The defender is set to play in one of the biggest games in club history – and one for him that is about much more than just a trophy
Chris Richards knows exactly what's at stake. He also knows how unlikely all of this is. It's been nine years since Crystal Palace last had this much at stake. The time prior to that? 1990. The club has never lifted the FA Cup. And while every trip to Wembley Stadium is sacred, it means all that much more to a club such as Crystal Palace.
So, as his team prepares to stare down Manchester City with the FA Cup on the line, Richards can't help but wonder: what if Palace pull this off?
“It’d go berserk if we won a trophy,” he told the Athletic recently. “It’d be insane. Regardless of the results we’ve had during my time here, the Palace fans are always there for you trying to pick you up. We’ve had some tough results but you wouldn’t know it from the way they’re there for you. It’s amazing.
“The Palace fanbase may be comparatively small but it’s selective. I’ll be in the city and they come up to me and are, like, ‘Keep going. We appreciate you’ and that means a lot. So being able to give back by winning a trophy would be special.”
It's a special game at a special time for Richards, who has spent this season proving that he's the U.S. men's national team's only Sharpied-in center-back. As the race for positions on Mauricio Pochettino's side heats up ahead of the Gold Cup – and, more importantly, the World Cup – Richards has elevated his game, finally taking a leap forward many believed was possible when he first burst onto the scene.
Palace have needed that, and they'll need him to reach an even higher level this weekend in the FA Cup final, which kicks off at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. Richards and Palace are on the brink of what would be one of the biggest moments in the club's long history.
Getty Images SportMaking meaningful progress
Since his debut with Bayern Munich during the 2018 International Champions Cup, Richards has been in the spotlight. It's natural when you're with a club like Bayern. Just 18 years old, Richards was anointed as the USMNT's next starting center-back, but his path there serves as a reminder that progress is almost never linear.
Since arriving at Palace three years ago, he's progressed each season. The 25-year-old center-back has stepped up massively this season, however, becoming a mainstay alongside Maxence Lacroix and Marc Guehi in Palace's back three.
According to FB Ref, Richards is in the 90th percentile in tackles when compared to central defenders in the top five leagues. He's in the 93rd percentile in blocks, too. He's above average in clearances and aerials won, while he's right about average in interception numbers. All of those stats point to one conclusion: Richards has become a steady, reliable Premier League defender.
This season, with Richards helping anchor the defense, Palace sit 12th and – while they might not best last season's 10th-place finish – they're equal to last season's point total with two games left in the Premier League season. That's all secondary, though, as the club take on City this weekend.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportA long-awaited chance
When he arrived as manager last February, Oliver Glasner made a relatively quick impact on Crystal Palace. They won six of their final seven games of the season, finishing in the top 10 for only the second time in the Premier League era.
Now, though, Glasner has the club on the precipice of something special – winning an FA Cup. Glasner knows the stakes. He insists, though, that nothing will look or feel different in these days leading up to the biggest Palace game in recent memory.
"We can't do something different," he said. "It also makes no sense [to do that]. It's [about] showing what we can [do], who we are on our best level, and this is how we will enter the final, and then let's see. Then, it's football and everything can happen.
“But the worst thing that we could do is now changing many things, because we can't teach the players something different in four days – it would just make them dizzy! So, business as usual.”
Of course, this is anything but business as usual. In the club's 119-year history, Palace have never won a current top-division trophy. The closest thing they have is the 1990-91 Full Members' Cup, and that competition was discontinued one year later.
This is only their third FA Cup final – and surprisingly, it's been relatively smooth sailing to get there. The club beat up on lower-division sides Stockport County, Doncaster Rovers and Millwall to reach the quarterfinals. In goal for all three of those matches was Richards' USMNT teammate, Matt Turner, who handed back starting duties to the club's No. 1, Dean Henderson, from the quarterfinals.
“I talked to both goalkeepers today and I took a decision that Dean will start tomorrow,” Glasner said before the quarterfinal. “On one side it was a tough decision, on the other side it was a very good decision for me to take because I had to choose between two great goalkeepers with everybody having 100 percent confidence and trust in us.”
With Henderson in goal, Palace smashed Fulham 3-0, at Craven Cottage to reach the semifinals, where they in turn crushed Aston Vill, 3-0 – and for good measure, won at Wembley to book an even bigger game at the famous venue.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s sick, you know,” Richards said in the video posted by Crystal Palace after the win over Villa. “I think something that we want to be able to do is to give back to the club. Not just the people in the club, the fans, you know, because they’re an extension of us. So again, love, like, today, it makes us fight even harder. So again, we want to be able to bring something back to South London and hopefully, it’ll be a big trophy.”
They'll need to defeat a big team to get that big trophy, one that has their very own reasons to be hungry for silverware.
(C)Getty ImagesThe team in the way
By Manchester City standards, this season has been a disaster. They have relinquished their Premier League title to Liverpool. The club's Champions League run ended far too early, as they fell to Real Madrid in their first knockout tie. They lost to Tottenham early in the EFL Cup, too.
So this match will be massive for Pep Guardiola's team. Making matters more difficult for Palace? The return of Erling Haaland. The Norwegian star has missed time due to injury, but has been cleared to return, having started this past weekend's draw with Southampton for his first appearance in two months.
"It was horrible to be injured, but what can you do?," he told ESPN. "You have to recover as quickly as you can and to come back as fit as you can. Now I'm back with loads of energy. I'm feeling good and moving good and I'm ready."
That's one big problem for Richards. Haaland missed City's recent 5-2 win over Palace, one that did include a goal by Richards. The American, meanwhile, did not feature in the prior matchup, a 2-2 draw back in December that included a Haaland goal. These are the tests Richards needs, both for club and country.
Getty ImagesUSMNT impact
There are several positions that will be giving Pochettino headaches on the road to the World Cup. The goalkeeper position is full of questions, largely due to Turner's role – and lack of playing time – at Palace. So, too, is the striker spot. Center-back is up in the air, too, with multiple players vying for a chance.
Right now, it seems Richards might just be the answer to one of those questions. Given the level he's played at this season, Richards is currently the best candidate to hold down one of the two center-back spots for Pochettino. The question of who starts next to him is more murky.
But the current concern is Man City. If Richards, Turner and Palace do lift the FA Cup, the two Americans will be in illustrious company. The only other American to win that trophy is Tim Howard, who started in the 2004 FA Cup finale as Manchester United took down Millwall.
Other Americans have reached the finale. John Harkes and Sheffield Wednesday fell to Arsenal in 1993. Christian Pulisic's Chelsea fell in the finale in three consecutive years – although the Blues' Champions League triumph in 2021 will ease the pain of that a bit. Brad Guzan watched on from the bench in 2015 as Aston Villa were thumped 4-0 by Arsenal.
All of that is to say that Saturday is a chance at something remarkable. A Palace win would make history for the club, as well as for the Americans on the squad. And for Richards, it's a chance to both give back to the passionate Palace fans, and give himself greater security as a starter for the USMNT with the World Cup on the horizon.
