Ian Wright, Wright, Wright

[gzagee]

Yeah, GG had to give him a big wage to secure him. He was the hottest striker about.

[gooneritis]

wright is a club legend no doubt about it.
he's a strange case though, he still loves the club, he still attends matches now and then, was there at the highbury fairwell (something adams wasn't) and was at the bears funeral. he still talks of his love for the club.
he does however slag us off and make strange comments on talkshite, which is confusing. i can't help but think they pay him well to say it as away from the media he still loves the club.

he was an amazing player who scored so many amazing goals.
also a great bloke, when i was a kid and visited the training ground he gave me a piggy back to the car park, on another occasion he joined in a kick about with me and my cousin.

a true legend.

[gooneritis]

I got to agree with that other fella's point that Wrighty wasn't really what you'd call a team player, in that he didn't always follow instruction.
He didn't always have a great relationship with GG, Houston thought he was jumped up (same could be said of Houston, actually), he hated Rioch and Wenger didn't want to could accommodate him. Was it cos of his attitude?
Still, I'd sooner have him in my team than Andy Cole, who couldn't even make it ahead of Campbell in the pecking order at Arsenal.
Wrighty isn't always loyal to Arsenal neither. Is that cos of Wenger? I dunno?
Yes he was selfish, nihilistic, prima-donna-esque but, his predatory nose for goal and the ability to do the unpredictable was something that set him apart for me. He's just what we need up front, actually.

andy cole was released because he was caught stealing from the locker room not because he wasn't good enough.

wright was still better though, one of the greatest ever english strikers who unfortunately never got the chance to represent his country properly.
he would have been a key figure for england in euro92 and usa94 unfortunately we didn't qualify, in 96 venables preferred sherringham and didn't like wright, 98 he was too old.

shame he missed out in 92 and 94 from really being able to show his class.

he's arguably the most underrated player of all time.

[Libertine]

wright was still better though, one of the greatest ever english strikers who unfortunately never got the chance to represent his country properly.
he would have been a key figure for england in euro92 and usa94 unfortunately we didn't qualify, in 96 venables preferred sherringham and didn't like wright, 98 he was too old.

shame he missed out in 92 and 94 from really being able to show his class.

It was a suprise that Ian Wright didn't make the squad for Euro'92.
It was a straight choice between him and Alan Smith and Graham Taylor decided to take Smudger.
Hoddle left him out of WC'98 because he was no longer playing regularly for Arsenal.


Being fair, Wrighty never looked like doing the business at international level.
He'd put himself under too much pressure to perform and he nearly always have a bad game.
At Arsenal he scored goals instinctively, he always looked like he was thinking about what he was doing at International level.
Towards the end it was even starting to effect his performances when he returned to Arsenal after being away on international duty.
It got to the stage where it was a relief to see him NOT get picked for England.
He ended up with an England record of 9 goals in 33 games, which isn't bad.
But if you take away the 4 he scored against San Marino (a game in which there was no pressure as SM's early goal had already eliminated us from qualifying for WC'94) it shows a truer reflection of his struggle at international.

I hope this doesn't come across as me having a pop at Wrighty because i loved him as a player and would definitely class him as an Arsenal legend!

[northerngooner83]

I agree that he seemed to try too hard for England, he was a but unlucky in that he was around at a time when England was blessed with good strikers, we had Lineker and Smith in the early 90s, then Sheringham and Shearer, with Wright and Ferdinand the back up forwards.

He was a legend though, my favourite goal was the lob against Everton in '93 when he lifted it over the defender twice before lobbing the keeper (I think Neville Southall).

Which makes it all the more of a shame that he is now making a fool of himself on TV with his ridiculous chat show on C5, this football article I found here sums up my feelings about "Live from Studio 5" just about perfectly!

Rubbish!

[KingGooner]

He was good on the pitch, but not off it.

[Rockin' Robin]

I agree that he seemed to try too hard for England, he was a but unlucky in that he was around at a time when England was blessed with good strikers, we had Lineker and Smith in the early 90s, then Sheringham and Shearer, with Wright and Ferdinand the back up forwards.

He was a legend though, my favourite goal was the lob against Everton in '93 when he lifted it over the defender twice before lobbing the keeper (I think Neville Southall).

Which makes it all the more of a shame that he is now making a fool of himself on TV with his ridiculous chat show on C5, this football article I found here sums up my feelings about "Live from Studio 5" just about perfectly!

Rubbish!

That goal was quality, I also loved the lob against Swindon.

[liam_cork]

he was a legend when i was a kid i loved him but since he's left he's made him self difficult to like

[Libertine]

Some of his comments in the media have made me think "f**k me, did he ever like us?"
But it's not just him though is it?
Quite a few ex-Arsenal in the media don't seem to stick up for us the way that ex players in the media stick up for their ex clubs.

[gzagee]

It genuinely saddens me to see him ridiculed by all-n-sundry.
Not saying he doesn't deserve it, just that it's sad.

Still, he's my hero. Best goalscorer we ever had, in my opinion.

[Libertine]

Best goalscorer we ever had, in my opinion.

Me too.
Wright was that good a goal-scorer that George Graham changed our entire style of play because of him.

[Rockin' Robin]

Lee Dixon is good on MOTD usually, always refers to us as we.

[Ach]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45497772

What a player he was. Love this guy.

[Marsbar100]

What was his all round play like?

[UFGN]

What was his all round play like?

Single minded attacking striker. Once on the ball he was only ever going forward and a shot on goal was inevitable