Micah Richards claims five-word phrase used by Pep Guardiola is 'load of bull****'

Micah Richards has labelled a phrase used by plenty of Premier League managers - including Pep Guardiola - as the "biggest load of bulls***."

It's getting to the stage of the season where both teams towards the top of the Premier League table and those fighting relegation look to build momentum.

Just two points currently separate table toppers Liverpool from title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, while at the other end of the table there are five teams battling to avoid the final relegation place.

At times like these, managers and players tend to come out with the same phrase during interviews: 'One game at a time.'

It's a cliche that often flies under the radar due to its ubiquity in football discourse. But not anymore.

Micah Richards was involved in title races and relegation scraps during his career, but he has revealed that players and managers aren't being entirely honest when they says they are taking things 'one game at a time'.

"What’s that quote? ‘One game at a time’?" Richards said on a recent episode of The Rest is Football podcast.

"It’s the biggest load of bulls***, we’re [players] looking at absolutely everything!

"We’re planning who’s going to be playing when, what fixture we can get points from.

Micah Richards working as a pundit for Sky Sports. Image: Getty

"Get a draw there, who’s going to be fit here, everything to the tee is detailed!"

Pep Guardiola is one of the most successful managers of all time, but even he trots out the cliche from time to time.

However, The Rest is Football host Gary Lineker jumped the defence of the 'one game at a time' mentality.

"Of course it is [fair], but what else are they going to say?" the former England striker said.

"It’s kind of true because you have no alternative, you can’t play two games at once."

With the title race and relegation battle set to go down to the wire, is looks like we're going to hear Richard's favourite phrase plenty of times before May 19.