Kalvin Phillips: Man City Star Admits Guardiola’s Public Criticism Was Hard to Take

Pep Guardiola is never ashamed to say so, but public criticism of a player was difficult for a player who thought his manager’s assessment was inaccurate.

Manchester City paid Leeds United’s Calvin Phillips £50million, but the midfielder’s first season has been as if nothing had happened, as if he had won the treble. It will be forgotten as if it never existed.

Sun Sports said Phillips had played just 593 minutes, including 103 minutes in the Premier League, despite qualifying for a medal after making at least five appearances for Manchester City.

Despite missing out, he was selected for England’s World Cup squad, but his call-up was questioned after he only played 35 minutes in Qatar due to an injury.

Phillips rejects Guardiola’s criticism

According to Football365, Pep Guardiola was not too impressed with how the midfielder turned up ‘overweight’ at the club’s training facilities after the tournament in Qatar.

Phillips has rejected his manager’s claims about his fitness after the Mundial and admitted it was hard to stomach while speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, via Daily Star.

“I’d probably say it was a little bit hard to take just because of how much it was oversized and how many people started talking about it,” he said.

“I know obviously the manager made his comments and stuff like that, and I respected them because I did come back and I – I wasn’t overweight for me, but the manager has seen it in a very different way.”

He returned to the bench for the game against his former club after missing the FA Cup game against Chelsea and was available for all games afterwards.

“I did my best to try to get as fit as possible… It was just one of those things where there was just a misunderstanding between me and some staff members.”

Pirlo rejects Phillips’ comparison

Sports Brief reported that Italian legend, Andrea Pirlo rejected comparisons to Phillips, who is famously dubbed after him in Leeds.

He is dubbed the Yorkshire Pirlo in his hometown even though the former Juventus manager is not in agreement as he found no similarities between them, although he did acknowledge him as a very good player.