Kalvin Phillips has admitted to having confidence issues at Manchester City, something he says he never really had at Leeds United.
Phillips has again struggled for minutes this season at the Etihad.
The midfielder has played second fiddle to Rodri.
But he has also sometimes not played ahead of the likes of Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis.
Speculation has been rife about Phillips in recent days and weeks.
His lack of minutes while Rodri was unavailable surely had to have been hard to take.
Phillips was recently speaking about his time at City on the club’s podcast – and admitted his lack of involvement has led to confidence issues…
Kalvin Phillips admits problems with his confidence since coming to Manchester City
Phillips sat down with Paul Dickov and Rob Pollard on the official City podcast to talk about his journey in football so far.
At one point he starts to talk about his time at the Etihad, and the transition from Leeds – where he was a regular – to City.
Speaking after the win over Nottingham Forest, he said: “It’s been long-winded, it’s been frustrating because of the injuries and stuff. I think the first year I always knew if I didn’t play much, I’d take time to understand the way Pep wants me to play.
“I think confidence is a massive part of it. I never though before I came here that confidence would be a problem in my game because I was playing at Leeds every single week. Even when I come back from injury I always knew there was a chance I would play. It’s not necessarily the case here. You have to be in top shape to play, 100% physical shape to play. Even if you are, there’s other players that might have trained better than you.
“I would say this last year or so, my confidence hasn’t been the best.”
Phillips’ confidence issues are understandable
It is no surprise to hear Phillips admitting he’s had confidence issues.
It cannot be easy sitting on the bench constantly, especially when there are scenarios that surely mean you will play.
Sadly for him, Rodri is the best defensive midfielder in the world.
He is essentially undroppable, and that’s not an easy thing to deal with for Phillips.
It means he does not get the chance to build any kind of momentum. So on the rare occasion he comes into the team, he will play pretty safely.
