The former England international discusses Harry Kane breaking World Cup records, Man City's shift to new manager Enzo Maresca and Chelsea's expectations for next season.
Former England international Shaun Wright Phillips believes Harry Kane will take the title of greatest ever England player if he breaks Gary Lineker’s record of most World Cup goals.
Despite the prolific Kane leading the line for the Three Lions, England are currently 13/2 in World Cup betting odds behind France and Spain to win the tournament.
In our exclusive interview, the former Manchester City and Chelsea player also discusses Enzo Maresca taking over from Pep Guardiola at City, his expectation for Chelsea under Xabi Alonso next season and Anthony Gordon’s transfer to Barcelona.
You played under Jose Mourinho and against Sir Alex Ferguson. Do you think Pep Guardiola is the greatest Premier League manager ever?
There have been some fantastic managers at that level before him. The likes of Jose Mourinho being one, and obviously Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson. They’ve all been great for different reasons. But with him [Guardiola], it’s not only the trophies that he’s won, it’s the impact he’s had across the board on football in general.
That’s why for me, Guardiola just beats Ferguson.
What do you make of Enzo Maresca replacing Pep Guardiola? Did you see enough from him at Chelsea to suggest he will be a success at City?
I wouldn’t necessarily say we saw enough of him, but the one thing he does have on his side is that the club know him and he knows the club. He knows the club’s philosophy and the direction the club wants to move in, which is always helpful for a manager.
Hopefully he doesn’t go in and try to change everything too quickly. I think it will help him because a lot of the players that are there have been playing that system and playing in a certain way for a very long time, and that’s all the way from the academy and up. So, I think they will be fine, they will do well under him.
But you can never expect him to do what Pep did. He’s going to have to do it his way. It was always going to be different and it’s just something that fans and everybody else have to get used to seeing.
What should Enzo Maresca’s target be next season? Do you think they will win the league or are Arsenal favourites?
Arsenal are the champions and you expect the champions to defend their title, so they will be the team to beat again. In many ways, a lot of the top clubs are going to have the same problem.
Especially with the World Cup, there will be a lot of players maybe behind on match fitness because they’ll miss most of the pre-season, depending on how far their countries get in the tournament.
It’ll be interesting to see how the start of the season goes because I think that could make all the difference.
How much do you think City need to strengthen this summer? Which areas do you think they need to add to?
When you lose Bernardo Silva and John Stones, they’re not only going to be key misses on the pitch, they’ll also be missed around the dressing room as well. They will have to replace those players.
It depends how Maresca wants to play because Pep’s been so good over the years playing with centre-backs and midfielders in full-back areas. We’re yet to see if that’s something that Maresca wants to do. If it isn’t, then I imagine there’ll be a natural right-back coming in somewhere along the line.
Manchester United fans might be thinking they have an opportunity to take back control of Manchester now that Guardiola has gone. What would you say to them?
They should look at how hard it was for City to turn Manchester blue for so many years. It won’t be a one season thing. It has to be something that you do consistently to be the powerhouse in Manchester.
As it stands now, Man United are in a great position, but that’s all based on City having a new manager and hoping he isn’t going to slot in and work his magic instantly. But we have to wait for the games to start so everyone can see how City are playing and vice versa with United.
But until then there’s nothing really to worry about. Manchester is still blue as far as I see it.
Nottingham Forest are said to have made the £115m Moises Caicedo fee the benchmark for Elliot Anderson. He is a very talented player, but should City break their transfer record for him?
I think he’s a fantastic player, but the problem you’ve got in football is owners are now slapping those price tags on players, whether they think they’re worth it or not. It’s just a matter of this is how much we want for him.
But it’s an interesting situation because the most City have spent on a player is £100m, and that was a one-off anyway. It would surprise me to see any team in England go in at that price.
But he will be a sought-after player by all the top clubs because he’s that good at what he does.
Enzo Fernandez has been linked with City and Real Madrid. Can you see him linking up with Maresca again, or do you think Alonso can persuade him to stay at Chelsea?
I think Xabi Alonso is a fantastic manager. Of course he wasn’t given a lot of time at Real Madrid, and he had a lot of difficult people to deal with while he was there. But the way it seems to me is that Chelsea are going to give him the run of the club in terms of what transfers are coming in and having a say in it.
I think that could be the thing that helps players stay, as he can now use that as a persuasive tool to keep people at the club. Players like Enzo, Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and even the likes of Cucurella or Reece James will want to stay at that club, but they want to know the club’s stable and moving forward at the same time.
