Andy Townsend has said that Kalvin Phillips looks ‘miles off the pace’ in a Manchester City shirt.
Speaking on talkSPORT’s Premier League Access podcast, the well-known pundit and commentator gave his two cents on the £42 million (The Athletic) man’s time at the Etihad Stadium.
Andy Townsend believes that unless Kalvin Phillips steps up, he will not be called upon by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
Andy Townsend says Kalvin Phillips looks ‘miles off the pace’ at Manchester City
Branded as ‘intelligent’ by Pep Guardiola, the 27-year-old has been limited to a mere start this season as well.
When the Englishman replaced the suspended Rodri in City’s starting XI against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup, it’s safe to say that he did far from impress.
Now, Andy Townsend has said that Kalvin Phillips’ situation at Manchester City does not inspire much confidence.
“Unless you find a gear or two, you’re not going to play”, he said.
“And he looks to me at the moment, Kalvin Phillips is miles off the pace. He looks totally short of match practice. And confidence, yes. Confidence is absolutely gone but he doesn’t look sharp.”
Kalvin Phillips may have already blown his chance in sky blue
Andy Townsend is spot on and one gets the sense that the treble-winner may have blown his chance to redeem himself at Manchester City.
After Rodri’s suspension, all eyes were on the former Leeds United midfielder to see how he performs from the off.
While Phillips was not poor per se, he did struggle in terms of covering large spaces when defending transitions whilst being sloppy in possession.
Against Wolves, Mateo Kovacic started in place of him as the Sky Blues’ defensive midfielder.
Perhaps Pep Guardiola has had enough of Kalvin Phillips and may be ready to offload him after all.
