death of it, Zabaleta this, Zabaleta that, Micah Richards was nominated for Player of the Year for Man City in 2012, clip that up, and use that,” Richards said.
“I love the way Zabaleta lives in your head,” Alan Shearer said.
“He’s constantly in my head, constantly in my head,” Richards added.
Micah Richards record alongside Pablo Zabaleta under Roberto Mancini
Richards and Zabaleta had a rivalry at City that seemingly still plays on Richards’ mind.
However, at times, these two did actually play together in the same team.
Indeed, with Zabaleta capable of playing at left-back, and Richards capable of playing at centre-half, there was the odd occasion where these two started together.
In fact, under Roberto Mancini, Richards and Mancini started 31 games together, and they had a very good record in that time.
|Man City’s record when Micah Richards and Pablo Zabaleta started together under Roberto Mancini|
|---|---|
|Games|31|
|Wins|17|
|Draws|6|
|Losses|7|
|Clean sheets|14|
|Win percentage|55%|
|Clean sheet percentage|45%|
Richards and Zabaleta were always competing with one another, but perhaps they should’ve been used together more often, as City did have a very good record when these two were a part of the same starting XI.