Kalvin Phillips was rather too honest back in April when he admitted to Match of the Day that he had had a ‘bit of a stinker’ off the bench against Leicester.
He had, and the former Leeds man was only showing the kind of honesty that Jack Grealish is lauded for in his post-match interviews, yet it felt a little soon to be flippant about the scare Manchester City had endured. A comfortable home win had almost turned into points dropped in a performance that made Pep Guardiola realise he had fewer players in his squad that he could rely on than he thought.
Phillips obviously didn’t start the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final in Munich a few days later, but was then also not trusted to play the FA Cup semi-final against Championship opposition in Sheffield United. His unfortunate cameo against the Foxes had hindered rather than helped his chances of further minutes.
Having gone into the summer with his future at the club unclear, Phillips has talked a good game so far to make clear he is determined to make it at the Etihad. That has softened the noise around his future and the midfielder can look forward to knuckling down in pre-season and making good on that ambition.
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As he gives interviews ahead of the release of his upcoming Amazon documentary, the 27-year-old can do without opening unnecessary wounds. Telling the BBC he disagreed with Guardiola’s assertion that he was overweight when he returned to the squad after the World Cup in December is exactly that.
City’s manager is known for his strict rules around how fit players have to be to train and it shouldn’t need to be said that this is backed up by considerable medical data. However, even if it was just Guardiola’s word, that carries the most weight at the Etihad and isn’t worth arguing with.
Joao Cancelo was far more established in the City squad than Phillips was last season when he started to take issue after issue with being overlooked for games after the World Cup. There was only going to be one winner from that, as Guardiola told his bosses that Cancelo had to go and that was that; auf Wiedersehen , Joao.
Phillips is entitled to disagree with his manager and his honesty in interviews should be welcomed, but as part of understanding what it takes to make it at City the England international needs to read the room before he commits to anything on or off the pitch. Saying as well as doing the right things will be needed if Phillips is to manage to turn his City career around.
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