FORMER Manchester City striker Bradley Wright-Phillips has revealed how advice from his dad Ian Wright helped him to establish himself as a pundit.
Wright-Phillips first followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a professional footballer.
And like Arsenal legend Wright he was also a forward, playing up-front for the likes of City and Southampton before moving to MLS in 2013 where he became New York Red Bull’s record goalscorer.
He hung up his boots in 2022 and took on a role as assistant sporting director at the club – a position he still holds.
Wright-Phillips also works as a pundit on Apple TV’s MLS 360 show, but the 38-year-old admitted he underestimated how tough it is to provide analysis on matches.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, Wright-Phillips explained what his punditry experience has been like.
He said: “Whirlwhind. Unexpected. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do after I retired. I was going to be working at Red Bull, still am, assistant to the sporting director.
“I got an opportunity to work with MLS and Apple TV and next thing you know I’m talking weekly about football.
“It’s tough. I underestimated it. I went in, I’ve learned that I need to prepare better.
“As an ex-player you think you know everything about the game, you think you know how to talk about the game and I quickly learned that I didn’t.”
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Fortunately Wright-Phillips had an expert pundit he could lean on for advice in the form of his father.
Wright, 59, has worked as a pundit on Match of the Day and covered England matches for both the BBC and ITV.
So when his son came to him for help, Wright had the perfect advice.
Wright-Phillips explained: “He told me to be myself, [and] as long as you can take that comment you made about a team or a player to bed with you, then I guess it’s okay.”
The ex-forward also loved playing in the US and revealed he never looked back after visiting New York Red Bulls for the first time.
He went to the Big Apple on holiday and has since spent ten years across the pond.
Wright-Phillips added: “I went to New York on holiday. My agent had told me ‘listen they’re interested in you signing here but go over and train for a while’.
“I just wanted to go on holiday. It was New York and I get to train with Theirry Henry, but when I got there I saw the facilities, the standard of player, I was never coming back home.
“It was eye-opening for me, us English folk are ignorant to every other league almost, and rightly so we grow up with the Premier League, EFL and we think that’s the only thing in the world. I was very surprised when I got to the MLS and New York, it was amazing.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
