Mic'd Up: The New York Red Bulls legend praised Inter Miami's offseason revamp and hailed the variety of competition in MLS
Bradley Wright-Phillips has been around MLS for years. Since his move to the New York Red Bulls in 2013, the London-born son of England legend Ian Wright has immersed himself in the American soccer landscape. He found the net 126 times for the Red Bulls, and after 10 years in the league, is now something of a league legend.
But he has since hung up his boots, and moved into the broadcasting space – regularly appearing for MLS 360 as part of the Apple TV+ coverage of MLS. And this year has provided plenty of talking points, most because he has no idea who's going to win the Cup.
"The MLS season so far has been really exciting, because it's not the normal big names you've seen at the top of the league. There's been some teams that are normally mid-table, some teams that have been nowhere near the MLS for the last few years and they have come and ruffled some feathers," he tells GOAL.
That's part of the fun, but the usual suspects are still around. Inter Miami have reinvented themselves, and are still heavyweights.
"Last year they were terrible defensively. And now they've actually brought in a couple of good defenders. They don't play the beautiful game. They're grinders, man. The biggest surprise about them is they're they're chippy," he says.
There remain questions. One of them is what might happen with Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian midfielder is out of contract at Manchester City in June. MLS links have been strong, and a move to the U.S. seems likely. Wright-Phillips, painful as it might be, has admitted that his former bitter rivals NYCFC might be the best destination.
"It makes a lot of sense. Maxi Moralez is a baller, a legend at New York City. He's getting on a little bit. I think it's just a smooth transition," he adds.
Wright-Phillips talked Lionel Messi, the LA Galaxy's slow start and all things MLS in the latest edition of Mic’d Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL US taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts, and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.
ON THE 2025 MLS SEASON
GOAL: First of all: What have you made of the MLS season so far? Has it been good? Has it excited you?
WRIGHT-PHILLPS: TheMLS season so far has been really exciting, because it's not the normal big names you've seen at the top of the league. There's been some teams that are normally mid-table, some teams that have been nowhere near the MLS for the last few years and they have come and ruffled some feathers. So I'm talking about Chicago. They're not top of the league, but they weren't competing at all in the last, I wouldn't even want to say how many years. But now they've got a good coach. They have added some interesting players into that side, and now they play really good football, and they're a challenge for anyone. Then if you look at Dean Smith's side, Charlotte, they are top of the East. That's just good to see, because normally you just see the normal teams, Columbus and Inter Miami, yeah, these teams coming in. I'd say that's the most exciting thing. And the biggest one is Vancouver Whitecaps. They're winning the Shield race right now, the best team in MLS. No one would have said that at the beginning of the season.
GOAL: Why are they so good?
WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: They're really well-coached and they've got a lot of good players. MLS has been a league for years where people have only talked about the big stars. But in the last 10 years they've done a good job of getting some coaches in that actually want to stamp their identity on a team. It's not just buying superstars and trying to win an MLS Cup. These guys have got their own philosophies, and they're bringing out players that are American players, Canadian players, but players that are really from good around the league, that don't get enough credit. And Vancouver is one of those teams that epitomizes that. They've got a bunch of those players, hard working, but talented, and it's showing up.
GOAL: Do you think they'll keep it going?
Yeah, I do think they will. I think the coach is good, and the players they got, if they stay injury free. They haven't got the biggest squad, but if they're injury free, I think they'll be there in the conversation when it comes to MLS Cup.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportON INTER MIAMI
GOAL: I've got to do the obligatory Miami ask. Are you bored of talking about them, at this point?
WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: No. I felt in the beginning it was a bit forced. Obviously Messi is in the league. Even if he went to the Prem, we'd be talking about Messi week-in, week-out. With his brilliance on the pitch, you're going to be talking about Miami a lot. But what I will say is, if you watch MLS weekly, you'll see that it's not just Messi. Last year they were terrible defensively. And now they've actually brought in a couple of good defenders. They don't play the beautiful game. They're grinders, man. The biggest surprise about them is they're they're chippy. They're grinders. They'll dive in front of any ball back there. They're really hard to beat. It did get boring about talking about Messi, but it's good that we get to talk about different things, not just Messi and Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
GOAL: Is Suarez showing his age? If you look at the numbers, they're not great. When you watch him, there are moments of class, but do you feel like he's just getting the most out of his legs? And it's probably just his last season?
WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: I'll probably say it's gonna be his last season. In 2024, I watched him in preseason, and he just looked like he was struggling. I know he's got a bad knee, he was kind of limping around, but when it came to game day, a switch went in his head to where he was really good – not just good for an older guy, he was like, really good. This season, it seems to have caught up with him a little bit more in terms of, like, goals. He hasn't really got the goals. But he's still Luis Suarez. He's still finding some nice passes and linking up play really well. But I do think the way he looks early in the season, they've had a lot of games, including CONCACAF Champions Cup, where it looks like the load is a little bit heavy at the moment.
Getty Images SportON OLIVIER GIROUD
GOAL: Olivier Giroud scored his first goal in MLS last week. Do you think he's turned a corner?
WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: It's not that he hasn't scored. He wasn't playing well at all. He didn't look good. It was tough to see. Obviously, I'm a Arsenal fan, so watching him, the least he's gonna bring is an all-round game. Because even Giroud at his best, he wasn't an out and out goalscorer. He scores brilliant goals, but you're not talking about him scoring every week. And that was the most eyebrow raising thing. I'm like, "What's happened to his touch?" But the last two games, I've watched him, and he looks like he's turning a corner. He got his goal, and the all-round play has been back.
Getty Images SportON THE GALAXY'S SLOW START
GOAL: Are the Galaxy struggling because they lost Riqui Puig, or is this just an entirely rebuilt team finding its feet?
WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: Boring answer, but it's a bit of both. It's almost lazy journalism, but without Riqui Puig, he is literally their heartbeat. There's good players in every team, but this is the one team you can't take the good player out of and then be as effective. He was that good for them last year. Yes, the roster, they had to get rid of some players, because of the roster set up over here. They had to get rid of some players that had done well for them, but theyv'e still got some, some killers up top: Gabriel Pec, they've got Joseph Painstil, they have a proven goal score in Christian Ramirez. There's not too many excuses, but he's just that person, that player that makes them tick. He goes and gets the ball off to the back line, drives through midfield, breaks lines by dribbling, or picks a really good pass – and then they're out on the attack. They just don't have that.
GOAL: Is Marco Reus the solution there? Or would you be asking too much of him?
WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: I think if you asked me that six months ago, and I would have said Marco Reus could jump in there and do a job. But no, he's just different. Marco Reus is a clean player, technically. He can link play together, but maybe ahead of Riqui Puig. When Riqui goes deep and then finds Marco Reus, then Marco can be dangerous. But him actually taking over the role and getting that team ticking? I don't see it from him.
