‘Everyone is panicking’ – Micah Richards jokes he failed audition as Sky Sports hit by technical issues during Chelsea match

Micah Richards made the wise decision to pursue a career as a pundit and not comment.

The former Manchester City defender was on media duty for Sky Sports on Sunday, starting with Aston Villa’s trip to Chelsea.

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It presented itself as a standout clash for Unai Emery’s side as they looked to end a seven-game winless streak in all competitions against an in-form Chelsea side.

However, the match was plunged into chaos from the first minutes.

Well, at least for those watching at home.

Unfortunately for Sky Sports, the audio from their commentary team had been muted.

So the broadcasters scrambled 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 winging it”.

“The sound is gone, and you know what it’s like when you’re in front of a broadcaster, everyone’s freaking out about everything,” Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast.

“’We need to get back to the studio, we need to get back to the studio.’

“So Dave Jones just said we just need to talk about the pictures. So Dave Jones starts talking throughout the game and then he says to me, ‘And Micah, what about Chelsea’s system here?’

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“So normally in co-communication you’re at the game and you can see exactly what’s going on.

“We were wondering if they (Chelsea) were going to play three at the back, if they were going to play four at the back, so I went: ‘Oh yeah, they’re playing three at the back or four in the back’, and I can’t even see what’s going on because you know what my eyes look like, and the TV is about 20 feet away, so I’m absolutely flying away .

“If this was ever an audition, I failed miserably!”

Fortunately, those at home weren’t subjected to Richards’ in-game chat for long as comments from Bill Leslie and Alan Smith returned in time for Nicolas Jackson’s seventh-minute opener for Chelsea .

It was an afternoon to forget in the capital for Villa, as goals from Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer added further misery to 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, this victory kept them in third place, even though they have an identical record to Arsenal and are only below the Gunners on the ladder due to alphabetical order.

Palmer’s strike 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 racked up 36 goals in 2001.

But Palmer looks on course to beat Hasselbaink’s record by some margin, as his goal and assist against Villa took his 2024 goal and assist tally to 34.

With six league matches remaining this year for the Blues, Palmer will have plenty of opportunities to beat Hasselbaink’s mark.