Kalvin Phillips

[mattcity5]

Having him playing alongside Rodders for a bit will do him the world of good. Will help him learn and take a bit of the pressure off.

He's obvs staying to fight for his place so while my gut still tells me he's quite at our level I'm going to back him 100%. I really want the lad to prove me wrong.

He looked good for England, but that was with a DM alongside him, 3 central defenders behind him and two defence-minded wingbacks wide of him.

We can't change our system to accommodate him, he needs to adapt, and also play to a higher standard than he ever has done previously.

And that's just to be a backup.

 

[JewelZee]

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

His passing is 'very good' when he's allowed time on the ball, unfortunately our DMs don't get allowed time on the ball, hence you need to be press resistant

Agree totally with this. He sometimes looks good playing for England but the standard of most international teams (especially in qualifiers) is about League One in this country. I am sure he has a sound attitude and hopefully will come good but to be honest I am not that confident this will happen.

 

[WallyA]

We play with 2 defensive midfielders when we attack in our 325.

The options for those two are Rodri, Stones, Kovacic and Philips.

He is 4th choice, he may not be as good as Rodri, but he will be useful for our squad in the long run.

Edit: It would help him to get minutes if he could play in more than one position.

Kovacic: 6, or higher as an 8.

Stones: CB, RB, CB into mid, or 6.

Rodri: 6 or CB into mid.

If Philips could play as a CB into mid or RB he becomes immensely more useful as a squad player.

 

[kippax_blueboy]

 

[Any1aBlue]

He looked good for England, but that was with a DM alongside him, 3 central defenders behind him and two defence-minded wingbacks wide of him.

We can't change our system to accommodate him, he needs to adapt, and also play to a higher standard than he ever has done previously.

And that's just to be a backup.

No, he looked ok for England. Rice covered for his inadequacies. He’s not good enough for England, and won’t get another kick in three lions shirt whilst rice and Bellingham are playing. Also, Rico is already better.

 

[Any1aBlue]

Then don’t ask for money

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Clubs always need squad depth. Sometimes there's not many injuries and when some things click you don't want to change it.

I don't think he's done anything wrong, it just has fallen in his favour. One injury in the squad could change his outlook considerably.

 

[oldius]

How we remember when the Grealish thread was just like this one. Get a grip, it's like you're willing one of our own to fail. What is all that about?

 

[mattcity5]

No, he looked ok for England. Rice covered for his inadequacies. He’s not good enough for England, and won’t get another kick in three lions shirt whilst rice and Bellingham are playing. Also, Rico is already better.

Not arguing with that.

A lot have praised his England performances, but I think he got excessive praise because he was from a club who get less players represent England. It would have been the same if he were a Villa, Everton or Brentford player playing like he did. His performances were good but the praise was exaggerated.