Be prepared for a Kalvin Phillips breakout next season

It takes time to get accustomed to Pep

Photo credit: Christian David

Much has been made of the comments Pep Guardiola made about Kalvin Phillips in December. Many have since speculated Phillips is a surplus to requirements player at Manchester City, despite his £42 million move this past summer.

I’d say this is absolute rubbish - I expect Phillips to be an influential player for City next season.

Phillips played a key role, perhaps THE key role in Marcelo Bielsa’s revolution at Leeds United. Phillips work rate and ability to help dictate tempo in matches both at the Championship and Premier League level were key factors in Leeds promotion and top-half Prem finish the club’s first year up. In fact, when Phillips was injured, Leeds looked discernibly different, and less dangerous.

In addition, Phillips covered more ground than just about any midfielder in England at the time, combining his short passing quality and precision in finding pockets of space to move, while identifying additional pockets to play passes into. In the modern game, he’s what you want a central midfielder to be.