WHIPPANY, N.J. — Strikers, by nature, are not a humble bunch. The hardest task in soccer — putting the ball into the net — lends itself to a certain type of self-confident, self-congratulatory personality.

Bradley Wright-Phillips of the Red Bulls, then, is not a typical striker. After one game this season, Wright-Phillips was so distraught by his “dreadful” effort that he described it as “my worst performance for years.”

Never mind that he had scored twice and his team had won.

Wright-Phillips remembers even his best moments, it seems, not for what he did but for what he could have done better. When Wright-Phillips tied Major League Soccer’s season scoring record in 2014, for example, Red Bulls fans honored his 27 goals by raising a banner proclaiming him the “Ultimate Scoring Machine.”

It was a special moment in a special season. Wright-Phillips was being recognized for his first league scoring title — he would go on to add a second in 2016 — but also for his emergence as a premium player in a league with plenty of bigger names.