Journalist Rory Smith made a suggestion that Kalvin Phillips’ confidence has been completely destroyed by Pep Guardiola.
The 28-year-old recently acknowledged that his confidence was harmed by Guardiola’s remarks about him being overweight following his World Cup return.
The Manchester City loanee continued, saying that his career had reached its lowest point following the Catalan’s public disclosure.
Chris Sutton, on the other hand, called Pep Guardiola’s criticism of the Englishman’s extra weight “unforgivable” and believed it was appropriate.
Rory Smith asserts that Kalvin Phillips’ confidence was damaged by Pep Guardiola.
It wouldn’t be absurd to say that the £42 million (The Athletic) player, with Graeme Souness doubting if he is even a Premier League player, joined West Ham on loan.
Indeed, observe, he wasn’t supposed to be overweight. Athletes shouldn’t be overweight, of course. And if you had the world’s finest manager—who, to be fairly honest, made it obvious almost immediately that he didn’t particularly fancy him—well. The man responsible for creating this magnificent Manchester City machine is essentially staring at you and thinking, “Well, we have Rodri, and we’re going to convert Manuel Akanji into a central midfielder so you don’t have to play.”
“We’ll introduce Rico Lewis. Any child we can discover will be our game. He said on BBC 5 Live Sport’s The Monday Night Club, “That is going to absolutely destroy you, surely, and do you know what, you might let yourself go a little bit.”
There is only himself to blame for Kalvin Phillips.
We believe that by blaming Pep Guardiola for Kalvin Phillips’ unfulfilling career, Rory Smith is being unfair.
The England international’s decision to transfer to the Etihad Stadium in 2022 was puzzling, as Tony Cascarino stated in January, given that he would have to fight for a starting position against Rodri, who is perhaps the best holding midfield player in the world.
In a classic case of favoritism, Pep Guardiola, under the constant pressure to secure major trophies every season, chose to overlook Kalvin Phillips in favor of his compatriot at the heart of the midfield, who ultimately clinched City’s treble-winning goal in the Champions League final.
Since making the move to West Ham on loan, Phillips has done nothing to make Guardiola regret his decision, delivering lackluster performances on the field.
While Guardiola’s remarks about the weight of the treble-winning player may have been tough, his treatment of Phillips at Manchester City was anything but lenient.
