Kalvin Phillips

I think the only attribute he has is that of a 'tackling machine' - fair tackles, mind. Passing, reading the game, being in the right place should be ingrained by now, but they appear to be lacking! He's the kind of player we've had over and over again in the dark, dismal, despairing days, and he would have stood out! But in a stellar cast of world class players, playing where he does . . . . . Mmmmmm!
 
Agreed. Think it's better for both parties if he moves on. He isn't at our level, but would stand out in a mid table team
 
Dave Ewing's Back 'eader said:
I think the only attribute he has is that of a 'tackling machine' - fair tackles, mind. Passing, reading the game, being in the right place should be ingrained by now, but they appear to be lacking! He's the kind of player we've had over and over again in the dark, dismal, despairing days, and he would have stood out! But in a stellar cast of world class players, playing where he does . . . . . Mmmmmm!
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Do you think he's a tackling machine? I think one of his weakest attributes is his physicality. He's weak as fuck. Never wins a shoulder to shoulder/duel/50-50. Joelinton, Isak, Murphy all bullied him in the first 15 mins yesterday. People constantly running off him.

Not sure if it's a confidence thing but he's just not up to in in any sense and I've been quite vociferous in my defence of him. Time to draw a line under it in January/end of the season.
 
jimharri said:
I don't see him having a future with us. I just don't see how the pile on on him helps matters. Constructive criticism is always welcome; you could even say necessary. But there's a minority (at the moment) of posts on here about him that aren't particularly constructive. Stuff like "he's shit, get rid", or "what a waste of money" don't add much to the discussion, in my opinion. Maybe it's the happy clapper in me!
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There’s a pretty stark breakdown of opinions.

I think most people are of the view that he isn’t good enough, but stop short of any major personal criticism. Frankly, he doesn’t play enough to cause any real problems for the team, so he’s unlikely to ever become a real scapegoat in the way that people like Edghill did.

A few people offer a stronger view, but not many, and probably not as many as the people who continue to talk him up, despite all the evidence to the contrary. In fact these people will probably never change their stance, as Phillips is unlikely to ever get enough minutes to bring about a change of view.
 
Not really sure why people think there's a pile on. It might seem that way, but it is a thread purely about him and his performances, so where else to discuss how he does in his rare appearances?

First half I thought he played well. A bit slow occasionally resulting in losing the ball or giving a foul away, but not bad. He had a fair bit of time and he generally played at a level that would be ok on a regular basis.

However then they brought on Gordon, who is nothing but speed and effort, and Bruno, who is a very good all round midfielder. Everything changed as a result and Phillips stopped being given time, started losing it and started hiding because he isn't good enough under pressure or in tight spaces.

If all opposition sides know they just need to press him, then he'll end up as a massive weak point in the way we play whenever he's on the pitch.
 
Unfortunate when he starts games he is never in a full strength team , similar to Brentford & Brighton last season we played a vastly weakened teams , if he started alongside Rodri et al , i am sure he would look a more capable player.
Did Kovacic look the same player without Rodri alongside him ? No he didnt , but Phillips doesnt do himself any favours by looking ponderous and always playing the sideways/backward negative pass , he appears to be a popular squad member and plays with a smile on his face but we have got a cheerleader in Scott Carson we do not need another on £100k a week and costing £45m , Phillips needs a fresh start at a less ambitious and demanding club , i believe the Dippers are interested :)
 
Started 5 games for us since he arrived.

Chelsea at home in the league after it had been won. We won 1-0.
Brentford away. We lost 1-0.
Bristol City away in the FA Cup. We won 3-0.
Southampton away in the EFL Cup. We lost 2-0.
Plus last night.

He doesn’t know where to be. He can’t pass a ball first time and he can’t recover when taken on.

There aren’t many players Pep can’t improve, but sadly Kalvin is one.

Can’t see him starting again for us, barring an injury crisis.
 
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Brewster's millions said:
There’s a pretty stark breakdown of opinions.

I think most people are of the view that he isn’t good enough, but stop short of any major personal criticism. Frankly, he doesn’t play enough to cause any real problems for the team, so he’s unlikely to ever become a real scapegoat in the way that people like Edghill did.

A few people offer a stronger view, but not many, and probably not as many as the people who continue to talk him up, despite all the evidence to the contrary. In fact these people will probably never change their stance, as Phillips is unlikely to ever get enough minutes to bring about a change of view.
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I did say a minority. And there isn't anywhere near as many talking him up. Trust me. I try to keep an eye on the match threads, and watch out for needless abuse. There's very few bigging him up.
 
