He was injured alot last season, thus unfit to start most times. I get it if pundits or other fans thinking he's out of favour with Pep because they are usually uninformed and generally one giant echo chamber.According to some fans on my timeline, evil Pep is holding him back and destroying his career.
They don't seem to quite understand that there are so many things that go on behind the scenes that we don't know about.
However, I do not understand how our own fans, of all people, don't know that. Pep very much loves Phil, and has reiterated that on a couple of occasions.