‘Not many people can say Arjen Robben yelled at you!’ – Richards recalls Bayern Munich introduction

Bayern Munich defender Chris Richards has spoken about his first glimpse of life with the club, recalling the “scary” moment Dutch star Arjen Robben yelled at him in training. 

The U.S. youth international initially joined the Bundesliga champions on loan in 2018 from FC Dallas before signing on a permanent deal the following year. 

Richards, 20, has been playing with the club’s reserve side but is considered a decent bet to eventually break into the first team. 

The Texas native has already trained plenty with Bayern’s senior side and he recounted the story of how Robben gave him a quick taste of how life with Bayern would be.

“It was maybe my second day here at Bayern and I was paired up with Arjen Robben, and he expects perfection on every go,” Richards told Bleacher Report.

“If you pass it a yard away from him, he’s not necessarily going to be happy with you.

“I think there may have been two or three passes in a row where it wasn’t necessarily to his right foot and he yells at me and he’s like, ‘Hey, pick it up, we need to do better this and that,’ and he was ripping into me. 

“I was like, ‘Wow this is scary!’ Because Arjen Robben but also, it’s kind of cool because not many people can say Arjen Robben yelled at you!”

Robben announced his retirement from football last year after he scored 144 goals and added 81 assists in 10 seasons with Bayern, winning eight Bundesliga titles and one Champions League. 

Robert Lewandowski also quickly showed Richards what elite-level football is all about, as the American defender attempted to mark the deadly Polish striker in training.

“They passed the ball to Lewandowski and I promise you his back was turned to me and I maybe gave him a yard, and he turned and hit it left foot upper 90,” Richards said.

“[Manuel] Neuer was like, ‘You have to stay tighter to him than that’ and I was like, ‘It was only a yard!’ How did he get a shot up that quick with that much power and that much accuracy?

“It was one of those things where I was like, I know this is one of the best strikers in the world but I definitely have some work to do.”