'Everyone is panicking': Micah Richards jokes he failed audition when Sky Sports had technical problems during Chelsea match
Micah Richards made a wise decision to pursue a career as a pundit and not a commentator.
the first city of manchester The defender was on press duty for Sky Sports on Sunday, starting with Villa Astonthe trip to Chelsea.
It looked like an extraordinary clash for Unai Emery's side, who were looking to break a seven-game winless streak in all competitions against an in-form Chelsea side.
However, the game descended into chaos in the first minutes.
Well, at least for those watching at home.
Unfortunately for Sky Sports, the audio from their commentary team was cut out.
This left broadcasters scrambling to find a quick solution, so they turned to their team of experts for the day.
Richards, Roy Keane, Daniel Sturridge and presenter Dave Jones were all in the Sky Sports studio at Anfield and had to provide instant coverage.
The 36-year-old has now lifted the lid on the chaos that followed, admitting he was “absolutely improvising”.
“The sound came on and you know what it's like when you're on a station, everyone panics about everything,” Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast.
“'We have to go back to the studio, we have to go back to the studio.'
“Then Dave Jones basically said we need to talk about the photos. So Dave Jones started talking about the game and then he said to me, 'And Micah, what's up with Chelsea's system here?'
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“Usually in joint communications you're in the game and you can see exactly what was happening.
“There was talk about whether they (Chelsea) were going to play with three at the back, if they were going to play with four at the back, so I said, 'Oh yeah, they'll play three at the back or four at the back,' and I can't even see what's going on.” happening because you know what my eyes are like, and the TV is about 20 feet away, so I'm absolutely improvising.
“If ever it was an audition, I failed miserably!”
Fortunately, those at home were not subject to Richards' in-game chat for long, as commentary from Bill Leslie and Alan Smith returned in time for Nicolas Jackson's seventh-minute opener for Chelsea.
It proved to be an afternoon to forget in the capital for Villa as goals from Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer added to the misery for Emery's side.
The 3-0 defeat also extended their winless run to eight, leaving Emery and his players with some serious soul-searching ahead of Wednesday's match against Brentford at Villa Park.
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As for Chelsea, the victory kept them in third place, although they have an identical record to Arsenal and are only below the Gunners in the standings due to alphabetical order.
Palmer's hit also brings him closer to a Slice of blues history.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink holds the club record for most Premier League goals and assists in a calendar year when he amassed 36 goal contributions in 2001.
But Palmer appears to be on track to surpass Hasselbaink's record by some margin, as his goal and assist against Villa took his combined goals and assists in 2024 to a total of 34.
With six league games left this year for the Blues, Palmer will have plenty of opportunities to surpass Hasselbaink's mark.
