Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
Neil Redfearn raves about Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips, backs him for England
Neil Redfearn believes that Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips is perfect for his role in the team at Elland Road.
The 24-year-old is an academy graduate of the Whites that has gone from the youth teams to the first-team and is now a key member of Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
He’s a defensive midfielder that plays in the number six role in front of the backline, which usually allows him dictate play for his team and it’s a big reason why they sit top of the Championship table as it stands chasing down automatic promotion.
Phillips sets the tone with his range of passing and calmness on the ball, but out of possession he’s full of aggression and plenty of defensive steel.
Ex-Leeds manager Redfearn, who gave Phillips his first-team debut back in 2015, believes that he’s got the qualities to earn a senior call-up to the England squad for the first time.
The reported back in January that England manager Gareth Southgate could be considering Phillips for friendlies in March and has watched him live in action.
“The talk of Kalvin playing for England is absolutely warranted — and he is at a good age for it. I don’t think there are many players with Kalvin’s ability to play the holding role to such good effect,”
“Leeds create overloads all over the field. Bielsa is very clever with that but Kalvin is key to it. He is the perfect build for that position, a powerful player but also has a fantastic range of passing.
“When he was younger, we used to have him as a box-to-box player who would score plenty of goals. Bielsa has made Kalvin an expert deep-lying midfielder but he could do both roles.”
TBR’s View:
Phillips is a player that looks a class above at times in the Championship and he’s got to be playing Premier League football for the first time next season in some capacity, hopefully for Leeds with them if they get over the line for promotion to the top-flight.
He’s taken his game on to dizzy heights in recent seasons and no doubt the arrival of Argentine tactician Bielsa as manager has had a huge influence on him.
There is no doubt the Yorkshire club look a far stronger side when he’s dominating in the centre of the park and he is a real talisman.