Michael Owen and Robbie Keane critical of Leeds favourite after Sunday defeat

Mon 21 December 2020 7:45, UK

Michael Owen and Robbie Keane have both told during Sunday’s coverage of Leeds United’s 6-2 defeat to Manchester United that Kalvin Phillips was out of position on numerous occasions and needs to be more disciplined.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side cruised to a comfortable win in a high-scoring 6-2 win over Leeds at Old Trafford, in a match that saw the two rivals do battle for the first time since Leeds beat United 1-0 in the FA Cup in January 2010.

But it was a different story on Sunday. Scott McTominay had two goals after three minutes, while Bruno Fernandes also scored twice. Leeds-linked Dan James and Victor Lindelof also netted, cancelling out efforts from Liam Cooper and Stuart Dallas.

But Owen and Keane could not believe the amount of space United had in the middle of the park and have criticised Phillips for leaving the door open for McTominay and Fernandes to profit, exposing the Leeds defence.

Manchester United v Leeds United - Premier League

(Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)

“Phillips has vacated his area. That was a theme, there was a wide open space in front of the defence. Manchester United ran riot. Phillips – When you’re a sitting midfielder, sometimes you’be just got to mark spaces,” Owen said. “He just tends to chase everybody, and they only have won man in there. He was running all over the place and leaving holes everywhere. Unbelievable.”

Keane, meanwhile, said: “Phillips was all over the place, a couple of times. He was out of position. It is very different against the top teams. But they play Burnley next week and they will play the exact same way and they could easily win 4-0.”

TBR’s view – Phillips fault? Or was he following Bielsa instructions?

To any football fan watching the match, it was clear that Phillips was told to man mark Fernandes and he did that. But Fernandes is wily, clever player – and the Portuguese dragged Phillips out of midfield, allowing McTominay to profit.

From one goal kick, Fernandes went level with his strikers and it saw Phillips move into his defensive line – leaving an enormous gap between defence and midfield. It was genius from either Fernandes or Solskjaer, and key to the victory.

The £30,000-a-week () Leeds midfielder , meanwhile, has been taught a lesson.

(Photo by Nick Potts – Pool/Getty Images)

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Michael Owen and Robbie Keane critical of Leeds favourite after Sunday defeat

TBR’s view – Phillips fault? Or was he following Bielsa instructions?