Kalvin Phillips

[Bigga]

He had his shoulder surgery last September, and then managed to get somewhere close to fitness in order to take his place in the World Cup squad.

He wouldn’t have been fully fit when he turned up at the WC, but the expectation was that he would work on his conditioning and have a few weeks of warm weather training to get up to speed, so that he could crack on when the domestic season resumed. City’s medical staff also went to great lengths so as to help the players when they returned after the WC. Unfortunately Phillips turned up in worse shape than when he left, and in no position to feature at a crucial period of the season.

He was however fully fit from January to June, but as we all know Guardiola refused to play him, other than in dead rubber games, even when key players were in dire need of a rest. On the odd occasions when he did play, he looked out of his depth, on the back foot, often hiding from the ball and unable to keep up with the pace of the game.

Personally I think he’s just been a bad buy, and the fact that we bid for Rice suggests to me that he won’t be around for that much longer.

I don't mind disagreeing at some of the points (not the surgery).

I think Guardiola puts players through hard tests of desire, sometimes, that looks like punishment. Let's say the manager is putting Phillips on notice for disrespecting the Guardiola system; I'm sure he has seen, by now, Phillips be positive and still smile through the 'lack of trust' and torture of not playing. This happened to Aguero, Stones, Jesus and Laporte.

I think this is clean slate time and we'll see how far along Phillips comes.

 

[cjn]

Would hardly say fat as fuck

Looks amazing for a regular person…and awful for a professional footballer.

 

[John Wayne]

I can’t take to him. I have tried.

We have seen a lot of players take time to develop under Pep and prove a lot of us wrong. I didn't think Grealish would produce, but since the turn of the year he's been excellent. I didn't think Ake had a future with us but he's turned it round quite brilliantly. He showed such an elite mentality to be playing around the time his father was at death's door. There is nobody with a more elite mentality than Ake. In sum, I was wrong about those two players and quite a few more too.

The thing with Phillips is that he is coming from a lot further back than all of the others who have turned it round. He is 28 in September and hardly played in his first year. This is his first year coming up, in reality. He will always be second fiddle to Rodri, so I expect his chances, in a very important position no less, will once again be limited. He could be more than halfway through his contract and nearly 30 by the time we see his best stuff, which may not be good enough and only likely to keep him as a backup player.

I saw him come on at home to Leicester and he nearly single-handedly cost us one of the most comfortable strolls you're ever likely to see.

I'm just not sure he has the elite mentality needed to succeed at City. It's a ruthless environment and he's thus far looked completely out of his depth. Although it's only a minor thing, I also didn't like what he did on stage at the parade. You wouldn't see Gundogan or Ake behaving that way. Again, mentality.

My own feeling is that we should try to sell him. We could recoup roughly what we paid for him a year ago. That will not be the case if we leave it another year. The signing of Kovacic gives us more cover in Rodri's position and I fancy that Gvardiol might do some work in there.

I know that this is not a popular view, but I have thought about it quite a bit. If I'm proven to be wrong, please drag this post up in future and I will willingly hold up my hands.

 

[jamesha]

I can’t take to him. I have tried.

We have seen a lot of players take time to develop under Pep and prove a lot of us wrong. I didn't think Grealish would produce, but since the turn of the year he's been excellent. I didn't think Ake had a future with us but he's turned it round quite brilliantly. He showed such an elite mentality to be playing around the time his father was at death's door. There is nobody with a more elite mentality than Ake. In sum, I was wrong about those two players and quite a few more too.

The thing with Phillips is that he is coming from a lot further back than all of the others who have turned it round. He is 28 in September and hardly played in his first year. This is his first year coming up, in reality. He will always be second fiddle to Rodri, so I expect his chances, in a very important position no less, will once again be limited. He could be more than halfway through his contract and nearly 30 by the time we see his best stuff, which may not be good enough and only likely to keep him as a backup player.

I saw him come on at home to Leicester and he nearly single-handedly cost us one of the most comfortable strolls you're ever likely to see.

I'm just not sure he has the elite mentality needed to succeed at City. It's a ruthless environment and he's thus far looked completely out of his depth. Although it's only a minor thing, I also didn't like what he did on stage at the parade. You wouldn't see Gundogan or Ake behaving that way. Again, mentality.

My own feeling is that we should try to sell him. We could recoup roughly what we paid for him a year ago. That will not be the case if we leave it another year. The signing of Kovacic gives us more cover in Rodri's position and I fancy that Gvardiol might do some work in there.

I know that this is not a popular view, but I have thought about it quite a bit. If I'm proven to be wrong, please drag this post up in future and I will willingly hold up my hands.

I too am struggling to see him making much progress next season. To be a viable option he needs minutes on the pitch which I cannot see him getting unless Pep changes the structure of the team radically to shoehorn him in alongside Rodri. Maybe he could play as a nominal 8 and drop back as Bernado did on occasions but I think that would impact our attacking play too much.
I am a little surprised that there does not seem to have been much interest from other clubs in him as I think he could do ok for the likes of Villa, West Ham etc.
Also does us signing a new midfielder depend upon him leaving? - we bid for Rice and were interested in Bellingham so I assume not but have heard that it does.

