By RYAN TOLMICH
For the first time since 2004, Bradley Wright-Phillips will get the opportunity to take the field with his older brother.
The Red Bulls announced Monday that the club has signed winger Shaun Wright-Phillips in what is reportedly a non-Designated Player contract. The 33-year-old, who has been training with the team in recent weeks, will be available for selection as soon as this weekend’s clash with the Philadelphia Union.
“We are pleased to add Shaun to our club,” said head coach Jesse Marsch. “Shaun has performed at the highest levels of the game for his entire career, in the Premier League and on the international level, and brings a wealth of talent and experience.
“He has been training here and we have seen his professionalism day in and day out. We think he is a tremendous addition both on the field and as a veteran presence in our locker room.”
Shaun Wright-Phillips has spent time with Queens Park Rangers, Manchester City and Chelsea in the Premier League throughout a 16-year career. In total, the winger made 299 Premier League appearances and scored 31 goals over the course of his career while also winning two FA Cups, a Premier League Championship, one League Cup and a Community Shield.
In recent seasons, the winger has struggled to find the field, featuring just five times in 2014-15 and just 13 the season prior before being released by QPR at the conclusion of the club’s more recent season.
Internationally, the elder Wright-Phillips was a member of England’s 2010 World Cup squad and has scored six goals in 36 international appearances.
“Shaun is a proven player who has played on soccer’s largest stage,” said New York Red Bulls sporting director Ali Curtis. “He can play a number of positions for us and is an excellent fit in our locker room.
“When we evaluated the unique set of circumstances along with the quality that Shaun has, it became apparent that we needed to be aggressive about adding Shaun to our club. We are pleased that he will be wearing a Red Bull jersey and we can’t wait for him to take the field.”
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What do you think of the signing? How will the elder Wright-Phillips fare with the Red Bulls?
Share your thoughts below.
About 5 years ago I was sailing in the Nice Harbor. Roman Abramovich’s yacht passed by off in the distance. My brother in law commented that if you looked closely, you could see SWP’s career just below the waterline.
His game was built on pace. At QPR he was mostly a non-factor whenever he made it on the pitch. He lacked ideas when he could run by people on the wing. Maybe he will get some of his MOJO back that it made him one of the most expensive English players ever. Maybe the Red Bulls saw some quality when they had him in training. Low cost and potential reward proposition for them.
He has more to offer than pace. He’s a better soccer player than, say, Dane Richards, who actually relied only on pace, and has now been banished from the team.
Ironically, SWP may be pushing his brother to the bench, as Mike Grella is certainly not the weakest link in the current starting lineup. BWP, on the other hand, has already missed a handful of penalties this season (another MLS record feather for his cap?) and is generally not punching in the easy goals that result from Thierry Henry double-teams. Grella’s goal last night in the friendly against Benfica was obscene; not many on the field for either side could pull that off.
Nah, if anyone pushes BWP to the bench it will be Abang. Grella and SWP can battle it out to see who gets the winger spot. The loser becomes the supersub. I see Grella having a seat for SWP.
I don’t really think Grella survives as a starter with this signing. The roster is definitely built to work ‘on paper,’ as now the entire front six is basically set in stone mostly based on salary. Grella will join Davis and Abang on the bench despite all showing great strides in their opportunities. Marsch has been way more flexible than Petke as far as tinkering with positions, but I’m not sure any substitute now has the window to earn more minutes, let alone a starting spot.
Meanwhile, the defense continues to be a revolving door where no one at all is a “must-start.” The cap money goes to Zubar and Miller, who are both rancid disappointments. Miazga and Lawrence are the makeshift mainstays for developmental purposes alone. Is there room for a “real” DP right now? Only along the backline, in my opinion.
look you can think SWP will push whomever out of his position but at least try not to skew reality.
“BWP, on the other hand, has already missed a handful of penalties this season (another MLS record feather for his cap?)”
He missed 2 penalties this season, albeit both in the same game (yes that’s a record for MLS) but up until that point he was 8-for-8… so let’s not pretend he’s not generally good at them. The only reason that number wasn’t higher was because Henry took them before.
Not to mention BWP has 8 goals and 6 assists in 19 games this season; meaning he gets either an assist or a goal every 1.36 games, hardly scoff-able numbers and hardly calls for his replacement by an older version(ish) of himself.
What I meant is that Grella becomes the best striker on the roster, pushing BWP to the bench as SWP inherits the left wing. But at 10x the salary (the only number ownership is actually paying out of pocket for), I don’t believe there is a much chance a rested BWP would come off the bench even for one game.
oh ok i see. well either way, BWP may not be tying the MLS record like last year but he is still better than Grella; at least that’s what stats and my (humble) eyes tell me. lol but such is sport.
Occam’s razor, I can’t believe they bring in the brother to replace or platoon with the other brother, they wouldn’t stand for it if they knew. And BWP has last season’s numbers as well as the most goals from the run of play still this season. It’s not like he scored 8 PKs. His stats are off but more likely given his production that would be held against his current partner, Grella.
Also SWP has often been used as a winger, so the premise may simply be wrong. Maybe they want both W-Ps plus Grella out there.
