Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has coached some of the best players in the world throughout his managerial career.
Spending four years in charge of Barcelona, three with Bayern Munich and eight with City so far, the Spaniard has overlooked 890 games in total.
Across those games, Guardiola has used 191 players along the way and lifted a significant number of domestic and European trophies.
90 of those players have been ones who have represented City during the 53-year-old’s tenure at the Etihad Stadium.
Even though Guardiola has had a very successful time in charge of the Blues, one pundit and former top-flight star has made a claim about something he thinks the City manager got wrong concerning one particular player.
- Who is Kalvin Phillips? Get to know the midfielder who could leave Man City in the transfer window
Martin Keown says Pep Guardiola made a mistake on Kalvin Phillips incident
After Kalvin Phillips recently revealed that Guardiola’s comments on him being overweight after the 2022 World Cup frustrated him, Martin Keown had this to say on the matter in a recent video shared on the talkSPORT YouTube channel.
He said: “This is a fitness element, to me. You can say someone’s big, overweight, but it’s about fitness.
“I think that was his first season at Man City and the manager was looking, probing, trying to get him on it. I’ve watched him very closely, against Villa actually, and I feel now he’s getting close to what he was before.
“He’s playing with confidence, the handbrake’s come off, he’s fitter and can get around the pitch. He’s showing leadership with his passing, he’s attacking the game.
“It was very safe at Man City. He looked uncomfortable, he looked the same at West Ham, he was nowhere near fit and you’re going to put weight on when you’re not fit.
“So, my advice would be if it happens again, he comes out of the team, you train hard every day. That pain you get when you exercise has to be your best friend.
“If it hits you between the eyes because you’re not fit, it’s the biggest enemy. When you train hard every day, you love it, you welcome it.
“I’d want to go and prove to him you’re wrong but actually hand on heart, I don’t think he was applying himself properly.
“It’s difficult, some people have to do it in the moment, in the games. It’s hard to do on the training pitch. I was always a good trainer and so because I motivated myself, I wanted to train as I played.
“I played every game like it was my last game by the way and that was sort of the attitude that I wanted but Kalvin Phillips has just drifted.
“He’s been on the bench, he’s been like a cheerleader, does he really belong there? And he starts to feel a bit worthless and that’s where maybe they have to just chuck him in the pool, don’t they? And say right, you need to survive, don’t you? It’s like sharks in here. Are you going to survive it? No one really helps him and it didn’t help him.
“It was the wrong approach from the manager, looking back.”
Did Guardiola apologise for Phillips comments?
A few weeks after making his initial comments about Phillips coming back from the World Cup in Qatar not being in the right condition to play for City, Guardiola went on to apologise for his words as well as clarifying that he had spoken to Phillips about the situation beforehand (via The Guardian).
Two years after joining City from Leeds United for £45m, during which he made just 31 appearances for the Blues and completed a loan spell at West Ham United, the midfielder joined Ipswich Town during the previous summer transfer window on a season-long loan deal.
Since then, the 28-year-old has appeared in four games for the Tractors, three in the Premier League and one in the Carabao Cup.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna recently said that Phillips has settled in well and is getting fitter with every game that he plays.
While Keown has claimed that Guardiola made an error in the way he handled the situation with Phillips’ fitness back in late 2022, the best thing the City loanee can do now is carry on playing regularly and show everyone what he’s capable of.
