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Chelsea - Mourinho expects star to show worth
Written by Kj talk | 11th August 2006 | 1 Comment(s)
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has revealed his expectation of winger Shaun Wright-Phillips bouncing back to prominence this season.
The former Manchester City ace was largely anonymous in last season's campaign, eventually resulting in him being without a place in England's World Cup squad.
However Mourinho has shown faith in the 24-year-old by opting to reject loan bids for the player, and trimming squad numbers by selling Damian Duff instead, although the Irishman's injury record may have had something to do with that decision.
''He understood the reasons why we didn't let him go,'' explained the self proclaimed 'Special One'.
''We want to keep him because we trust him, because we know the first season sometimes is not easy, especially when you are a player without big experience at a high level.''
He continued, ‘'He is not a Michael Ballack or an Andrei Shevchenko. He is a young boy coming from Man City with half a dozen caps and no matches in the UEFA Champions League.''
''He is a player who needs what happened to him last season and this was really positive.''
Mourinho also believes a strong performance and the goal in the Wednesday night friendly with Celtic has given the player a renewed energy.
''He is improving and the goal brings some happiness and confidence for him.''
With Claude Makelele, Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard all likely to be in Mourinho's regular stating line-up it would appear that Wright-Phillips is in competition with Arjen Robben, Joe Cole, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel depending on the formation Mourinho chooses (i.e. a midfield of three, four or five).
If Wright-Phillips comes out in front of that lot he will certainly be doing very well, but it is more than likely that he will need a Tottenham-style bout of food poisoning to hit the squad on a regular basis.
With Steve McClaren hinting that David Beckham may no longer be required at International level there would appear to be a place up for grabs in the England set-up.
Tottenham's Aaron Lennon is almost certain to continue his development and if Wright-Phillips' opportunities at club level continue to be few and far between it could be quite likely that Liverpool's Jermaine Pennant, among others, could jump ahead of him in the queue.
Nevertheless, Mourinho's words should be of some comfort to the former Man City star, who will have much to prove given the opportunity.
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I don't think SWP will get that many games, but Mourinho will still not sell him.