Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips has now missed two of the last three England camps due to injury. Phillips was left out of the squad for the March internationals as finalised his recovery from a hamstring injury, while he was also absent from the October matches due to a calf problem.
The 26-year-old has established himself as a vital part of Gareth Southgate’s squad since his debut in September 2020, though his recent injury troubles has enabled the likes of Jude Bellingham and James Ward Prowse to stake a claim for a spot in the first XI. There has been a particular clamour for Bellingham in particular from fans and pundits alike, with the 18-year-old already a star in the Bundesliga in Borussia Dortmund.
Despite that, and providing he returns to his best level of form, Phillips should not have much to worry about, though. Southgate has constantly portrayed to the media just how important he is to the Three Lions and so with that in mind, LeedsLive has rounded up everything he has said on him in the last 12 months.
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‘Tactical awareness’
Bellingham produced a man of the match display against Cote d’ivoire on Tuesday night, and while Southgate was very pleased with what he saw from the teenager, he mentioned Phillips’ ‘tactical awareness’ as a reason the Leeds man may still be ahead of him.
He said: “[Bellingham] might end up being able to play one deeper as well but at the moment he’s young and he wants to go and press and that takes him out of the defensive positions a little bit too early so you have to give him his head.
“It’s like Conor Gallagher, they want to go and press and so they’re not at the moment going to have the stability to play deeper as one of double pivot. You could do it in a 4-3-3 if you were letting one of them go earlier but the likes of Rice, Henderson and Phillips have got that tactical awareness that is going to be important in those positions.”
‘Adapted brilliantly’
As aforementioned, Phillips was not named in the most recent squad due to his recovery from a hamstring injury, but that did not stop Southgate from mentioning him.
"With Kalvin we saw a Premier League player playing in the Championship with Leeds. You're never quite sure how a player is going to adapt and react in a change of environment, but he adapted brilliantly."
One of ‘our best players’
There can’t be much more of a confidence boost for Phillips than Southgate coming out to the media and labelling you one of ‘our best players’.
He said: "It's just over a calendar year since he first played for us and his contribution and impact on the team has been huge. We are always keen to have our best players available and he's certainly been in that category over the past 12 months."
‘Huge part’
England’s last defeat in a regulation 90 minute match came against Belgium in November 2020 – a run that now spans 20 matches – which Southgate believes Phillips has been vital to.
“He’s been excellent. The way he has taken to international football, it hasn’t surprised us because what we’d seen with Leeds, even in the Championship, we felt could convert into our team. We felt he could play an important role with us.
“To play in the enormity of the matches he did in the summer and play as well as he did is massive credit to him. He’s a very, very good player and he’s been a really important part of this – we’re 16 games unbeaten [in regulation time] now and he’s been a huge part of that.”
‘Top level’
Phillips lit up the international stage with an assist and man of the match performance in England’s opening group game win over Croatia. Southgate could not have been more pleased with his performance.
He said: “We watched him a lot the season before last in the Championship. We were going to bring him in to the squad ahead of the Euros a year ago. He’s now had a year of Premier League football. He’s technically good and we also knew the athleticism today was going to be so important.
“We also needed to get tight to their midfield players and Mason [Mount], Kalvin and Declan [Rice] did that really well, along with the wide players helping out and taking up the right positions. Kalvin is a fabulous boy to work with. So unassuming and I thought his performance was outstanding. Two passes behind the defence in the first half were top level and the contribution for the goal summed his day up.”
