Winning has become an addiction at Man City: Shaun Wright-Phillips

Shaun Wright-Phillips has a favourite adage for life: If you fall from the bike, you get up and ride again. Honest in observations, chipping in with wisecracks, the former winger took time out from his Manchester City Trophy tour to talk to TOI. Excerpts...

Man City during your time and the Man City of today. Tell us about the turnaround.

It happened gradually. Man City, in my first spell was a sleeping giant. It just didn't have the same backing as the other top clubs. When I rejoined in 2008, the take-over had happened. The new owner and his team have done a magnificent job. I think the biggest point is they didn't just win that first trophy and kind of sit back. It became an addiction.

How was the atmosphere in the blue side of Manchester when you were playing, and the club wasn't winning enough?

Quite like a roller-coaster ride. Sometimes we'd blow teams out and other times we'd play well and lose. But to beat Alex Ferguson's Man United was difficult. United had that power. When you have the likes of Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Andy Cole, Roy Keane, Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, you generate formidable power. We couldn't financially get there.

And now?

Now we're at par. But now United spend more money than us and it's just not working. We're here to stay. To win four Premier Leagues in a row, it is a summit that no one has ever scaled. In so many ways, United have kind of lost their way. I think if you look at Old Trafford, that was a place everybody was scared to go to. Now, not so much. And then things like the leaky roof, that's not Old Trafford. It was called a theatre of dreams for a reason. They need to get back there, but it isn't a quick fix.

Can Pep Guardiola be the new Ferguson?

No, I don't think he can. I think Alex Ferguson was a phenomenal manager and a lovely human being, and made football seem completely different during his time. He made that team. He didn't start well but look where he ended up. Then Arsene Wenger comes and changes football completely again, with counter-attacking fast breaks. I remember playing at Highbury and it would take Arsenal three passes to put the ball in the back of the net. And now you've got Pep, who is completely different in his own right. He has influenced football, not just the Premier League, down to the grassroots. Now everybody wants to play out from the back. You go and watch Sunday league football. Goalkeepers are engaging in passes that didn't exist before. They've all changed and brought something unbelievable to the world of football.

Currently, the fight for the European supremacy is between Man City and Real Madrid. Why do Real win more trophies?

Real Madrid, for me, isn't the Real that I've seen, say, last seven or eight years ago. (Now) It's a completely different way of playing. Carlo Ancelotti knows how to win football matches. And if you watch them against us in the Champions League last year, Real had individual moments of brilliance. They just keep the ball away from their goal and score when they have a chance. That's how they play – they can be free in the blink of an eye. That is Real Madrid for you. And that's why they win trophies. They don't need to play well to win. They just need a split second of magic, and they have magic all over the pitch.

Man City captain Rodri has spoken strongly about the congested schedule. Do you share his concerns?

It's hard on them. Not just physically, mentally as well. I think people forget that. There is no respite. And you want top players like Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne to play as long as possible. You don't want to lose players. I think this punishing schedule can shorten that. It will take its toll. In football you get wear and tear. So, when people like Kevin and Rodri talk about it, they're not saying it for no reason. They're saying it because they're feeling it. I can agree with a lot of what the players are saying.

How has Ian Wright shaped you as a person and a player?

The special thing about our relationship is that Ian, my father, didn't try to shape me. He let me create my own path and play the way I wanted to play. He was a completely different player. He was a natural out and out goal scorer. There weren't many players like him. His tenacity, his edge, his sharpness, his pace, we don't have those anymore. I could never match that. I was more of a creator and an entertainer. Yes, I scored, and yes, I wish I scored more, and I wish I played in one of Pep's teams. But he didn't play football with me, just as I've never played football with my kids. He let me fall in love with the game myself, and that's when the passion grew for me. He allowed me to be me. And that is what I'm most thankful of. I couldn't be more proud of him for trusting me to take the right path.


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