Pep Guardiola believes Kalvin Phillips will be frustrated with his lack of playing time since moving to Manchester City but wants him to push Rodri for a spot in the starting XI for the good of the team.
Pep Guardiola said: “I am pretty sure he is frustrated when you come to a new club and cannot play. But the shoulder is the main thing, after surgery he came back from the World Cup perfectly and now he feels fine, just a question of time, minutes, the amount of games we have we are going to use him. He has to fight with Rodri for the benefit of all of us. Rodri cannot sleep and must have the feeling there is someone close to him to do it. He has to.”
When asked if Phillips can win that fight,
Pep Guardiola continued: “Why not? It depends on him how he is able to fight with Rodri. That’s why the big clubs must have these kind of feelings. Rodri knows a little bit more what we want to do. The quality of the long balls, Kalvin is better than Rodri. In the shorter spaces in the first actions and controls Rodri is better. Everyone has his own qualities but they can play together, especially when you play with two holding midfielders that mainly happened against Chelsea here. We need Kalvin. I said from day one. When he didn’t train for the first game after the World Cup it was I don’t want you injured when you are not fit. You are at more risk in training session or in the games. It’s better to stay away for a few days and when you are fit or in the condition to train, go. This is what happened after a few days, the weight was perfect and he was back training. Sometimes he is not ready for some niggles or problems, I prefer one day out, you’re not going to lose anything. When you lose a player you lose for one month, you lose them for six games, eight games. I’m so concerned about that. I said many times, if you are not ready for the training guys, take a day off. The moment you are there, focus. If you are not ready for many reasons – personal issues or physical issues – no problem.”