I don’t think they care about nice goals if they aren’t repeated enough (it’s a production position and he has just 5 which paces out as 10), and this might be discounted in a friendly context.
There is no way that BWP is going to the bench. He’s been spending too much time at LM. Grella will move to the bench, where he can be an impact sub.
BWP has been great and was certainly not s big Euopean player before coming to Red Bulls. If SWP can have a similar impact on a non-DP deal, this will be a great signing. It has potential to be a stellar signing. I don’t subscribe to the notion that a player has to be a big name star in order to succeed in MLS (though stars will and have).
It looks like third time is the charm … First was rooney’s brother, then it was Kaka’s brother and now Red bulls are finally able to bring the better sibling … Though I much rather have either of the first 2 attempts work out!
As long as he is in his best shape he can be right now who cares he didnt play for 2 years…that makes his age of 33 more like 30-31 🙂
I’m sure he been playing reserve games and etc…not like he spent 2 years eating donuts and away from the pitch.
Just watch on Aug. 9th when he will be running circles around tired Pirlo and Lampard.
2 brothers, one team, playing for one another…… standby for goals hahahahaha
At their height you should get a two-for-one deal.
Marsch has done a good job of using players that have been productive, but who did not cost the management a lot of cash. Lawrence is an example, guy should be an MLS All-star (he and Mattocks were a couple bright spots in Jamaica’s loss last night.) Davis is another, and a 16 year-old (practically free) scored against Chelsea.
I am beginning to believe Marsch can spot talent, even if the player doesn’t have a long track record.
I suspect SWP will have some good games, but at his age, it is not so likely he will be able to go every week at his best.
Marsch may be a good talent evaluator (Abang is another player who’s become increasingly involved) but Adams and Davis were already signed when he was named coach. RBNY have some good young talent but they will need to supplement with a couple of top level players to really become a top side in MLS. I like building a core from within but it can’t be the only way the club acquires players.
I think it is generally a bad idea for MLS to sign so many foreign players. It is discouraging for homegrown players because they will invariably be outplayed and downgraded by these formidable players and don’t see themselves as being valued members of the team in the same way. The US pool of quality players is being downplayed. It’s a shame. The MLS scene reminds me of the BPL where most of the players are foreigners and the youth is not being brought up through the ranks.
What’s more the teams who do not have access to the Pirlos and Lampards and Gerrards are going to continually stay at the bottom of the table unless relegation becomes part of the MLS system
Last year only 38% of MLS were from outside the US or Canada. That’s not especially high and it’s much lower than England where I believe only about a third of the players there are eligible to play for England. In this case, I guess he’ll be displacing Mike Grella if/when he plays (with Sam playing on the left or Kljestian on the left and Sam in the middle?) so it’s not like some bright light of American youth is being blocked.
In response to Birgit Calhoun on the promotion/relegation comment, How would having promotion / relegation help those teams who supposedly don’t have access to the Pirlos, Lampards, etc. compete??? I am for having promotion / relegation to force teams to improve and challenge some teams to find ways to improve and allow other clubs in lower leagues the opportunity to move up with developing and acquiring players.
This is diverting the conversation about the foreign players which I agree with slowleftarm but also note that having those newer players should help the other 62% of American players who play the push to improve themselves with the quality of their play, their passing, their movement, etc… Regarding Grella, this guy is about 28 yrs old while not young is a late bloomer and if you have seen is play lately may still have a chance at being looked at by Klinsmann at least for a friendly.
Pretty sure teams are only allowed seven International spots, and they’re tradeable commodities…so some teams will have more, others less.
Guys carrying green cards don’t count as Internationals, so the true number of foreign players is probably higher than seven per team, but the bulk of your roster is still going to have to be American (or Canadian/American, if you’re a Canadian team.)
I think that’s a good number. I definitely wouldn’t go higher than that.
I hardly think FC Dallas would be relegated -they sit on top of the table!
I’m not sure that market has the access or the owner to buy a Pirlo or Lampard.
MLS is trying to sell soccer, not american soccer.
I hadn’t realized he was so old, relatively speaking for a soccer player. It doesn’t seem that long ago that he was young and exciting and everybody in the EPL was after his signature. Don’t know how much he has lost since his glory days, but you figure he could still produce for a couple of years in MLS. Plus, it’s kind of cool to have two brothers on the same team.
While I would have liked to see this signing 1/2 years earlier I am glad they got it done now. It will be interesting to see what history says of the Beckham Effect. Did he influence this surge of English signings? I think yes.
As much as I enjoyed Grant Wahl’s The Beckham Effect, I want it to be rewritten in a few years. The effect of Beckham in the signings of Pirlo, Wight-Philips, Giovinco, Drogba, Dos Santos, Keane, Lampard, Gerrard, Kaka, and even US players like Bradley, Dempsey, and Altidore would be worth researching.
I’m not so sure it was the Beckham Effect that brought the majority of those players in. I think it was the $$$$$$ Effect.
Well, it went from a hard cap to these approved soft exceptions, to allow Beckham in, and every exception they add swings it more towards the tiered money league some critics want. It has resulted in the influx you list but not evenly spread and the question is what impact on the lower spending teams over time.
