Shaun Wright-Phillips has told Strictly Come Dancing producers he will not wear red during his time on the show, a move that will please Manchester City fans. The former winger is swapping the Etihad for the ballroom this autumn but insists he will not be seen in the colours of neighbours United or his dad's team Arsenal.
Strictly training begins
Wright-Phillips starts training this week as he prepares for the latest series of the BBC show. He said: "I wanted to learn something new. I did a cooking show for a similar reason. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really nervous – it’s out of my comfort zone. I know the hard work the dancers put into it but I’m excited for the journey and want to come out of it as a ballroom dancer."
He added: "My mum can dance, she still goes to classes now. My dad has always thought he’s a great dancer – he does try, so I’ll give him a little bit of credit for that. I’m just going to work hard – treat it like football. I’m going to try to listen and learn everything so that when I do step out there and there’s lot of people watching me, I give it the best shot I can."
City colours and Maresca backing
On his red ban, he said: "I’ve already said I can’t put any red on. And I just hope I don’t have to wear anything outrageous. I’m not sure about sparkles – people ask him about the open shirts and I’m telling them my belly is not right for that."
Wright-Phillips has also watched Enzo Maresca's start at City up close, having been on the two-week tour of Asia this summer. He is excited by the freedom given to wingers, picking out Ryan McAidoo and Jeremy Monga as ones to watch. He praised Maresca's work in putting confidence in wide men.
He said: "That automatically says the manager trusts you and believes you can take on anyone – it doesn’t matter who it is. He’s telling you that’s what he wants you to do – so you think of Doku, Savinho, Mongas – that’s what you want to hear. The wingers are higher. I was always told sometimes you have to cheat as a winger because it’s a game of cat and mouse and you can see these wingers doing it, really high."
On Maresca, he added: "For me, it’s brilliant, the squad he had at Chelsea was young and if he can get Chelsea to win something with that squad, he can do it here. He’s only had a short time with them, a couple of pre season friendlies – then the Community Shield. But he’s got a winning mentality, the players have that too so why would it not be a good fit. The chemistry is there and I feel like it will be fine."
He concluded: "You can never follow Pep – and you don’t try to follow him. Whatever he tries to achieve at this club, he has to walk his own path, take his own route. If you start thinking about trying to follow a manager like that, people would say it’s copying. So he has to do it his own way, everybody expects that. But he’s been at this club before, he knows the model, he knows the structure, now it’s just about adding the tweaks to make sure it’s what he wants and to give it that identity."
