Kalvin Phillips: Pep Guardiola ‘overweight’ comments left midfielder ‘frustrated’
Phillips joined Manchester City in 2022, in a deal worth £45m. He was loaned to West Ham 18 months later, having made just two Premier League starts under Guardiola out of a potential 58.
He told the podcast about being “gobsmacked” by the Spanish manager’s footballing brain on his arrival at Etihad Stadium.
City’s first Premier League match following the midfielder’s signing was a 2-0 win away against West Ham. Phillips claims that Guardiola told the team in a meeting two days prior exactly how the game was going to play out.
“He said ‘West Ham are going to start well, they’re going to put us under pressure and then we’re going to have a little bit of time, we’re going to get opportunities to get the ball to Kevin [de Bruyne] and then if Kevin plays it behind for Erling [Haaland], we’re more than likely going to score’,” Phillips remembered.
In the event, Haaland scored twice, with an assist from De Bruyne for his second.
“He mentioned different ways that we could attack and then how they’re going to press us and then you’d seen it happen in real life,” says Phillips.
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