4 | Kalvin Phillips - 2022/23 Performances

[Jonathan Gunn]

Wouldn’t even get in our Academy team as an overage player. Terminate his contract and move on.

 

[Keeper!]

It’s like being in the Rodri 2019/20 thread.

Even the same recycled criticisms.

- Too slow to play in the PL
- Doesn’t look after the ball
- Gets bullied
- Poor positioning
- Not fit to lace [current first choice]’s boots!

I’ll check back in October when you’re all pretending you knew he’d be great from the get go and laughing at the overreaction to his first start.

The sh1t Rodri took early in his career was a joke, there is a big difference between ability and getting used to a new league/type of football.

Rodri despite early limitations was utter class, not sure if that applies to Phillips.

Early days but at this time he looks way below our level.

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

It’s like being in the Rodri 2019/20 thread.

Even the same recycled criticisms.

- Too slow to play in the PL
- Doesn’t look after the ball
- Gets bullied
- Poor positioning
- Not fit to lace [current first choice]’s boots!

I’ll check back in October when you’re all pretending you knew he’d be great from the get go and laughing at the overreaction to his first start.

All too typical of bluemoon I'm afraid. Happens too often.

 

[red 2 hats]

I'm not gonna write him off just yet it's far too early.
It wasn't a great first start for him, he looked lost and was over shadowed by Lavia, a player we sold for a fraction of the price we paid for Kalvin.
I didn't watch much of him at Leeds if I'm being honest, but he was highly rated by Bielsa, a manager that Pep knows and trusts.
I'd be interested to know did he play as a single holding defensive midfielder or play in a two like he did for England with Rice by his side.
If it's any consolation it couldn't get any worse for him ( barring another injury ) so onwards and upwards and hope he becomes the player we'd like him to be.

 

[01cravend]

I think he can be a good signing for us but you can tell these are his first forays into lone cdm. He's used to being the one chasing the ball around and hammering into tackles ect without thought of runners around him ect. He'd have someone next to him at Leeds(Klich) and has Rice for England do that part of the job for him.

Now he has to curb the chasing the ball and work on the mentals part of that position. Reading runs, cutting passing lanes, pressing when high and putting ball receivers under immediate pressure and communicating with his teammates.

I will say his performance wasn't as bad as people are making out and certainly wasn't helped by having Foden and Gundogan in front of him, just as Rodri often struggles without Bernie's aggression and covering in mid with him.
Also Rodri gave the ball away more than Phillips did despite playing half the time.

 

[wolfie1988]

Not too concerned. I thought he did look for the ball but will need to get used to receiving it facing his own goal with people pressing him. It was a bit like a hot potato when he did receive it.

The position he plays is so much different on the ball for City than it is for any other team in the world.

 

[samuelyeboah]

Made life really difficult for all of our defenders I felt. The role of the guardiola DM is to add to the safety of the possession by being able to buy a few seconds on the ball to move the players around. But Phillips last night constantly gave the ball to players who were in an awkward position and semi-pressed.

 

[TheFatAndUglyPhilFoden]

You have a shit memory, people (lots of them) were literally saying he was too slow to ever be capable of playing 6 in England (despite the existence of Gareth Barry) and decided we had to play 4231 because he couldn’t do the job on his own.

It’s a shame that @Moderating Team gets rid of old player threads, I often think they’d be useful references to look back on when people have a meltdown about a new player.

I mean, people can have hyper reactive opinions on here at the best of times. I've seen people on here want de Bruyne to be sold and I've seen people on here want Alex Iwobi to be signed.

But did you ever see a performance from Rodri in the 19/20 season that was as bad as last night for Phillips? I don't remember one. Even if Rodri was slow on the turn, got caught out of position or was ran through by more physical midfielders, he was always calm on the ball and a very safe passing option. I don't think Phillips had anything go his way last night.

And I mean, Rodri is a bit slow and has always needed a bit more cover from a Gundogan or a Bernardo than Fernandinho ever needed. There was games in the 19/20 season where our midfield was completely bypassed because of our lack of physicality. Even some in 20/21 like vs Chelsea for example where we were bullied. Obviously ridiculous over top opinions but not ones that came out of nowhere.

 

[jaiguruKun]

Looked mentally shot.
The injury and subsequent criticism has clearly affected him.

 

[red 2 hats]

I think he can be a good signing for us but you can tell these are his first forays into lone cdm. He's used to being the one chasing the ball around and hammering into tackles ect without thought of runners around him ect. He'd have someone next to him at Leeds(Klich) and has Rice for England do that part of the job for him.

Now he has to curb the chasing the ball and work on the mentals part of that position. Reading runs, cutting passing lanes, pressing when high and putting ball receivers under immediate pressure and communicating with his teammates.

I will say his performance wasn't as bad as people are making out and certainly wasn't helped by having Foden and Gundogan in front of him, just as Rodri often struggles without Bernie's aggression and covering in mid with him.
Also Rodri gave the ball away more than Phillips did despite playing half the time.

You've just answered my question ( the post before yours) that he's not played as a lone cdm before, therefore gotta cut him some slack, could be an idea to play him alongside Rodri and let him play the game that attracted us to him, let him be Rodris legs, but who do we drop and have we signed another square peg for a round hole.