Bradley Wright-Phillips is MLS's best goal scorer, and he's only getting better
Bradley Wright-Phillips isn't just good. He's statistically the best goal scorer the league has ever seen.
The man who, when he signed with the New York Red Bulls in 2013, was known to many fans as "Shaun Wright-Phillips' brother" now needs no introduction. He's the best goal scorer in New York, playing for one of MLS's best teams, and with his name all over the league's record books.
And yet Wright-Phillips is loathe to talk about himself. That is when he's not downplaying his goals.
"I'm not going to lie to you, it's humbling. They're numbers, I don't think numbers are everything," Wright-Phillips told FOX Sports in January. "Someone like Dax [McCarty], his numbers are not through the roof. The team probably copes better without me than someone like Dax. Numbers aren't everything, but I can't lie to you, it's a nice thing."
Of course, the Red Bulls will have to cope without McCarty, whom they traded away this offseason. But while Wright-Phillips does all he can to put the spotlight on others, the truth is that the Red Bulls need him. They can't cope without him. No team in MLS could cope if they lost a striker that good.
Wright-Phillips is the only striker in MLS history with two 20+ goal seasons and his 68 goals in three years are the most any MLS player has ever scored in a three-year period. The man has done nothing but score since showing up in New York, doing it with different coaches, different playmakers and in different systems. The only constant at Red Bull Arena has been Wright-Phillips scoring goals.
And what makes him so good?
"The fact that he doesn't want to talk about himself. The fact that he is not your typical striker. He's not a diva," Sacha Kljestan said. "We could lose 3-2 and he could score both goals and he'd still be angry. I know a lot of strikers that if they scored two goals in a loss they'd still be happy. He cares a lot about the team's success. He's a very positive guy. He just brings a lot to the table. He's the type of unselfish forward that I love playing with."
Kljestan and Wright-Phillips' chemistry is obvious. While Wright-Phillips led the league in goals last season, Kljestan led the league in assists. They're the best connection in all of MLS, but like the two have both said, it's not about numbers. It's about wins.
All the Red Bulls have done since Wright-Phillips showed up is win.
After Wright-Phillips joined halfway through 2013, the Red Bulls captured the Supporters' Shield, a great accomplishment for any team, but especially meaningful for New York. It was the first trophy the team had ever won.
The team that had so long been pegged as cursed, or even simply a laughingstock, was no more. And two years later, they won the Supporters' Shield once more. Then, last season, they may not have brought home a trophy, but they were the top team in the Eastern Conference as Wright-Phillips poured in 24 goals.
It's not a coincidence that as soon as Wright-Phillips showed up, the Red Bulls started winning. And they've kept winning, establishing themselves as one of the top teams in all of MLS. The striker who people expected little from has helped transform the club. The Red Bulls lean on him to score, but also to help set the culture for the club, and he's done just that.
The scary part? He could get even better.
"I still think he can be even better and I think he knows that. We always challenge each other to be better," Kljestan explained. "Bradley has been the premier goal scoring forward in our league for the last three years. He still doesn't get all the love and respect he deserves, but I don't think that matters to him. What matters to him is winning and that's what makes him great."
