4 | Kalvin Phillips - 2022/23 Performances

[Keeper!]

It's an issue we seem to have with all the purchases we make,let's judge the following season is the mantra

Grealish being another example,and to be fair that is working a treat now.

But we sometimes need players to be drafted in and be able to do it,Phillips doesn't seem to be able to,we chuck others in like Alvarez,Lewis,and to a degree Palmer,and they all adapt immediately.

Point I'm making is,will we always have to wait for the following season when a new purchase is made,daft if that is gonna be the case every time.

I still say the very top players don't need time to settle, they start well and simply get better and better.

 

[meeesh]

I still say the very top players don't need time to settle, they start well and simply get better and better.

Agreed

 

[Gus Fring]

Some of the comments are a bit harsh in my opinion, he’s done nothing wrong tackles and passes as he should in the role and as we know where Pep’s concerned you don’t know what his instructions might be when he does get thrown on.

I think in seasons gone by he’d have played more football but due to how poor we’ve been at times this season Pep has left Rodri on or started in games when maybe he’d have been rested, of course there’s the argument on that front that maybe Pep doesn’t trust him but only they know that.

The lad played week in, week out for one of the most physically demanding managers the league has seen, he’s coming to a bigger club and gets 15 mins when we’re 3 up.

 

[supercity88]

I still say the very top players don't need time to settle, they start well and simply get better and better.

I would say that's true in some positions but DM is probably the exception. It's the hardest position to play under Pep because it's not about just intercepting the ball and passing to someone else, it's critical to our whole system. He has to be there as an outlet almost 100% of the time to enable a switch of play or a pass out from the back or a triangle in wide areas. Then he also has to read the game well enough to be able to win the ball back and stop a counter or assist the defence in their positioning.

Rodri looked a car crash initially and there were numerous threads on other players to replace him. A lot of us are guilty of seeing DMs at other teams and thinking they'd be better, when all they do is intercept the ball and put a foot in. We need that alongside David Silva style tempo and control from a defensive perspective. It's a hugely challenging role to play. I believe Pep got the thumbs up from Bielsa on Phillips and believed he could give us that, and maybe in time he will. But he just doesn't look to have the confidence to be that constant outlet, the ability to control the pace of the game or - fundamentally - the fitness to cover ground and do a job.

 

[meeesh]

Some of the comments are a bit harsh in my opinion, he’s done nothing wrong tackles and passes as he should in the role and as we know where Pep’s concerned you don’t know what his instructions might be when he does get thrown on.

I think in seasons gone by he’d have played more football but due to how poor we’ve been at times this season Pep has left Rodri on or started in games when maybe he’d have been rested, of course there’s the argument on that front that maybe Pep doesn’t trust him but only they know that.

The lad played week in, week out for one of the most physically demanding managers the league has seen, he’s coming to a bigger club and gets 15 mins when we’re 3 up.

The last paragraph sums it all up,not a total criticism,but evidently not good enough in Peps eyes

 

[meeesh]

I would say that's true in some positions but DM is probably the exception. It's the hardest position to play under Pep because it's not about just intercepting the ball and passing to someone else, it's critical to our whole system. He has to be there as an outlet almost 100% of the time to enable a switch of play or a pass out from the back or a triangle in wide areas. Then he also has to read the game well enough to be able to win the ball back and stop a counter or assist the defence in their positioning.

Rodri looked a car crash initially and there were numerous threads on other players to replace him. A lot of us are guilty of seeing DMs at other teams and thinking they'd be better, when all they do is intercept the ball and put a foot in. We need that alongside David Silva style tempo and control from a defensive perspective. It's a hugely challenging role to play. I believe Pep got the thumbs up from Bielsa on Phillips and believed he could give us that, and maybe in time he will. But he just doesn't look to have the confidence to be that constant outlet, the ability to control the pace of the game or - fundamentally - the fitness to cover ground and do a job.

If Fernandinho was still with us,he'd be getting a game before this fella

 

[FantasyIreland]

If Fernandinho was still with us,he'd be getting a game before this fella

He'd be livening the fucker up in training too

 

[meeesh]

He'd be livening the fucker up in training too

Oh for sure

 

[Jonathan Gunn]

Loan him out to Huddersfield. Warnock will liven the F***er up.

 

[supercity88]

If Fernandinho was still with us,he'd be getting a game before this fella

He would. I've not seen Lavia enough to know whether he can control the tempo the way Rodri does, but considering his age he would have had 5 years to learn the role before needing to become the main man. Phillips is simply miles off what is required despite his age and investment, and it doesn't look like very good business at the minute. Positively, he either comes good and gives us a different dimension or we sell him for around £20m which isn't too bad a loss. Being English and experienced he should get that regardless of his form.