One of the greatest goal scorers of his generation, Ian Wright disliked two things: goalkeepers who stopped him from scoring goals and forwards who scored more goals than he did. The Arsenal legend claimed that he ‘hated’ two players in particular during his playing days as a result of this.
Both Wright and the two players he didn’t like are now respected football commentators. Competitiveness gave rise to one of these rivalries, while the other was much more intense.
The first player Wright ‘hated’ was Alan Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer. The former Gunners forward used to be annoyed by the certainty of a Shearer goal, saying (as reported by The Mirror): “I’m proud to call him my friend now, but when we were playing, I hated him – just because of his hunger to score goals on a weekly basis.”
“You score two points when you enter, and Shearer scores three. Shearer scored one if you scored two. Shearer receives two points if you receive three.
Thus, you never manage to catch up to him. Furthermore, after missing three years of play due to severe injuries, this player still has 260. The man is still far ahead.
“I’m not sure people realise the enormity of his achievement,” Wright continued, praising the Newcastle hero, with whom he had collaborated on Match of the Day for many years. Since Newcastle is his hometown team, he chose to play there. He could have easily joined Manchester United, won another seven or eight Premier League titles, and then likely be even more respected across the world.
Against Peter Schmeichel, Ian Wright
The former striker acknowledged that the Dane’s quality was frustrating.
Peter Schmeichel and the England international had some well-documented arguments, so Shearer wasn’t the only player that annoyed Wright. Wright was irritated by the Man United goalie’s amazing ability to keep the ball out of the net, saying he is among the best in Premier League history:
“We play golf together, get along great, and joke about our past collisions. When Schmeichel and I talk about it today, we discuss how much I actually detested him as a goalie.
“I was aware of his skill level and the difficulty of scoring against him. I’ve only ever scored goals in friendly matches against him.
The 1997 Arsenal vs. United game was the culmination of the two teams’ animosity. Wright recollected the event and conveyed his current sense of remorse. He clarified:
A couple of months after we had a minor altercation at Old Trafford, this game took place. The whistle had already blown after the tackle that everyone witnesses, but I continued.
“They said it was the tackle that embarrassed football, and I merely jumped on the ball with two feet while we were both sprinting for it in the red mist. Now that I think about it, it’s rather embarrassing to witness.”
While Wright continues to participate on a number of football shows, most notably The Overlap with Keane and Gary Neville, Schmeichel, who also had notorious problems with Roy Keane, is now frequently seen on CBS Sports’ coverage of the Champions League. Now that their careers have come to an end, the former athletes seem to have put all of their animosity behind them.
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