 

[Cityfan]

Yes, some players have kicked on massively in their second season under Pep, but they played 20x more than Phillips in their first season, and what about the players who didn't kick on? Bravo, Angelino, Phillippe Sandler, Ferran Torres, Mangala, Eric Garcia?

I remain a bit sceptical about Phillips and would agree that because some platers who got playing time improved it doesn't mean all will.
However the players you quote were by and large in a very different situation.
Bravo was superceded by Ederson but when he did play he was actually much improved after his first season.
Mangala was bought pre Pep and never had a full season with the squad being out on loan.
Sandler only ever looked like a possible development option.
Torres and Garcia didn't stay and wanted out as did Angelino they didn't have proper second seasons.

 

[Brewster's millions]

I don't mind disagreeing at some of the points (not the surgery).

I think Guardiola puts players through hard tests of desire, sometimes, that looks like punishment. Let's say the manager is putting Phillips on notice for disrespecting the Guardiola system; I'm sure he has seen, by now, Phillips be positive and still smile through the 'lack of trust' and torture of not playing. This happened to Aguero, Stones, Jesus and Laporte.

I think this is clean slate time and we'll see how far along Phillips comes.

I can see understand why people want to give him the benefit of the doubt, and it would certainly suit us all if he does turn it around.

But fundamentally I just don’t think he’s got it physically, as he seems very ponderous on the ball, slow to turn and he doesn’t seem to have particularly quick feet. Mentality-wise, I also can’t imagine that a top player would come back from the World Cup in poor condition, and from some of the recent pictures he hardly seems to be fighting fit at the moment either, which is also a surprise given how much he needs to impress in pre-season.

 

[Bigga]

I can see understand why people want to give him the benefit of the doubt, and it would certainly suit us all if he does turn it around.

But fundamentally I just don’t think he’s got it physically, as he seems very ponderous on the ball, slow to turn and he doesn’t seem to have particularly quick feet. Mentality-wise, I also can’t imagine that a top player would come back from the World Cup in poor condition, and from some of the recent pictures he hardly seems to be fighting fit at the moment either, which is also a surprise given how much he needs to impress in pre-season.

I get that. I saw his first couple of games, but we all saw his last couple of games and they were different. Compared to the first few, there was less dilly dallying in the latter games and spreading out the passes and getting into the latter third too.

I'm good to wait and see with his 'condition' at pre-season.

Maybe I don't like knocking City players and always have high hopes for them unless I can see they don't give a shit (which is why I went off Tevez).

 

[Father Paul]

I can’t take to him. I have tried.

We have seen a lot of players take time to develop under Pep and prove a lot of us wrong. I didn't think Grealish would produce, but since the turn of the year he's been excellent. I didn't think Ake had a future with us but he's turned it round quite brilliantly. He showed such an elite mentality to be playing around the time his father was at death's door. There is nobody with a more elite mentality than Ake. In sum, I was wrong about those two players and quite a few more too.

The thing with Phillips is that he is coming from a lot further back than all of the others who have turned it round. He is 28 in September and hardly played in his first year. This is his first year coming up, in reality. He will always be second fiddle to Rodri, so I expect his chances, in a very important position no less, will once again be limited. He could be more than halfway through his contract and nearly 30 by the time we see his best stuff, which may not be good enough and only likely to keep him as a backup player.

I saw him come on at home to Leicester and he nearly single-handedly cost us one of the most comfortable strolls you're ever likely to see.

I'm just not sure he has the elite mentality needed to succeed at City. It's a ruthless environment and he's thus far looked completely out of his depth. Although it's only a minor thing, I also didn't like what he did on stage at the parade. You wouldn't see Gundogan or Ake behaving that way. Again, mentality.

My own feeling is that we should try to sell him. We could recoup roughly what we paid for him a year ago. That will not be the case if we leave it another year. The signing of Kovacic gives us more cover in Rodri's position and I fancy that Gvardiol might do some work in there.

I know that this is not a popular view, but I have thought about it quite a bit. If I'm proven to be wrong, please drag this post up in future and I will willingly hold up my hands.

I doubt you'll ever be holding those hands up. Interesting to see if any bids come in West Ham maybe?

 

[John Wayne]

I doubt you'll ever be holding those hands up. Interesting to see if any bids come in West Ham maybe?

Well, perhaps. There are one or two articles appearing linking him to them again.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Well, perhaps. There are one or two articles appearing linking him to them again.

I do hope so,as pre season starts im getting more and more anxious about this lads inclusion and what will happen if we lose Rodri.

Ive said previously,i'll give him a clean slate......but i just can't get it out of my head how much poorer we look when he deputises,and if that becomes an extended period,the damage that will cause to our chances.