‘I work on MOTD and England Euros games – I’ll let you know what’s a bit of p***’
Micah Richards thinks punditry for Match of the Day is a “piece of p***” compared to covering England Euro 2024 games.
Richards is one of the UK’s favourite pundits, becoming increasingly popular thanks to his work for Sky Sports, CBS’ Sports Golazo and the BBC. He is a regular on the latter’s flagship Match of the Day programme, appearing alongside the likes of Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker.
But the former Manchester City defender believes his current role as a pundit on the BBC’s live Euros coverage is far more difficult than working on Match of the Day. Richards was asked by Shearer on The Rest Is Football podcast whether he feels more pressure when covering England matches this summer.
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He replied: “Definitely! Saturday night on Match of the Day is a piece of p***! Honest to God. People don’t understand, when you’re just chatting here everything is laid back, we say what we want and we know certain parts can be edited out.
“But when you’re doing live TV and you’re trying to navigate your words so you don’t disrespect someone… For one you don’t swear.
“But also you’re trying to give insight and educate people. When big games like England games are on, that’s when you want a really good performance.”
Richards turned the tables on Shearer by asking the Newcastle legend a fan question about the rivalry between the BBC and ITV’s respective Euro 2024 pundits. Shearer dismissed the idea and said it is perfectly normal for the two sets of staff to mingle and meet up with each other.
Do you prefer ITV or BBC’s coverage of Euro 2024? Let us know in the comments section.
(Image: BBC Sport)
He joked: “You have, you’ve had dinner or lunch with some of the guys, haven’t you? You told us that you sat with Roy Keane on the way home,” before adding: “I’ve been texting Roy. I’m waiting for a couple of days off so I can go and have lunch with him.”
Richards then asked: “Is there no rivalry? Because I’ve asked Gaz (Gary Lineker) this before, is it forbidden?”
Shearer responded: “No it’s not forbidden, they’re pals aren’t they? Whether there’s competition between the top management, I don’t know. They always look at the viewing figures don’t they and they want the biggest views. I don’t think there’s a competition there between the pundits, do you?”
“I wouldn’t say there’s competition but you want to do well, don’t you?” Richards replied. “It comes with pressure doesn’t it and you want to perform.”
The two UK broadcasters have both been showing the action since the tournament began in Germany on June 14. ITV showed the exclusive live coverage of the opener between Germany and Scotland in Munich, along with England’s final Group C game against Slovenia, while the BBC showed England’s first two matches.