Obviously Pep disagrees with majority of the posters here about Kalvin's performance yesterday. We lost because we were caught by their hurrying in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Kalvin's performance was just the average of the whole team.
 
jimharri said:
I did say a minority. And there isn't anywhere near as many talking him up. Trust me. I try to keep an eye on the match threads, and watch out for needless abuse. There's very few bigging him up.
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I assumed we were only talking about this thread, rather than the Matchday thread.

Including the Matchday thread, I probably wouldn’t disagree with you.
 
Not getting on his case, and he's a decent enough player. But what strikes me about him is that he appears to have absolutely no invention in his passing. He can do a decent lateral pass on either side, five yards, ten yards max. Tidies up and passes back ok. But otherwise, let's be honest, offers little more than that. And sorry, but at the level City are at now, really, more is expected. You really see the difference with everyone around him. Forget Rodri. Aké can ping a forty yard pass over the heads of the opposing defence and right on to the foot of, say, Erling or Alvarez. It's rarer, but so can Akanji. Stones we don't need to talk about.
He's surrounded by very, very good players. And it shows. Pretty sure now that he'll move on.
 
If he turns this around to become a trusted member of the squad, massive respect to him but I can't see it.

His performances are so far off the required level, it just looks very bad when he's on the pitch.

Obviously he does some good things, he's an England international, not a terrible player.
 
I think the new phrase is 'press-resistant' when it comes to describing midfield player attributes. Rodri has in spades (though not immune to getting caught out now and again) Gundogan was particularly good when in tight spaces as well. Kovacic and Nunes both seem capable under pressure but Phillips seems particularly weak in this very specific and very necessary for City, area of his game. Given time and space which both the England and, perhaps Leeds, style of play afforded him and he did ok. I suspect that he could adapt but clearly isn't doing so quickly enough.
 
Robanompivenov said:
Do you think he's a tackling machine? I think one of his weakest attributes is his physicality. He's weak as fuck. Never wins a shoulder to shoulder/duel/50-50. Joelinton, Isak, Murphy all bullied him in the first 15 mins yesterday. People constantly running off him.

Not sure if it's a confidence thing but he's just not up to in in any sense and I've been quite vociferous in my defence of him. Time to draw a line under it in January/end of the season.
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He's not the consistent tackling machine I would like, but I think that is the only option Pep has of 'development'!
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
Not getting on his case, and he's a decent enough player. But what strikes me about him is that he appears to have absolutely no invention in his passing. He can do a decent lateral pass on either side, five yards, ten yards max. Tidies up and passes back ok. But otherwise, let's be honest, offers little more than that. And sorry, but at the level City are at now, really, more is expected. You really see the difference with everyone around him. Forget Rodri. Aké can ping a forty yard pass over the heads of the opposing defence and right on to the foot of, say, Erling or Alvarez. It's rarer, but so can Akanji. Stones we don't need to talk about.
He's surrounded by very, very good players. And it shows. Pretty sure now that he'll move on.
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I don't think his passing is a problem, I actually think he has a decent range of passing and always has.

I just think his confidence isn't all there, so he's might not be willing to try a more difficult ball out of fear of losing it.

I just think he's lacking more in his ability to read the game, his positioning and things like that. You can see a noticeable different between him and the likes of Rodri and Kovacic, they just seem to automatically know where to be to receive a pass and be available and it gives them a second or two longer on the ball, which is a lot at this level. I just think the way we play exposes those limitations in Phillips.

Stick him in another team with a different style of play and he would do a decent job, i have no doubt.
 
Just doesn’t seem to think quickly enough. Always a step behind, a second too slow to move. Small margins but make a huge difference for us.
Hopefully it will all click at some point and he’ll become a useful squad player. But it’s hard to ever see him getting enough minutes for that to happen. And I’m not sure he’s got the determination to make it work - never really get a sense of him busting a gut to impress. All a bit half-assed, so far at least.
 
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Phillips does have a decent pass in him, the chance where Alvarez’s shot was saved by the keepers outstretched foot came from an intelligent forward pass from Phillips. Generally his passing was neat with the odd clever pass chucked in for good measure.

That he pulled up on edge of area isn’t an issue, the way we play is to hand over responsibility to the defence, we don’t have the midfield all running in to the box that just causes confusion - he was on the edge to collect the second ball and defend the edge of the area. That’s his main job in that situation. However he could have probably read the danger on the overload for their goal at the far post - and the absence of danger just outside the box - better. Lack of match sharpness for me there or something to be coached. He may not get it and then, yes, won’t ever be a regular for us or someone pep fully trusts.

Folk saying he shouldn’t play again for us need to give their heads a wobble - let’s see how he does over the next few games. Let’s be honest here Rodri has made more mistakes in most games this season than Phillips made last night.
 
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