De Youth used to be one ah de best, now all he getting is bench...
Chelsea: Not much Wright about Shaun’s decision
Paul Meadows
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Paul Meadows is a football journalist with experience of covering a number of English clubs from the Premiership and Football League...
[full biography]
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17/12/2005 10:00:00.
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"When the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur provide the opposition, he has to make do with a place on the bench as Mourinho fielded his strongest team – a team Wright-Phillips has yet to convince his manager should include him"
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It looked for a while as though he was going to buck the trend of bright young talents heading to Chelsea. Scott Parker couldn’t resist the move when the Stamford Bridge club came calling, Arjen Robben soon dismissed all notion of a move to Manchester United when he saw what was on offer in London, whilst John Obi Mikel still claims a move to the Blues is his ultimate ambition.
Yet for a while, it looked as though Shaun Wright-Phillips wouldn’t succumb to the idea of joining the rest of the superstars being assembled by Jose Mourinho. The Premiership Champions made no secret of their desire to sign the young England international, yet they were told the winger wasn’t for sale; and as the player himself had insisted he was perfectly happy in Manchester, the case appeared closed.
But then the temptation finally bit during the build-up to a pre-season friendly in the summer. Wright-Phillips had performed a u-turn and declared an interest in signing for Chelsea, and within hours he was withdrawn from the City squad and heading to London for contract discussions. The only thing to be resolved was the transfer fee, which was eventually settled on £21million.
The argument was this: a very good footballer for a good Manchester City side was now set to be transformed into a world-class talent for an excellent Chelsea side, who were set to rule England and Europe for many years to come. Anyone could see the potential the 24-year-old possessed, and with the benefit of playing alongside Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele, Didier Drogba et al this potential would be realised.
This would then be transformed onto the international scene in which Wright-Phillips had only just burst onto, which would result in another world-beater for Sven Goran Eriksson to pick from when the World Cup Finals begin in Germany. So, in a perfect world, for all concerned this was the ideal transfer – one of the best home-grown talents playing for the best team in the country with some of the best players in Europe.
So everyone’s a winner – Chelsea have another top player to add to their squad, England have a player comfortable in the presence of true stars and one used to life in the UEFA Champions League, Wright-Phillips has the chance to win the honours he was highly unlikely to achieve at City, and his former club have £21million for a player they signed for nothing.
Apart from, well, it hasn’t quite worked out like that has it?
Take the Premiership, for starters. Ever since City regained their top-flight status in 2002, Wright-Phillips had been a regular starter. In fact, few players had played more minutes in The Premiership than the winger during those three years he spent in Manchester - whether it be Kevin Keegan or Stuart Pearce picking the team, regardless of the competition, he was pretty must sure of playing a key part for City.
During this period, the Nottingham-born player – rejected by Forest for being too small – became one of the most entertaining performers in England. To use an old cliché, he was worth the entrance money alone. Although he made countless assists for his team-mates, it was once levelled at him that he didn’t score enough goals in his first season – he responded by netting almost twenty in the following two.
And when Eriksson satisfied a nation by calling him up for the full England squad, in typical Roy of the Rovers fashion Wright-Phillips didn’t disappoint. He scored on his debut against the Ukraine in early 2004 within 16 minutes of being introduced as a second-half substitute. It wasn’t just an average goal, either – picking the ball up in his own half, he went on a jinking run before firing low into the far corner of the net.
Such was his impact both for club and country, he was catapulted into a player rated at £20million+ whilst there was serious debate up and down the land that he should even get the nod for England over skipper and right-sided midfielder David Beckham. That the Real Madrid ace should be excluded from the team would have been unthinkable not long ago, yet with Wright-Phillips now on the scene, it became a distinct possibility.
It wasn’t long before a move to a so-called ‘bigger’ club was mooted. Arsenal – for whom his step-father Ian Wright starred – were installed as instant favourites, whilst Liverpool were also believed to be contenders. And there was also interest from both Madrid clubs – ironic considering he was the subject of racist abuse when he appeared for England in Spain in a friendly in November of last year.
But when Chelsea made their interest public, other interested parties resigned themselves to being priced out of the race. After all, as good a talent as Wright-Phillips is, who else could meet City’s asking price of £20million+? So off to Stamford Bridge it was, and although he has only been there six months, things are already looking decidedly different compared to his days at Eastlands.
At the time of writing, Wright-Phillips has started just five of the sixteen Premiership games the Blues have played this season: at home to West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland, Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, and an away trip to Everton. When the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur provide the opposition, he has to make do with a place on the bench as Mourinho fielded his strongest team – a team Wright-Phillips has yet to convince his manager should include him.
Considering we are now approaching Christmas and it took him less than a month to play the same amount of games for City last season, this is something he can hardly be used to. But at Chelsea, he has to get used to being a substitute, as early evidence suggests this is how he is going to see much of his action in London.
In the UEFA Champions League, he has started just once, in the 4-0 win over Real Betis back in October. Although likewise with his domestic appearances, he has figured a substitute, usually replacing Arjen Robben with little more than twenty minutes remaining. He also started in the League Cup defeat against Charlton Athletic, although again he didn’t last ninety minutes.
In fact, whilst it is true to state Wright-Phillips has yet to open his account for Chelsea, more worrying is the fact he has yet to complete ninety minutes – this from a player who was very rarely substituted during the time he spent with his former club. Although this is unlikely to cost him his place in the World Cup Finals, Eriksson must surely be concerned about a player who was last season being billed as a possible match-winner on the big occasion.
Only time will tell if Wright-Phillips made the right move to join Chelsea. His only apparent alternative at the time would have been to stay at City – yet would this have been such a bad option? He would have been playing regular football week-in week-out for a progressing team who are likely to be pushing for place in Europe for next season; a team who helped him achieve the international recognition he now has.
England are experimenting at the moment with regards to the holding midfield role – Steven Gerrard, Lampard and Ledley King being the chosen three at the moment. It could have been Scott Parker who is enjoying an excellent season with Newcastle United, yet he lost his way in the thoughts of Eriksson when he moved to Chelsea and failed to hold down a place in the team.
For the sake of one of the games’ brightest prospects, lets’ hope the same doesn’t happen to Shaun Wright-Phillips.
