Could Incipient York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips be the best MLS player ever?

in #sports7 years ago

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Last visually perceived in England at League One Charlton, the former Manchester City and Southampton forward has scored 108 goals since his pregrinate to Incipient York Red Bulls in 2013.

The 33-year-old is the top scorer in the MLS over the past five seasons and has won the league's Golden Boot twice.

"You could make an argument that he is the best player to ever play in this league, and the best goalscorer to play in this league," verbalized Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch.

Of English players in the top five European leagues, only Harry Kane has a better goal record than Wright-Phillips' since he peregrinate to the US - and the Red Bulls star could integrate to that tally against Incipient York FC on Saturday.

When Wright-Phillips arrived in Incipient York, he was joining a club that already gasconaded former Everton forward Tim Cahill and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.





At first, his horizons scarcely stretched beyond England and he admits to cerebrating the MLS was "where players go for retirement".

"I optically canvassed a game in the stands and asked Henry 'how did you lose? You had you and Cahill'. I recollect him being dead earnest and saying 'you will visually perceive how hard it is to play here'. And I didn't venerate it until I commenced to play."

Five years on, he verbalizes the move with his family, was the "best decision I could have made".

He commenced to work on his game and dedicated himself to life as a professional athlete.

"I endeavored to commence over," he verbally expresses. "I had to put my head down. It was like my last shot at relishing the game and doing something I could be proud of.

"I did OK in England - that was me just not genuinely giving it everything. Then I realised that I still had time to play and make a designation for myself.

"I feel like I ken my worth now. The Red Bulls have done a good job of challenging me to be a bellwether, not just be a component of team and score goals, but be someone to be counted on."





It is a remarkable turnaround for a player who verbally expressed "football came second" in the first stage of his vocation and admits he did not "deference" MLS when he arrived in the US.

Wright-Phillips verbalized with BBC Sport about failing to reach his potential in England, a Incipient York wager, Thierry Henry's advice, and the reason he would never return home to play. Wright-Phillips, who lives in Incipient Jersey and earns $1.5m a year (£1.1m), verbalizes the "lifestyle is preponderant" in the USA.

He gets recognised "sometimes" but is relishing being away from the "hustle and bustle" of home.

"It's hard in England," he expounds. "If I didn't score for three games, there was the chance someone would take my place or I would be loaned out.

"When I pregrinated here I took my time getting in the team and learned from people like Henry and just worked on my craft."

He verbalizes being able to lean on the relishes of Henry and spend time in Incipient York and LA holds much more appeal than "playing away fixtures at AFC Wimbledon - no irreverence to them".

So, additionally, does lining up against legends of the game such as World Cup triumpher David Villa at Incipient York FC and Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Los Angeles Galaxy."Villa celebrates goals like he is in a Champions League final, he plays like it is his debut," Wright-Phillips verbally expresses. "That is the thing that surprised me. I could never not work strenuously after optically discerning that."

Wright-Phillips is now the Red Bulls' all-time record goal scorer and 11th in the league's all-time list, but verbally expresses he mentally conceived "no-one would ken or care" if he did well in MLS.



He represented England Under-20s, but never made the step up to the senior team. An approach was made by Jamaica but it "did not work out".

And what if England boss Gareth Southgate got in touch now? "Of course, I would be up for it."


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