It’s fair to say Manchester City’s 2024/25 season has not gone as planned for Pep Guardiola and company.
After securing a record fourth consecutive Premier League title last May, City geared up for the current campaign hoping to extend their period of domestic domination and will also have had one eye on reclaiming the Champions League title that they won in 2023.
But as we approach the run-in, City’s Premier League title defence is in tatters, with the club sitting 20 points behind leaders Liverpool, while Real Madrid dumped them out of the Champions League in their last-16 playoff. The FA Cup, therefore, remains their only hope of silverware this season.
Manchester City fans pull up Micah Richards
Guardiola’s side booked their place in the quarter-finals of the tournament on Saturday, when they beat Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle 3-1 at the Etihad and were duly handed an away tie at Bournemouth in the last-eight.
City are the bookies’ favourites to win the trophy they last claimed in 2022/23, with the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and holders Manchester United having all been knocked out. The other quarter-finals see Fulham host Crystal Palace, Aston Villa visit Preston North End and Brighton take on Nottingham Forest.
Former City defender Micah Richards was on punditry duty for the BBC this weekend and he acknowledged the number of big hitters to have been dumped out, but his phrasing appeared to upset a number of City fans on social media.
"It's very open now, what a chance for a team to go and win it,” said Richards. “All the big teams are out, Manchester City are obviously the strongest team left in there. But this is what we wanted, teams to get a chance."
One City fan posted on X: “Petition for Micah Richards to be stripped of his Manchester City ambassadorship with immediate effect. After all this guy has openly admitted that he is an Arsenal fan. We don’t want him nowhere near our beautiful club.”
Another said: "I must’ve forgot that the team that wins 4 in a row can’t be classed as big,” while a further fan asked: “Should Micah Richards be relieved off his Man City ambassador duties after publicly admitting he's an Arsenal fan off air?”
A more reasoned fan argued that: "Personally I think Micah Richards misspoke earlier, I don’t think he was necessarily saying what he is being accused of. However it’s an error that he really shouldn’t be making as our club ambassador, he’s digging a hole every time he speaks at the moment."
In FourFourTwo’s view, it’s always worth remembering to view these sort of statements in context, with Richards’ point clearly being that several of the Premier League’s biggest sides are out of the competition and not a slight at his former side for which he is now an ambassador.
And anyway, wasn't he looking at the competition from City's perspective, suggesting there weren't any big teams left for them to face? We won’t be rushing to sign that petition, either way…
