Kalvin Phillips has admitted that Pep Guardiola hurt his confidence by publicly admitting that he came back “overweight” after the World Cup.
In December 2022, Guardiola revealed that Phillips was overweight upon returning from the tournament during a press conference (via BeanymanSports).
“No, no, he’s not injured. He arrived with the overweight.”
When quizzed about why the Manchester City loanee was overweight, Pep Guardiola replied, “I don’t know.”
“He didn’t arrive in the condition to the training sessions and to play.”
“Yeah absolutely. That’s why he cannot play. When he will be ready, he will play. We need him! We need him a lot.”
Pep Guardiola was asked whether it was a “disappointment” or a “surprise” to him that Kalvin Phillips’ weight was not ideal, he said, “It’s a private conversation with Kalvin.”
Kalvin Phillips says “overweight” remark from Pep Guardiola affected his confidence
At the time, the admission from the £378,846-a-week manager about the Englishman created quite a stir.
Considering the 28-year-old had suffered a shoulder injury and time on the bench during the first half of his debut campaign, it had seemed like he had further lessened his chances of featuring regularly under Guardiola.
Kalvin Phillips, who is now on loan at West Ham United has revealed how the public admission from Pep Guardiola about his weight impacted his self-belief.
“After the World Cup was probably the toughest when Pep [Guardiola] came out and said I was overweight. He was right to do so but there are different ways to go about it. I did not disagree with him but obviously, I took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City. And my family were not happy about it, either. Especially my mum”, he said, as quoted by The Guardian.
It has been mentioned in the interview that while Kalvin Phillips was told by City’s staff to arrive at a certain return date, Pep Guardiola demanded him to be a part of their friendlies in preparation for the return of club football.
“I never got that information because if he asked me to have been there, I would have been there. It was just a misunderstanding and I think he was very frustrated with me coming back 1.5kg over my weight target.”
Kalvin Phillips was asked whether he had a chat with Pep Guardiola after his statement.
“No”, he replied.
“I just took it on the chin. Me being the right professional, I probably should have gone in the day after the tournament finished but it’s one of those things that you live and learn.”
“I’ve had it my whole career, especially at Leeds with Marcelo Bielsa… not being overweight but saying I need to look after myself in a professional manner.”
Phillips concluded, “I’ve always been the one that would enjoy myself the day after a game if we were off. But I’d still work twice as hard to work it off. I think it just stemmed from that. Pep spoke to Bielsa and Bielsa mentioned it and so on. It doesn’t bother me in any way as I’m still hugely professional.”
A lesson for players who aim to work with Pep Guardiola
As Kalvin Phillips clarified, there was a “misunderstanding” and as a result, his weight did not end up being optimum, which seemingly irked Pep Guardiola.
However, for players who aspire to be coached by the Spaniard in the future, perhaps the lesson from this very instance is to be a model professional at all times.
Especially at a club like City, who play every so often, there is barely any wiggle room for their players to let their hair down.
Pep Guardiola is expected to maintain his reign at the top by many and as a result, every player in their squad must also ensure that their standards do not slip, regardless of the circumstances.