I think Xabi coming into Chelsea will stabilise that. But I honestly don’t think he’s [Enzo] somebody City will go for because they have enough midfielders to play that role. They have Nico Gonzalez, obviously Rodri is there, Phil Foden and Nico O’Reilly who can easily play there. So they have enough players to play that number eight role.
Will Xabi Alonso be secretly pleased at not having to contend with European football in his first season with Chelsea?
100 per cent. His players will get time to rest, he’ll get more time to prepare for games and there’s nothing more important than that sometimes in your first season. He’ll have time to get his message across and give the players time to respond to it so they can perform the way he needs them to perform.
What’s happened to Cole Palmer? Is he a one-season wonder or would you back him to get back to his best?
I honestly believe in Cole Palmer. Especially the way he plays, his persona, his swagger, his little bit of arrogance on the pitch.
Just because he isn’t scoring as much, people have forgotten about how many chances he created last season. If those chances he created had gone in, we most likely wouldn’t be having a conversation about his performances and he probably would be on the plane to the World Cup.
But the problem we have is that everything is so stat based in terms of goals and assists, so we’re almost forgetting that he’s a creative attacking player. He’s meant to create goals more than he’s meant to score.
But to Cole Palmer’s own detriment, he did so well in his first season with scoring and creating that people just expect that to be the turnover all the time. I think he will get back to scoring, but to reach the scoring heights he did will be tough because he’s got other wonderful players in that team that he chooses to set up rather than doing it by himself.
It’s a little bit of a weird one for him. But in terms of his ability and what he’s capable of, I have no doubts that he will get back to his best.
Do Chelsea need to win trophies next season to keep their top players?
It’s quite hard to lose players that are on long deals because of the way contracts are structured, especially when it’s only really Liverpool that are spending £100m on one player and £115m on another.
Chelsea have players that are kind of tied to the club long term, but there will be grumbles around the dressing room because everyone will want to play in the Champions League and want to win the Premier League – that will be the reason a lot of them joined Chelsea.
It’s also why a lot of the fans are the way they are because they’re used to winning things and they want to get back to winning ways.
Joe Cole has suggested that Chelsea should recruit John Stones (and even Robert Lewandowski) to add experience to the Chelsea squad. Are they the right players for Chelsea and Alonso?
I wouldn’t say they’re the right or wrong players but I’m definitely in agreement with Joe Cole, as they do need experience in that team, especially in the centre-back area. I know those young kids in defence may be good players, but who are they learning from? Where are they learning the clever little tactics needed to be a proper defender.
The one that always shocked me was when they let Thiago Silva go. The amount they could have learned from him was astonishing. Even just to have around the dressing room as a leader, to point them in the right direction when things weren’t going well, he would have been the perfect guy for it.
But without a doubt they definitely need to bring in some experience.
Thomas Tuchel’s made some big England squad calls – do you like the decisions to leave Foden, Palmer and Maguire out?
I understand Palmer and Foden missing out as he’s got a lot of attacking options to pick from. The way the way I’ve seen it is he’s picked the attackers that he feels are in form and doing what they need to do for him.
The one I was surprised about was Harry Maguire because he’s had a tremendous season at Man Utd, and every time he’s played for England, he’s never let Tuchel down either. So that one was the one that caught me off guard.
In general, I’ve always looked at it as you should only be in the England squad if you’re in form and playing consistently anyway. But it’s going to hurt when you don’t get called up for the tournament. I’ve been there; it hurts a lot. But the only thing you can do is prepare yourself for next season and come back even stronger to show the manager what he missed out on.
You missed out on the 2006 World Cup squad but you were later selected in 2010. How big was that disappointment in 2006 and how did you cope with it?
It was a tough one to deal with because the situation was between me and Theo Walcott, who had never played a game in the Premier League. But to not be picked, it almost felt at that precise moment, like what’s the point?
I can imagine some of those current players will feel like that. What is the point in me playing this hard, putting my heart into the badge and my body on the line. In many ways you feel hard done by.
For myself, I was mad for a couple of hours then I said to myself I just need to make sure I’m on the plane for the next trip because one of my dreams was to represent my country at a big tournament. So I just put my head down and carried on working as hard as possible.
With Tuchel in place, is this England’s best chance to win a World Cup?
When haven’t we had the best chance to win the World Cup? If you go back over the years, we’ve had phenomenal squads, but for whatever reason the moments don’t fall for us. For example, the Germany game in South Africa, when [Frank] Lampard’s shot goes in, but they don’t give it. Those little moments weren’t really happening for us, but they were going for everybody else.
