Latest Leicester City news from LeicestershireLive as pundit Micah Richards tells City they created their own problem by selling goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to OGC Nice last summer
Leicester City created their own ‘big issue’ when they sold Kasper Schmeichel last summer, pundit Micah Richards has said.
Richards was working for Sky Sports when City were relegated to the Championship following their 2-1 win over West Ham at King Power Stadium on Sunday. The three points was not enough as rivals Everton beat Bournemouth to secure their safety.
Analysing where City went wrong after the full-time whistle, Richards said a lack of leadership was a big issue at the club this season, and pointed to the departure of Kasper Schmeichel – who set high standards on and off the pitch – as a huge contributing factor.
“Getting rid of Kasper Schmeichel – the captain of the club – who knows exactly how it’s run, to bring in Danny Ward,” Richards said. “Over the course of the season the goalkeeping was a problem position and then they changed to Iversen.
“If you’ve not got your back four and your ‘keeper set, what chance have you got? You’re relying on the players ahead of you like Maddison and Barnes, Vardy, Iheanacho, to do something special for you. Kasper was the biggest leader in that dressing room and leadership was a big issue in that dressing room.”
When asked which of the relegated clubs would be in the best position to get back to the Premier League, Richards said: “It’s hard, isn’t it? Probably Leicester, but it depends who they keep.
“You go into the transfer market – who stays and who goes. Southampton was a stable club, the way they recruited, the way they brought players in, and they had a period of time where they proved they could sell them on. So, you’d say Southampton is quite stable. It’s an open-ended question.”
