I’d normally say we signed him, so should work with him for at least a few seasons based on our initial judgement. In this case I’d cut our losses for £30m and get a good technical player in, like Kovacic, to help take the burden off Rodri.Being linked with a return to Leeds and a move to the Hammers this morning which tells you the level he’s at. I did say he was a weird signing at the time and Lavia would prove a better bet in the long run. If we can anything close to what we paid for him then definitely get rid.
None of them were as bad as Phillips. Rodri looked solid but lost possession a few times, Ake did ok. Grealish didn’t look worth £100m but was ok and always kept the ball. All were many levels above Phillips so far.We shouldn't ever give chance to Rodri, Ake and Grealish on their first season then.
None of them were as bad as Phillips. Rodri looked solid but lost possession a few times, Ake did ok. Grealish didn’t look worth £100m but was ok and always kept the ball. All were many levels above Phillips so far.
Ok Phillips has had bad luck but what worries me about him is he seems to lack spatial awareness on the field. This is hard to coach but is essential at the top level. You can see that Rico has it. Rico will make mistakes but get better. I fear we have made a mistake with Phillips. We don’t make many.None of them arrived and dislocated their shoulder multiple times, needed surgery and then went off to a midseason world cup either.
I'm concerned about how Pep is pretty much refusing to play him, but ultimately he's the one to blame here if Kalvin isn't good enough. No one forces players on Pep, if we signed Phillips it's because the manager wanted him.
It's like the old Malcolm Tucker line "Sacked after a week, it looks like the PM fucked up, sacked after a year, looks like you fucked up".
Except in football parlance 1 disrupted season = 1 week.
Our record over years has been pretty good with regards to transfers and every club/ manger gets the odd one wrong. It the nature of transfers they are always a gamble some more so than others.None of them arrived and dislocated their shoulder multiple times, needed surgery and then went off to a midseason world cup either.
I'm concerned about how Pep is pretty much refusing to play him, but ultimately he's the one to blame here if Kalvin isn't good enough. No one forces players on Pep, if we signed Phillips it's because the manager wanted him.
If he's really misjudged it and Rice leaving West Ham means we end up with an opportuinity to recoup most of our money, go for it, but it would be a fairly major admission on failure.
It's like the old Malcolm Tucker line "Sacked after a week, it looks like the PM fucked up, sacked after a year, looks like you fucked up" - except in football parlance 1 disrupted season = 1 week.
Every manager makes bad calls on transfers, it's admiting your wrong that's the difficult part.None of them arrived and dislocated their shoulder multiple times, needed surgery and then went off to a midseason world cup either.
I'm concerned about how Pep is pretty much refusing to play him, but ultimately he's the one to blame here if Kalvin isn't good enough. No one forces players on Pep, if we signed Phillips it's because the manager wanted him.
If he's really misjudged it and Rice leaving West Ham means we end up with an opportuinity to recoup most of our money, go for it, but it would be a fairly major admission on failure.
It's like the old Malcolm Tucker line "Sacked after a week, it looks like the PM fucked up, sacked after a year, looks like you fucked up" - except in football parlance 1 disrupted season = 1 week.
Phillips hasn’t had much game time, mostly due to injury and the World Cup interruption. I think he needs to be given a chance next season.None of them were as bad as Phillips. Rodri looked solid but lost possession a few times, Ake did ok. Grealish didn’t look worth £100m but was ok and always kept the ball. All were many levels above Phillips so far.
This along with all the others at the start of this thread aged well…Very tidy, composed, and strong…oh yeah, and he can play anywhere!!
Another inspired purchase!
Do you normally give your book reviews after reading the first chapter?This along with all the others at the start of this thread aged well…