Wright-Phillips: Man City have the tools for Premier League and Champions League glory

Former Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has told us that Pep Guardiola’s men can overcome Liverpool this weekend and go on to win the Premier League title, while they can also go one better than last year and lift their first ever Champions League.

City meet Liverpool on Sunday, with both teams neck-and-neck chasing the Premier League title, while Guardiola’s side are in the last eight of the Champions League, having beaten Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final on Tuesday.

“I’m backing City to win the title all day,” Wright-Phillips told us. “I still think the way it’s situated right now, if City win all their games and Liverpool win all theirs, City win the title. So at the minute it’s City that are still in the driving seat, as long as they are winning their games. But if you look at both of their run-ins to the end of the season, all the games they’ve got to play, there’s games in there where both of those teams can drop points, so it’s a tough call, but I’m going to go for City.

“Sunday’s game will play a big part in deciding the title race because whichever team wins it, it then puts them in the driving seat, where the other team is waiting for them to slip up. It will play a big part but with the games they’ve got coming up, they’ve both got to play teams fighting for survival, they’ve both got to play teams that are in and around the top three or four, and then there’s a few that are trying to get into Europe and are popping up on that radar. So I think there’s some tough games and tricky games for both of them.”

Wright-Phillips added: “City can go one better this year in the Champions League. They have every tool needed to go to the final and win it. But you know in the Champions League, sometimes you can play out of your skin but there will be some luck that you don’t get that the other team does. So as much as getting to the final is doable, they still need that bit of luck to take them that extra way.”

One player Wright-Phillips is expecting to play a key role for City as the season reaches its climax is Jack Grealish, who has come in for criticism from some for failing to justifying his price tag since arriving from Aston Villa.

“There’s still a lot more to come from Jack,” Wright-Phillips said. “He’s shown that at Aston Villa. People need to understand he’s come from a club where he was getting the ball with every attack they had. He’s now come to a club where he’s not necessarily the main man, he’s got to fit into a system of the way that City play. The last few games you can see, the game in the FA Cup (against Peterborough) where Phil Foden puts him in behind and he takes a first touch and it’s a great finish… The game against Manchester United, I thought he played really well in that… It’s about him now just keeping on learning the ‘Pep way’ and once he gets that he’ll be fine and flying.”

Wright-Phillips also reserved special praise for Bernardo Silva, who has been his favourite attacking player for City this season.

“Bernardo Silva has impressed me attacking-wise this season,” he said. “Everyone knows his capabilities and how much he runs and how well he’s done. But just the goals he’s scored, especially at the start of the season when he had that flurry of goals, the way he was playing and the way he has been playing, the amount of ground he covers… Wherever the manager puts him you get the same end-result from him. He’s carried the team at times, when Kevin De Bruyne was injured he stepped up and he was the main man. It takes a lot to fill a player Kevin De Bruyne’s boots. It’s not an easy task and he just slid in there and did it like it was his everyday job.”

Wright-Phillips believes his old side should strengthen their squad by singing a striker this summer, but while he would love to see Erling Haaland brought in, he’s excited by the potential of Julian Alvarez, who joined City from River Plate in January before being loaned back for the rest of the season.

“I’m hoping they bring in Haaland,” he said. “I think that’s everyone’s wish at City at the minute. But the striker they’ve just signed from South America, he’s a great striker and very (Sergio) Aguero-esque. You know City are going to create 15 chances a game, so if you have a striker with that knowledge of being able to put the ball in the back of the net and with the amount of chances City create, that striker will score.”

Returning to City v Liverpool this weekend, Wright-Phillips feels the man to watch out for from the Merseyside team will be Luis Diaz.

“Diaz has impressed me most at Liverpool,” he said. “To come in from another league completely and settle in in the Premier League the way he has done and hit the ground running, it’s like he’s been suited to playing in the Premier League his whole life. He’s been fantastic. And I think it’s something Liverpool needed. Now they’ve put themselves in a stronger position with their front three, where they can afford to rest (Mohamed) Salah or (Sadio) Mane, they can afford to not play (Roberto) Firmino as they’ve got (Diogo) Jota. Now they’re building that depth very cleverly and wisely and it seems to be paying off.”

And finally, if Wright-Phillips had a chance to play under either Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp, he says he would opt for the City boss.

“I’m going to pick Pep if I could pick to play in one of their teams,” he said. “As an attacker, what he’s done with (Raheem) Sterling is your prime example of an attacker that was normally scoring seven to 10 goals a season in all competitions, and under Pep now he’s scoring 15 to 20 or 15 to 25 goals a season as a winger. When I played, wingers were there to create chances, but now Pep has his wingers creating chances and scoring like strikers – to the point where he’s not needed to play with a number nine properly for about two seasons. In that time he’s come home with one title and a lot of silverware so it proves what sort of man he is and his potential as a manager and his capabilities and how good they are.”

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