Kalvin Phillps
Kalvin Phillips says his experiences of facing Manchester City mean he’s much happier playing for the Blues rather than against them, as he revealed that Pep Guardiola told him that Leeds almost cost City the Premier League title in 2021. Even though City scored 11 past Leeds with no reply last season, Phillips says Guardiola still remembers his first two meetings with the Whites as he used it to make a point on the training ground in Houston on City’s pre-season tour.
Kalvin Phillips said: “We did take four points off City, to be fair Pep said it in the training session the other day. He was talking about Leeds and it’s a lot different to how we played. Then he said in the first year you took four points off us and nearly cost us the title but in the second season after that we got you back!”
Asked what a player can learn from facing City, Phillips said he might not have seen much of the ball, but always relished the big games against the top players.
Kalvin Phillips said: “It’s very hard to keep the ball. Hard to not concede goals, just the way they play. How technical every player is, the tempo they play at and can just change tempo like that and all of a sudden they’ve got a chance on goal and they score. They don’t just settle for 1-0, 2-0, they want to get more goals. I’ve found it very difficult playing against City over the last few years, I’m happy to be playing for them now. I love playing against City. I’ve always loved playing against City. Every time I’ve played Jack Grealish I’ve loved playing against him. Just to play against some of the best players in the world I look forward to doing that. I feel when I do I’ve got to give everything. Even though we lost 4-0 [last season] I thought the way we played was quite good until the last 17 minutes. I want to test myself against the best players in the world. I didn’t play the 7-0 [City win at the Etihad], I was at home watching on TV. I almost turned it off after 45 minutes.”
With a step up now secured with his £42m transfer to City, Phillips admitted he has swapped Elland Road for the Etihad in order to test himself on a daily basis. There is a chance that Guardiola may leave next summer when his contract expires, but the new number four saw the guarantee of a year working with his new boss was an opportunity too good to turn down.
Kalvin Phillips said: “The standard of training is always surprising. You don’t know how good you are until you’ve trained with them. Just the difference in certain things of the club. Like today with all the media, with Leeds it was one camera, ten minutes interview and I’d be off. Now I’ve got two hours of interviews, so just the size of the club and everything they do is so different. I know there will be times I’m pulling my hair out because it’s so difficult but that’s what I wanted, that’s my decision. That’s why I came here and what I wanted to do. It was the opportunity to be coached by Pep even if it’s just for a year or hopefully longer. I know he’s a great manager and he’ll elevate my game to a level I want to be at, and be involved in teams fighting for trophies and just be around players that make you a better player every single day. The opportunity I was given was one I couldn’t turn down. Even if Pep’s only here for one more year then it will hopefully be a good year.”
