How Chelsea Ruined Shaun Wright-Phillips

The way Chelsea Football Club ruined Shaun Wright-Phillips is a travesty.

Go back in time to 2005 and the dimunitive winger was tearing down the right wing at the City Of Manchester Stadium. The player was such a joy to watch as he took on players and went on mazy runs often beating two or three opponents. His form at the time was simply spectacular and I was recommending that he be selected for the 2006 World Cup team and to start instead of David Beckham.

Three years later, Wright-Phillips has returned to Manchester City after mostly sitting on the bench at Chelsea for three years. The player got few starts. After not playing for so long, it was obvious that the confidence he had at City and the speed down the right wings had disappeared.

Reportedly one of the main reasons Chelsea bought Wright-Phillips in the first place was to prevent the winger from joining Liverpool, who would have obviously benefitted immensely from a player of his calibre. Instead, one year later, Liverpool signed Jermaine Pennant, a poor man’s version of Wright-Phillips.

Now that the winger is back at Manchester City, I really hope the player can regain his form and get a consistent amount of appearances under his belt as well as getting back into the England squad. Wright-Phillips has a lot to prove and hopefully, under Mark Hughes’s tutelage, the winger can improve the one part of the game he continually is weak in: putting in that killer cross.