Wright-Phillips: Blues taught me lots

Shaun Wright-Phillips "learned plenty" from his time at Chelsea under three different managers, declaring himself "wiser" for the experience.

Wright-Phillips: Hoping for chance to impress
Wright-Phillips: Hoping for chance to impress

Jose Mourinho shelled out £21million to take the sought-after wideman to Stamford Bridge three seasons ago, and Wright-Phillips also worked under Avram Grant and, for a short spell, Luiz Felipe Scolari before heading back to Manchester City for less than half that sum at the end of August.

Although his spell in west London - which included nearly as many substitute appearances as starts - may not have resulted in as much game-time as he would have liked, the 26-year-old feels it was a worthwhile part of his footballing education.

"I choose to believe you can learn from everybody, so try to take on as much as possible," he said.

"I have gone back a lot wiser with my decisions on the pitch and a lot more mature on and off the field.

"Giving in is not part of my nature. The mental side of things has helped me a lot.

"I put it down to every manager and coach I played under while I was there - they all played a part because everyone gives you something different and it is up to you whether you want to take it on board."

Wright-Phillips added: "Obviously the England issue was there, because everybody wants to play for their country. But my first thought was to just get back playing and get to back what I did before I left the club."

Despite coming off the bench and scoring a goal in Fabio Capello's first game in charge against Switzerland at Wembley in February, the 26-year-old found himself out in the cold again when the squads were named for the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia.

Since then Wright-Phillips has produced a string of promising displays with City - which resulted in him being chosen ahead of David Bentley for games against Kazakhstan and then Belarus next week.

"Being dropped gave me a kick to be honest, because I knew I had to get myself into gear and get back to what I used to be," he continued.

"It just made me know I always need to be improving."

With Arsenal's Theo Walcott having now the front-runner for the right-wing berth after his stunning hat-trick in Zagreb, Capello could look to bring in another out-and-out winger on Saturday, given the absence of injured Joe Cole.

Wright-Phillips feels he could fill the gap down the left side.

He said: "I could most probably play there. I have played everywhere across the middle.

"At City, there is a lot of movement, so a lot of the time I am on the left, a lot of the time I am on the right and I am down the middle as well.

"It depends what happens during the game, but it doesn't change my game plan either way."

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Your Comments

kenshiro804 (Liverpool fan)

"He is a good footballer no doubt, credit to him for thanking Chelsea even though most of the time he spent on the bench .."

Tappman (Manchester United fan)

"Not only wiser, but alot richer too!"

All comments on this story


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