Or perhaps because his brother is on the team? I suspect he’ll make a big impact and then move on for a bigger paycheck.
So LAG bring in Dos Santos, NYCFC bring in Pirlo and Montreal bring in Drogba. Meanwhile the team with the lowest payroll in MLS brings in a guy who’s barely played for two years and who hasn’t featured regularly at club level in four years. Just when I thought I had lowered my expectations sufficiently…
I’m plenty critical of my team, but I am not going to ding ’em for signing an experienced EPL pro to a non DP contract after seeing him trial for a month+ vs signing a 35+ year old Euro vet on his last legs (Gio excluded of course). That’s just smart. They know the guy can slot right in and start playing, he’s familiar with the system by now, and he’s already liked on the team so he won’t impact chemistry. Is that really so bad? Better still, is it really so far fetched that at the end of the season he does not end up last in goals / assists when compared to those three 3DP’s you mention?
How are Pirlo, who just started the Champions League final less than two months ago, and Drogba, who played 40 times for the champions of England last season, on their last legs but SWP, who has barely played the last two seasons (because he wasn’t good enough to play for the worst team in the EPL) is “an experienced EPL pro”? And I don’t mind signing him since RBNY needs depth but how about signing some good players too?
Lefty, there was much politics at work with SWP and QPR they signed on a ridiculous contract and then changed Managers, the new guy didn’t want him and then he wouldn’t take a pay cut. I suspect this may be a very good signing for the Bulls, I guess we’ll see.
I am more annoyed by the fact that MLS claims that they don’t make enough money to raise the cap to $5 million from $3 million, but they feel free to pay players on their last legs 3-6 million a season. So you have 1 guy making as much as the other 23 guys on your squad COMBINED (minus the 2 other DPs). Why not get a star player for $1- 1.5 million and 3 more HIGH quality players at $600k a piece. You could that if you had a $5 miliion cap, 3 DPs and spent the same exact money that Montreal is spending this season. In that situation, you would have 3 DPs, 3 – $600k star players (that would be playing in Liga MX or lower Europe), then 17 to split the remaining $3 million. You could have some serious quality on the team (LA Galaxy level).
No one is doubting Drogba’s or Pirlo’s etc. quality or skill sets. People don’t loose skill, they loose speed, endurance, durability. Pirlo can still pick a pass, but he will still be able to pick a pass at 50 as long as keeps practicing. Jordan can still drop buckets and he’s in his 50’s. Yes Drogba made 40 appearances, but they had over 60 games last season and he only made 14 starts and that is only because they had no choice. Most of the substitutions were very late (post 70 min – 10 after the 80th). He appeared in 28 EPL games (8 starts, 20 subs) and averaged 30min a game in the game he appeared in. That is not a lot.
I have no qualms with him in the league, but then don’t try to sell me that you want MLS to be the best league by 2020/2025. I never bought it, but I hoped. This is not the way to do it.
Adding more ways to get DP’s is false progress and an insult to MLS lifers.
MLS will never be a top league until they stop with the DP’s and start raising the salary cap. Of course MLS academies need to be grown to the point where US players can demand the higher salary on the global market as well.
You’ve got it backwards. The DP rules allows the league to grow faster and in the end everyone benefits. Growth is driven by TV contacts, sponsors and ticket sales.
All are experienced EPL pro Euro vets, you’re missing the point. SWP is under 35 and hasn’t played much in the last two years. I look at that as a potential positive, meaning he conceivably has more left in the tank than over 35+ players that have been playing more in the same time frame. That he’s a non-dp while the others are is the bonus. Deal?
lol its not like SWP is a young kid the guy is 33 and unlike pirlo he needs his speed and physical abilities to be somewhat effective something that start to go away at his age. Unlike Pirlo who doesnt even have to move and or defend. Never was Pirlo game. His game is his passes his FK his ability to create. He could do that till the end of time and not have to get physical at all. If so u must have missed his debut.
Yeah I mean I know Pirlo is older and younger DPs are preferable but Pirlo just started in the Champions League final and SWP couldn’t get in the team the past two seasons for a QPR side that finished rock bottom of the EPL. Big difference.
agree! Pirlo Excellent addition bring Italian attention week in and out here and all around the world because he is that famous.
well the bright side is he wanted $1.5M and instead is getting non-DP money. so there’s that.
Meanwhile, the team with no million dollar DPs, FC Dallas, is on top of the table and is playing some great soccer.
bingo!
Fits a postion of need. Hopefully is as good as their last washed up bench rider Peguy.
BWP couldn’t start in the EPL either, and he’s been a revelation in MLS. SWP has a better resume that his brother. If SWP is better than BWP, that’s a great signing on a non-DP contract. Would it be nice if Red Bulls also found a higher-profile DP to sign? Sure, if its the right one. But I don’t see how you can be critical of this move on its own merits. And Dos Santos? You mean the guy who has yet to find a consistent place on seven teams, many of middling quality, and hasn’t been an automatic starter for his country of late? SWP could — could — end up the better MLS player and/or the better signing.