Maybe it’s because he’s in the position I played and so I am hyper focused on and critical of anyone playing there, but I actually thought he was pretty poor.
He was bullied off the ball a few times in midfield (at least one instance leading to a chance on goal), launched (and lost) two very tame challenges just outside of our box leading to chances for Bristol, played at least four passes directly to Bristol players under no pressure, lost most of his aerial duels, and at times looked to be hiding from the ball whilst we were in possession (in contrast to Lewis, who was constantly running in to space to demand the ball, often the space Phillips should have been in). I think we largely struggled because he was just not able to fill the role Rodri does in our system (I don’t mean to the same standard, as that would be unreasonable to expect, but that he was just not offering the same attributes). At times, it actually looked like our players were trying to avoid passing to him. His body language at times looked frustrated, as well. Those last two observations could be disputed, I’ll admit, but a few mates in my City WhatsApp chat also agreed, so I imagine I am not the only one that saw it.
Now, all of that said, I’d like to think that is mostly down to being rusty and, as you say, nowhere near match fit. And perhaps his teammates sensed his confidence is low and didn’t want to pile pressure on him.
Phillips is a different player to Rodri—who I would argue is one of the best DMs in the world—most players need at least a year to adjust to Pep’s tactics, and has been hit by injury (though, the shoulder problems were well-known before we signed him, which remains a head scratcher for me personally), so I am going to reserve judgement.
But I am definitely surprised that others thought he played well tonight. I would say he was ok at best if we’re grading on a curve (based on him just coming back from a long lay off).
Hopefully this 90 minutes gives him something to build on and we see more from him through these difficult next few months.
I am definitely going to support him, either way.
