Kalvin Phillips earned his fourth England cap in the space of just over a month last night, succumbing to defeat for the first time in his country’s colours.
It was a troubling evening for England, who had Harry Maguire and Reece James sent off in the loss to Denmark. Phillips was involved in trying to win the midfield battle after Maguire’s first-half red card, but the Leeds United man could not prevent England going down 1-0 to a Christian Eriksen penalty.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was critical of England’s performance as a whole, labelling it stagnant. In an attempt to draw positives from the game, the ex-England right-back suggested Kalvin Phillips would have learned more in the past month than he has done at any previous point in his career.
“What a learning curve for Kalvin Phillips. He’s probably learnt more in the last four-to-six weeks than he has done in the last four-to-six years,” Neville said.
Leeds fans have rightly called out Neville for such a claim, which was made without consideration for the time Phillips has spent working under football obsessive Marcelo Bielsa since the summer of 2018.
Neville is right that involvement with England will have been a beneficial growth experience for Phillips. Yet it would be wrong to overlook the player’s transformation under Bielsa.
Prior to the Argentine’s arrival, Phillips was an expendable member of the Leeds squad. An international call-up was a pipe dream back then, but Bielsa has helped the midfielder make his dream a reality.
The differences between Phillips’ 2017/18 season and the years that have followed are enormous. Moving to a holding midfield role has unlocked an immense player. It is from that deep-lying position that he can take his time to pick passes and utilise his excellent ability in possession.
In the year prior to Bielsa’s arrival, Phillips managed just 88 accurate long passes in the Championship. The two seasons that followed, Phillips registered 202 and 197 respectively – according to WhoScored – improving his success rate year-on-year.
His 41% long pass completion rate improved after 12 months of Bielsa’s influence, reaching 49%, then last season it increased yet again, up to 55%.
In 2017/18 he had a passing accuracy of 78%; a year later that figure had increased to 88% all while he was making more than twice as many passes.
His passing in general has improved massively in the last two years. This is partly due to Phillips’ deeper role, where he is afforded more time on the ball, and is not under as much pressure from opponents, but it also has much to do with Bielsa.
Another point of comparison is the number of fouls he commits and finds himself on the receiving end of. In campaigns prior to Bielsa’s arrival, Phillips was combative and sometimes careless.
Since the Argentine has taken over, Phillips has reduced his tendency to foul. He’s won roughly the same number of tackles and also developed an ability to win more decisions, which indicates he now knows how to protect the ball better.
He has achieved this while still maintaining his high-volume defensive output. To have added so much to his game, without losing any of the edge which had made him a regular under Thomas Christiansen, is a testament to the steepest learning curve of all: his first 12 months under Bielsa.
The most striking indicator of Phillips’ development over the past few seasons is his capacity for creativity. Once a destructive player deployed to break up moves, the Yorkshire Pirlo is now much more in-line with his Italian namesake.
Last season, as Leeds romped to the title, Phillips created 68 chances for his team-mates – an average of two per game. Even in his first season under Bielsa, Phillips managed just 28, with 27 and 24 in the seasons before that.
It took time for Phillips to hone a creative side to his game, but this marked development in his style is what has ultimately led to his England debut and subsequent caps.
Neville’s comments were misinformed, but it is unlikely they were meant maliciously towards Bielsa. It is probable his opinion on Phillips was formed whilst neglecting to remember who his club boss is, while drawing on the commonly-used stereotype that national team squads are gold dust for wide-eyed fledgling internationals.
Phillips’ learning curve under Bielsa is one of the most rapid transformations in a player’s style of play, potential and current ability the English game has seen in recent times. It is to his club boss that Phillips owes the most credit.
