While one local lad assumed the role of the leading man, another provided the comedy subplot. As the Leeds-born Erling Haaland scored a brace on his first appearance at Elland Road, Kalvin Phillips, who has spent rather longer on Yorkshire turf, was the unused substitute targeted in chants that amused him. Deemed overweight by Pep Guardiola last week, permitted back in the squad if not utilised, his hometown crowd began with “Kalvin Phillips, he eats what he wants”. They moved on to chants of “you fat bastard” and “you’re too fat to play for Leeds”. Phillips took it all in good heart and was then serenaded, in time-honoured fashion, as “the Yorkshire Pirlo”.
It was all affectionate; in pantomime season, there was a knockabout element to it. As his Manchester City career has yet to bring a start in between injury, a World Cup and Guardiola’s public criticism of his condition, it may have ranked as a highlight of his campaign.
At least, unlike some former Leeds players, he retains a place in the affections of his old club. At least this time Guardiola praised him, even if it was excessive. “He has the perfect body, so sexy,” said the City manager, who can be prone to sarcasm and exaggeration.
If an unflattering comparison can be drawn with Haaland, the summer signing who has proved ubiquitous, whose 26 goals almost amounts to one for every two minutes Phillips has spent on the pitch – a mere 54 so far – there is a different sort of contrast with another English recruit, another expensive addition who did not settle immediately but who, unlike the former Leeds player, has played frequently. Yet Guardiola has a tendency to improve footballers but thus far Phillips’s best form came for Marcelo Bielsa and Jack Grealish’s for Dean Smith.
Grealish can seem the anti-Haaland. They are defined by their statistics, but in different ways. For the Englishman, the big figure is his transfer fee, for the Norwegian, his goal tally. “The numbers are unbelievable but I have the feeling he is not just coming here for the numbers,” said Guardiola of a man who, with 20 goals in the Premier League already, is on course for 53 in the top flight. Grealish, meanwhile, arrived at Elland Road with no assists this season: none in the Premier League, none in the Champions League, none for City, none for England. Given the galaxy of attacking talent and Haaland’s gift for scoring, it seemed harder to set up no goals than some. Kevin de Bruyne, after all, had 14 assists before Christmas and if he can be a freak, Haaland had three assists, and he is unable to provide them for himself.
Then, after 22 games without an assist, Grealish mustered two in a 13-minute period. He has now created as many City goals this season as John Stones and Sergio Gomez, neither of whom has quite the same duties. If Grealish may have been hampered by his teammates’ finishing – he actually has the fourth highest expected assists in the Premier League among the City squad – perhaps he was afforded a belated bit of luck when Illan Meslier ought to have saved Haaland’s second goal. Instead, poor handling brought Grealish’s second assist, though the encouraging element was that it came in a one-two with the striker; perhaps an understanding is being forged. His first, however, was all his own work, reading Liam Cooper’s poor pass, breaking clear, giving Haaland an open goal rather than shooting himself.
“He shows the quality to be generous,” Guardiola said. “He is so humble and [it was] the perfect assist for Erling.”
Yet the illogical element was that statistically the best game of Grealish’s campaign was far from the finest in other respects. He may have made two goals in the second half, but he should have scored two in the first. Two shots were dispatched high into the Yorkshire sky; one was a hideous miss. A year and a half into his City career, Grealish is yet to master that staple of the winger’s success under Guardiola: the far post run and finish.
“In the first half he missed chances, he has to improve in that and his mentality and be aggressive there, ‘I am going to score, I am going to score,’” his manager said. “He has to be more ambitious. He has to score more goals and be competitive because he has the quality to do it.”
It marked a shift in tone. Grealish can be endearingly open and has often admitted he should score more goals. Guardiola has tended to deny that; for him, it seemed too simplistic to judge a British record signing on his end product.
But, with one goal and two assists this season, it remains slight. Haaland has ensured it has scarcely mattered this season but the productive understanding had been between De Bruyne and the striker, not the record signing and the top scorer. The numbers have rarely added up for Grealish in his City career and, even as he finally got off the mark for the season, Guardiola admitted as much. And it seemed a more pertinent comment than his assessment of Phillips’s physique.
