I was the best player in England four years ago - now I'm an outcast at Man City with little hope of playing in the World Cup
Kalvin Phillips faces a difficult challenge to get his career back on track after a challenging three year period at Manchester City
Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham. These are all examples of players to be crowned England’s Player of the Year at least once in their career.
They were all viewed as world-class talents both before and after winning the award. However, the same cannot be said about the man that played every minute of every match in England’s road to a first ever European Championship final in 2021, Kalvin Phillips, who has endured a difficult fall from grace since winning the prestigious award.
Phillips was playing his football at local club Leeds United when he achieved the feat, but there was a feeling of inevitability that he’d go onto play at an even higher standard at some stage in his career, and that’s exactly what happened in the summer of 2022 when he completed a blockbuster £42m transfer to Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Manchester City team.
"To be able to play under Pep and learn from him and his coaching staff as well as be part of such a fantastic squad is a prospect that I am incredibly excited about. City are a world-class club with world-class staff and facilities and it's a dream come true to have joined the club." said Phillips at the time.
However, Philips’ fortunes have been anything but a dream since his move three seasons ago - and are in fact beginning to look more like a nightmare with each passing season. Philips has gone from being one of the first names on the England teamsheet to someone that very few would even begin to think of when assembling their squads.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes a stark change in playing style has played a big role in Kalvin Philipps’ recent decline.
The Leeds-born midfielder has played just 31 matches across all competitions for the Sky Blues and only 16 of those have come in the Premier League. He’s rarely played the full 90, starting just two top-flight games in total for Guardiola’s side and has not played competitively for them since December 2023.
He’s since spent the last 18 months on loan at West Ham, where he was heavily criticised for his performances while rarely starting, and most recently Ipswich Town, with Philipps playing just 19 times and failing to win a single match in which he started.
“Maybe I didn't give him enough minutes, I don't know,” Guardiola said of Phillips ahead of City’s Carabao Cup trip to Huddersfield Town. “In that moment Rodri was fit, like our father, protective of the other 10 sons. And maybe the lack of minutes, maybe the way we played - completely different from Leeds with Marcelo [Bielsa].
“It’s just the environment, how they connect with the way we play, with teammates. And players play good when they have minutes, games and I didn’t give them. And when that’s happened, I feel bad.”
Phillips was not named in City’s 25-man squad for the Champions League and has little chance of being used regularly this season. However, he was perhaps surprisingly included in the team’s Premier League squad after failing to secure a permanent exit. He did play in midweek as City advanced in the Carabao Cup against Huddersfield Town but it’s unclear when Phillips might be seen again.
What’s gone wrong for Kalvin Phillips?
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where it’s gone wrong for Kalvin Philipps over the last four years, but it’s clear to see that he has a long way to go to even get himself in the conversation for an England call-up.
It was easy, during his 18 fruitless months at Manchester City, to be seduced by the idea that the Yorkshireman was still a fine player and all he needed was to start playing again. Similarly, it was also simple to point the blame on Pep Guardiola for not giving the England international a chance or perhaps not playing to his strengths in such a well-oiled and rigid tactical system.
But since then he’s had two loan spells and came out of both with a reputation worse than the one he entered with before. At West Ham it could be argued he was still finding his feet after a long lay-off but his obscene hand gesture towards supporters after a dismal display against Newcastle did little to help his cause as he unsurprisingly failed to make the England squad for Euro 2024, despite Gareth Southgate’s complaints of not having a player like him at that tournament.
At Ipswich, his struggles went from bad to worse. He had 13 starts (enough to make a decent judgement) and six substitute appearances, but remained on the bench as an unused substitute for a further six matches. He did, of course, suffer an achilles issue towards the end of the season which marred his progress but nevertheless was a long way off looking like one of the top players in a team which attained just 22 points.
Injuries are perhaps the most notable excuse that can be made for Philipps’ (who is still under contract until 2028) decline as they have derailed his ability to play at full match sharpness and utilise his playing strengths.
The 29-year-old at his best was an all-action midfielder that prided himself on aggression, intensity and winning duels across the park. In his prime, the Leeds midfielder averaged 10.2 possession recoveries per 90 in 2021/22 - the highest average of any player who played more than 900 Premier League minutes that season. Similarly at Euro 2020, Phillips covered the second most distance in the whole tournament, with his 83km only beaten by Italy's Jorginho (86.6km).
Ultimately, he has a long journey back to the top and looks unlikely to achieve his redemption arch at Manchester City. He’s a player that could be on the move again in January, and whatever decision he makes next could prove pivotal in the story of his career.