Tyreik is getting it (w)right

By Jason McKeown

“Confidence is a preference,” sang Phil Daniels and Blur, but Tyreik Wright may very well beg to differ, because confidence is a quality that has proved challenging for the 24-year-old to restore. Now it is visibly soaring through Wright’s veins, driving him to produce possibly the best football of his career so far – and helping to win over those in the stands who once loudly doubted him.

“I think it’s the most consistent I’ve been this season in my career so far,” Wright recently beamed. He’s got a point. If there’s a prize for most improved player this season, he’s winning it hands down. Of late, only Jenson Metcalfe could rival Wright for consistency of performance. And it means a player who is out of contract this summer is surely in with a big shout of earning another deal.

Alexander is certainly a fan. “I see a real determination from him,” the City boss recently professed. “This year I’ve seen a much more settled Tyreik, really confident. If he’s on the bench, if he starts, if he’s in the front three, if he starts at wing back – he’s the same all the time. Really committed. Great team-mate for everyone else. Fit as anything.

“I’m glad he’s enjoying his football, because he looks like it.”

It’s high praise – and well merited. Since the Doncaster home game at the end of January, where he came off the bench and scored a stunning volley to win the game, Wright’s confidence has gone to another level.

A week later at Luton, Wright lined up in the front three and was the only starting forward to make a meaningful impression. Then, as a wing-back against Peterborough, he assisted the opening goal. Another brilliant all-round display followed at home to Stockport. Then came another assist in the important victory over Rotherham. At Reading on Saturday, he was again influential. And of late, he seems to be keeping the brilliant Ibou Touray out of the team.

Wright’s rise in importance to City is to his immense credit. It hasn’t been easy in recent years. There were knocks, setbacks and plenty of reasons for that confidence to drain away. He’s been written off. Ridiculed, even. But he’s shown commendable inner strength to rebuild and demonstrate a resilient mentality.

It helps that he’s settled – that Valley Parade is where he has found the best version of himself. “I absolutely love it – the fans, the environment, the changing room, everything,” he revealed after making his 100th appearance for the club against Rotherham. That view was probably still true during the tougher moments, but it was certainly tested.

It’s worth rewinding to recall some of those difficulties.

First, the good times. Wright first stepped onto the Valley Parade stage in August 2022 as a deadline-day signing. An Aston Villa youth product, he had experienced loan spells at Walsall, Salford and Colchester that had yielded little of note. But under Mark Hughes, that changed. Wright enjoyed a strong loan spell playing on the left – and occasionally up front. Four goals and two assists from 17 appearances hinted at real promise.

Unfortunately, it also caught the eye of others. In came then-League One leaders Plymouth with an offer Aston Villa were happy to accept, and so off Wright went to Devon. City missed him, and Wright seemingly missed City. He made just eight starts for the Green Army, largely watching Argyle’s promotion from the sidelines. The following season brought only 88 minutes of Championship action.

That’s when City came knocking again. Hughes was long gone, but Stephen Gent recommended Wright to Alexander. “I said when I signed him he was going to be as a wing-back – I saw his attributes there,” recalled the manager. Wright may have been less convinced initially, but by the end of that campaign he was a regular in that position and helped the team finish strongly.

That summer, the loan became permanent, and Wright entered the 2024/25 campaign as the slated first-choice left wing-back. But the season brought difficult moments.

Like the home game against Newport in October, when City’s attacks repeatedly came down the left and Wright found himself in promising positions, only to deliver a succession of under-hit crosses. Later in that half, Jay Benn got a chance to try from the right – and set up Andy Cook to score. That’s how you do it, Tyreik!

Like the home game against Doncaster that same month, where Wright struggled against opposition that had really done their homework on City. Two goals down, he was substituted with 17 minutes remaining to audible cheers from sections of the home crowd.

Like the vital away game against Doncaster in April, where with five minutes to go City won a penalty carrying huge implications. Wright ended up taking responsibility, but his spot kick was saved. Had City not secured automatic promotion the week after, perceptions of Wright might look very different today.

There were other setbacks. The central issue was that Wright failed to fully grasp the wing-back role that seemed his to own. He looked vulnerable defensively and lacked the attacking spark he had shown under Hughes in 2022. Lewis Richards and later Tayo Adaramola took the shirt. Though Wright still contributed – including a superb display at home to Colchester during the run-in – he became more of a supporting act than a main character.

And that was tough. Tough for someone still recovering from the blows to his confidence at Plymouth. Tough for someone trying to piece it all back together and rediscover what he had once threatened to become.

I watched that October 2024 Doncaster home game from the players’ families section, seated a row behind Tyreik’s partner and young children. It was deeply uncomfortable to hear fellow supporters jeer him off the pitch with his loved ones present to witness it. This is the ugly side of football we rarely stop to consider.

This season could easily have followed the same pattern. Remember Luton early in the campaign, when Wright came off the bench and missed a hatful of chances to loud groans? But he’s kept working, refining his game, and has developed into a genuinely excellent wing-back.

Alexander explained, “The going forwards, running in behind, taking people on, the crosses and getting in the box is natural for his game, that’s his winger personality coming through. But I’ve seen a real determination and focus on the defensive side of his game.

“Some of his aerial challenges are great. I think his one-versus-one defending is really superb. I think he’s grown into it.”

There is so much to admire about Wright’s resilience. Since returning two years ago, he has effectively learned a new position. We’ve seen him endure some of his lowest moments, yet he has shown the character to absorb setbacks and come roaring back. He has demonstrated a genuine desire to become a successful Bradford City player capable of handling the expectations that come with it. Watching him thrive should serve as inspiration.

Because confidence is never a preference. It comes and it goes. And when 20,000 people are ready to pounce on every mistake, finding the courage to withstand that pressure and rebuild belief is some feat. Where he was once jeered, Wright now has his own chant. Some turnaround.

He deserves all the rewards and plaudits coming his way.

Because he’s made of the (W)right stuff.    

Categories: Opinion

Tags: BCAFC, Tyreik Wright