Kalvin Phillips has revealed that he cried over one of his performances for Manchester City last season.
The 27-year-old had an mixed first campaign at the Manchester club as he ended up winning the treble but only started four games across all competitions.
With the new season set to start in the coming weeks, the Englishman has been reflecting on his first year with Pep Guardiola’s side, specifically one period that he considers to be a low point for him.
Phillips reflects on City low point
Speaking in a recent edition of the Unfiltered podcast, Phillips said this on the matter and the steps he took to get his mind back on track.
He said: “We played Leicester at home and I’m on for the last 30 minutes and did so bad.
“I don’t know if it was because of my confidence or whatever but it was so bad, I can remember going home and physically cried because I felt like the manager has given me chances and I’m not taking them and not producing what I know I’m capable of.
“That’s when I decided to message [Marcelo] Bielsa and talk to a familiar face. I messaged him asking if I could speak to him and told him how I felt.
“He just said it’s literally all down to confidence, it’s all down to the way that you are and there’s no doubt you’ve got the ability, you just need to be confident in yourself. If you’re going to stay at Manchester City then you’ve got to show that you’re confident in yourself.
“I think after that phone call I just thought right, every day I’ll go in now I’m just going to be in a happy and positive mood all the time.”
During the second half of City’s 3-1 win over Leicester back in April, Guardiola put Phillips on for the final 37 minutes of the game, replacing Rodri.
In that time, the England international had 47 touches of the ball in total, but ended up giving possession away six times and losing two of the three duels he was involved in.
This shows why he may not have been too pleased about his cameo performance, especially given the lack of chances he had been given to play beforehand.
Bearing in mind how the midfielder has played more games (131) under Bielsa, who Guardiola has previously shared his admiration for, than any other manager, it’s understandable why Phillips reached out to him for advice.
With the player now claiming that this chat with his former manager helped him have more of a positive mindset and outlook to his position at City, this is definitely a big positive for everyone at the club and will help him have a better chance of getting more game time moving forward.
