Shaun Wright-Phillips Interview
Speaking to newbettingoffers.co.uk, former Chelsea and Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips gave his thoughts on the situations at both clubs, including a preview for Sunday’s match at Stamford Bridge.
Wright-Phillips spoke on Chelsea’s ups and downs this season, touching on key personnel such as Mauricio Pochettino and Thiago Silva.
He also gives his thoughts on Manchester City’s season so far, suggesting that Erling Haaland was more deserving of the Ballon d’Or award than Lionel Messi.
Read more on what he had to say below.
Chelsea weren’t as good as the 4-1 scoreline made them look
The game against Tottenham was a massive win for Chelsea. Tottenham were unbeaten and no matter what the circumstances were they still had to beat them. I still think that when the opposition has two players sent off you should be able to control the game. You should be able to make them play the way you want to, take your time and wait for the gaps, but I don’t think Chelsea did that.
It seemed to have the opposite effect. Chelsea seemed to be nervous that Spurs were two men down and thinking that if they broke and equalised it would look even worse on them. The mentality should’ve been that they had it in the bag and they were going to take Spurs for a walk in the park. In the end they managed to do that because of Spurs’ weirdly high line and they could literally just knock the ball over the top with a third man run, and Nicolas Jackson got his hat-trick off the back of that.
if a nine-man Spurs team can still cause Chelsea problems, then I think that the top four is still too high for them
Tottenham missed two chances to equalise at 2-1 and if a nine-man Spurs team can still cause Chelsea problems, then I think that the top four is still too high for them.I don’t think teams will be thinking that this is the best time to play Chelsea because they are so hot and cold. If they put on a performance like they did against Arsenal a few weeks ago and they can maintain that level of intensity and control then they will be a thorn in anyone’s side, especially at Stamford Bridge.
For the other teams it is about bypassing those periods of pressure because eventually Chelsea will give you chances and you will pick up a result.
I don’t know the exact reason why Chelsea seem to be able to turn up against the bigger sides and then go and lose to the likes of Brentford and Nottingham Forest at home. It almost seems like they’re treating games against the top sides as a free hit. That may be a factor.
I can’t imagine the likes of Raheem Sterling and Thiago Silva have that kind of mentality because they have played every team under the sun and they’ve performed well against whatever teams are put in front of them.
Thiago Silva is the best example for any young player with the amount of effort he puts in at his age and the way he performs week in week out.
I can’t say for sure what Chelsea’s problem is in that respect but I feel that when they are playing well they don’t score the goals to make it count and that is a problem if you want to be in and around the top six, you have to finish your chances.
Too early for Treble talk for Manchester City
Manchester City can’t consider their season to be a failure if they win one trophy, because winning something is never a failure. It’s the hardest thing to do in football.
The fact that they’re the only English side to do the treble since Manchester United in 1999 shows you how hard it is, not just physically but mentally. To win the treble again is a massive ask but you don’t think of it in that way. You take it one trophy at a time. The Premier League will finish before the FA Cup final so you concentrate on winning the league first and you take it game by game.
If they win the league and are in the finals of the cups then they can start to think about winning the treble again because they have what it takes to do it. Until then I think it is too early to start talking about trebles and things like that.
Erling Haaland deserved to win the Ballon d’Or
I definitely think Erling Haaland deserved to win the Ballon d’Or this year. I do think Lionel Messi is the greatest of all time but that award has always been given based on the individual accolades and Haaland has broken all of the records there are.
For him not to win the award based on Messi winning the World Cup seems a bit harsh because he plays for a nation that wasn’t even in the World Cup, so it’s not really fair.
Pochettino will want to go toe-to-toe with City
Looking ahead to Sunday’s game at Stamford Bridge, Wright-Phillips gave his thoughts on how he sees Chelsea v Manchester City playing out
Despite the gap between Chelsea and Manchester City at the moment, I don’t think this game has lost its spark. The spark will always be there because both teams are determined to beat each other. That will always be there.
Chelsea might be more cautious than normal and I can’t see them being overly aggressive. A lot depends on whether Haaland will be fit to play because if he isn’t then Chelsea fan play a higher line because they won’t have to worry about him running in behind.
The massive bonus for Chelsea at the moment is that Reece James is back. When you look at some of the passes he was playing against Spurs, he does open the game up and he can see that killer pass if it is there.
City can play the way everyone knows they can and grind Chelsea down
It is going to be an interesting game because if they are as aggressive as they were against Arsenal then it could go one of two ways. City can play the way everyone knows they can and grind Chelsea down to eventually beat the press as they always do, and if they make that breakthrough then it will be like hunting season and they will just keep getting through.
The Pochettino that I know will want to go toe-to-toe with City. He might change things up but I can’t see him making the players feel scared and asking them to sit back. I think he is going to go for it and he will give them the belief and the confidence that there are goals there if they go for it.
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