4 | Kalvin Phillips - 2022/23 Performances

[Lauz9888]

I thought he was okay today, could do with a bit more strength and composure on the ball, and some work on his positioning too.

But injuries have him waaay behind where he'd otherwise have been, he's practically still brand new to us.

So right now I'm not particularly impressed, but we've been here before with plenty of other players who turned out great. Time and patience are needed.

 

[Bill Walker]

Stats don’t matter. Most of them were back or short sideways passes under no pressure

I wish he'd have a short back and sides

 

[super_city_si]

His pass success rate tonight was 91%.

Passing is great. Just needs more minutes in his legs and time to learn our play. If he can grasp his role all may not be lost.

 

[waspish]

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.

What we have him in there for stopping the break transition he was piss poor! Once he has the ball his passing is fine! Will he get better at it maybe will he get the time? Depends if pep will keep faith when we buy players this summer..

 

[waspish]

His pass success rate tonight was 91%.

His passing is not in question how many 50/50 tackles did he win? Because if you ain’t on top of that it’s where all the danger will come when we are a team of possession! I counted 3/4 times he had 50/50 ball to win to stop the counter and was easily beaten for the ball!

 

[Alexia_Ko]

His passing is not in question how many 50/50 tackles did he win? Because if you ain’t on top of that it’s where all the danger will come when we are a team of possession! I counted 3/4 times he had 50/50 ball to win to stop the counter and was easily beaten for the ball!

I saw that too, he was OK but outmuscled way too easily on a couple of occasions

 

[Saddleworth2]

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.

This is what I saw. What disappointed me most was his body language. Sometimes casual. Sometimes frustrated. Sometimes positively beaten. His confidence looks shattered. I think it will be a long recovery as he isn’t performing at a level that he warrants many games. Hopefully we will be far ahead in most and he gets the last 15 minutes.

 

[howfen blue]

He was garbage again. Totally lacking mobility and recovery speed.

Gets eased off the ball far too easily as well. Feel sorry for the lad he sticks out like a sore thumb in this team but realistically it was always going to happen these types of signing don't work.

Hopefully we can recoup the majority of the money back in the summer.

 

[FantasyIreland]

He was garbage again. Totally lacking mobility and recovery speed.

Gets eased off the ball far too easily as well. Feel sorry for the lad he sticks out like a sore thumb in this team but realistically it was always going to happen these types of signing don't work.

Hopefully we can recoup the majority of the money back in the summer.

Harsh

While he was a long way off a master class,it was a decent 90 mins on which to build from.He is off the pace and rusty,only game time that I'm not sure he'll get....can rectify.

 

[Akira]

Thought he was okay overall. Can't expect a player to be 100% at it when he barely played.