Shaun Wright-Phillips in Chicago: Manchester City, RBNY, USL, More

Shaun Wright-Phillips doesn’t understand the NBA’s fascination with the three-pointer.

The former Premier League winger took in the Chicago Bulls’ 109-95 win over the Charlotte Hornets while he was in the Windy City with Manchester City for their Champions 4-In-A-Row Trophy Tour and managed to witness league history as the two teams combined for an NBA record 75 missed threes.

“I said to somebody when we were there, I said, ‘Why are both teams forcing threes?’”

Wright-Phillips chuckled through his evaluation of the historically bad performance he’d witnessed on a night when the Bulls welcomed him to the United Center days before Manchester City hosted an event at Moonlight Studios for City fans to watch the Manchester Derby. For the former Premier League winger, the trip to Chicago allowed him to connect as a club ambassador with supporters.

“It's so honorable that, like sometimes, I forget that I play that sort of role within the club, to still be a part of a club that is dearly loved by me. Even my mum calls it my second home and that just makes it even more special.”

The son of legendary England forward Ian Wright, many expected Wright-Phillips to end up with Crystal Palace or Arsenal during his professional career. Once he got to Manchester City after being released by Nottingham Forest at 17, he felt an instant connection to the club he’s still with over 20 years later.

“It was a club that I just fell in love with, and it's been the same since. So as much as they could say they adopted me, I think I adopted them first.”

Wright-Phillips made the jump to MLS in the summer of 2015 when he signed with the New York Red Bulls after spending four seasons with QPR, where he joined his brother Bradley on the roster under former head coach Jesse Marsch. He was brought there to bring a level of professionalism to Marsch’s squad.

“[I was there] to help the younger age group understand what it takes. If I can still run around at 34-35 and tackle people, then realistically there's no reason why you shouldn’t. And it's not always necessarily things you have to say, it's almost sometimes things that they can just see. And it kind of just kind of grows on from then.

“I was lucky enough to have people like Tyler Adams coming through at Red Bulls when I was there, when, when he was going along kicking Felipe [Martins] at his tender age of 15 and sweet was getting angry, but I said, don't stop what you're doing, because that will be your difference when you make it professional and it look where he is now, he's a very successful player.”

Did the young Adams, now a mainstay in the USMNT’s midfield, get Wright-Phillips with a few tough challenges at training with RBNY?

“[Nodding] That’s just Tyler. That's just the way he plays. And I think if you understand him, if he keeps you in training, you know he's not meaning to be malicious or anything. He just wants to be aggressive and make sure you don't have your own way with him on the pitch.”

Wright-Phillips’ American soccer journey continued in 2017 when he signed with Phoenix Rising of the USL Championship. It was there that the winger learned what a per diem was (he had to call Bradley to clarify what the money was for) and he saw firsthand how the culture surrounding players at the USL level needed to change, particularly when it came to using that per diem on food. He wanted to change the culture in Phoenix and the night before a match was the easiest place to start.

“We should all eat together the night before the game. No one should be having Chick-fil-A or pizza. You're meant to eat the right foods to give your body that energy source. And it actually worked. We started changing those little things within the U.S. so, and I don't know whether it's carried on to this day, but little things always need to change in football, and if we can help while we're over it, it will only benefit the new generation coming through.”

Moments before going on stage in front of hundreds of Manchester City supporters, it’s clear that Wright-Phillips is content in his current role as an ambassador of the game.

“I just like giving back. I think over the years that I played, there's so many fans that I've met that I would never ever have had the chance to meet and say thank you to them, in terms of all the support they have given me, whether I've heard or not heard, it brings it's nice to bring a smile to their face and meet them all in person.”