I hope this year we do get the little moments because we have the players and the potential to win the tournament. But nothing’s ever easy at the World Cup because just as we have the players and the potential, all the other countries do as well.
Harry Kane needs three goals to break Gary Lineker’s record for World Cup goals. Would you back him to do it at this tournament, and do you think he’s already England’s greatest ever striker?
I would definitely back him to break that record because of the type of player he is and the quality he possesses. But also, the players that are around him will give him the chances to do so. Very rarely does Harry Kane have an off day if the chances are there. He might miss one or two, but if you give him another one, it likely goes in.
If you keep feeding him, he will break it. Plus, there’ll hopefully be a few penalties to make his job a bit easier. But in general, I would honestly say Harry’s up there for England amongst the greats. He would be going above people like Paul Gasgoine who obviously wasn’t a striker, but for me he was probably one of England’s greatest ever players. So, if he does breaks Lineker’s record, you have to say it’s Harry Kane.
Is there an area of the squad you’re concerned about? Where are England the weakest compared to the other top teams?
I don’t really think we have a weak position. Even in defence, we’re actually quite strong. We have good experience in there, as well as a bit of pace too.
You could maybe say Nico O’Reilly because he’s not a left back, but he played better than any left back in that position throughout the Premier League season. So I wouldn’t say it’s him either.
I suppose it depends what system we’re going to play. If we play France for example, they may look at Djed Spence as a target because they have a strong player against him, but I still wouldn’t say that is a weak link for us.
Who’s a player – England or otherwise – who you think fans should be looking out for, or could surprise everyone?
I think Morgan Rogers, especially the way he finished the season, is some player. He can play that number 10 position both ways. He can drive with the ball, commit defenders and draws fouls, but also see passes and takes shots. So I think he might be one of those key players that stands out at this World Cup.
In terms of other nations, I’m going to look out for Norway. They’re actually my pick for a surprise package. I’ll be watching a lot of Norway games as well as England’s.
What type of impact will Mauricio Pochettino have on the US team and how do you think they’ll perform at the World Cup?
I’ve seen a lot of negative stuff come out about him, especially about how he’s not called to tell certain players that they’re not in the squad.
But it’ll be interesting, I think they’ll do alright. Whether they can qualify out of their group is a whole new challenge, but I think they’ll do it. I think could get to the last 16.
The advantage they do have is that there’s a lot of their players who are used to playing in the conditions, as a lot of them play or have played in the MLS. So that will definitely be an advantage for them.
What are your expectations for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in their final World Cup and who will advance further, Argentina or Portugal?
It’s tough to decide. I think they’re both going to get to the latter stages. Portugal I’ll say quarter finals and Argentina will get to the semis. They’ll get a little bit further just because of the magician himself. Portugal’s midfield is a scary midfield, but if he has a good day, I feel sorry for anybody that’s playing against Messi.
For both Messi and Ronaldo, I feel like their mindset will be to win it because to retire from international football by winning the World Cup would be the best way to sign off.
It’s easier said than done, but that will undoubtedly be the aim for those two, as it would be the ultimate sign-off.
Who’s your pick to win the World Cup?
I hate this question because, of course, I want England to win. But if I’m being totally honest, I still see France as the main team. If England can avoid France and get them in a one-off game in the final, I reckon we win it.
But France is the one team that I feel could be a problem if we came up against them.
What do you make of Anthony Gordon’s move to Barcelona?
First of all, I didn’t understand it because I thought Barcelona were in debt and they were struggling to pay £25m for Marcus Rashford, who’s done unbelievable things there already.
But secondly, I’m not quite sure where he’s [Gordon] going to play. I’ve had a conversation with a few of my old teammates and they think he’s going to play as a number nine, but Barcelona are also going in for Julian Alvarez as well. If they end up getting him, what was the point of Gordon leaving Newcastle where he’s playing all the time?
Obviously progression in football is different for everyone and he’s always wanted to play in Spain from what I’ve heard. He can already speak fluent Spanish. and if it’s a dream of his, when Barcelona come knocking you can’t turn it down.
But I’m wishing him all the best. I hope he goes there and does really, really well and lights it up.
What do you make of English players moving to play abroad and do you think it has an impact on their chance at an international call-up?
I don’t think it hurts or impacts their selection. If a player does well at their club and then performs when they’re at the England camps, him playing in Spain, Italy or Germany for that matter, will not affect their call up.
If that was the case, we’d be having the same conversation about Harry Kane, but he’s gone to Bayern Munich, scored goals and looks fitter than he’s ever looked.
There’s his reward for making the move abroad, and I think it could be the same for Gordon.
