Pep Guardiola’s ‘overweight’ criticism ‘hard to take’ for Man City star Kalvin Phillips

Pep Guardiola publicly criticised Kalvin Phillips for being unfit last season – a statement which the Manchester City star feels wasn’t accurate.

Manchester City star Calvin Phillips says Pep Guardiola’s weight criticism is ‘difficult to take’.

Phillips was left out of City’s squad for last December’s Carabao Cup match against Liverpool after Guardiola claimed he was ‘overweight’ and ‘not fit to play’ after returning from the Qatar World Cup. .

It was the bottom of a tough season for the 27-year-old midfielder, who has won more trophies than he has started in the league in his first season at the Etihad.

Reflecting on the incident on BBC Radio 5 Live, Phillips admitted:

“I know the manager obviously made some comments and stuff, and I respected them because I was back and I wasn’t overweight for me, but the manager had a completely different view.”

“I did my best to be as fit as possible. Shortly after that I was on the bench against Leeds and I have been fit every game since. It was just one of those misunderstandings.”

Phillips will be the focus of Amazon Prime’s new documentary, Kalvin Phillips: The Road to City, due out in July. 19th. She gives a behind-the-scenes look at his move to City and his struggles over the last 12 months.

On this point he added:

“You said exactly the same thing, you said the same thing.” takes at least 12 months.

“I hope next season will be better for me. I’m just looking forward to seeing the players again and the season going on.”