Kalvin Phillips left Manchester City for West Ham because he needed to play football. The sad thing is, after so long in the cold at his former club, he now looks like someone who has forgotten how to play it properly.
Phillips is not the same player he was at Leeds United, the same player he was in an England shirt. He looks lost.
His move to Manchester City and manager Pep Guardiola’s rapid loss of faith in him, appears to have damaged the 28-year-old far more than we realised. On this evidence, there is surely no way West Ham will turn his loan move into a permanent one. City had a £50 million asset when he was warming their bench before Christmas, but his value will have plummeted after another hapless display in the defeat at Newcastle.
The loan move to West Ham was supposed to revive his career and prove to England manager Gareth Southgate that he deserved to go to the European Championship.
It has turned into a nightmare. Phillips was left out of the last England squad earlier this month with a blunt and honest admission from Southgate that he was not playing well enough to be considered. Even if he had been told that in private, the public declaration that he has completely lost form will still have stung. Confidence is a precious thing in football and Phillips appears to have had his drained from him like water from a tap.
The midfielder cannot be solely blamed for West Ham’s failure to hold on to a 3-1 lead, away from home, with just 13 minutes remaining, but he did not do the job he was supposed to do when he came on as a substitute.
West Ham’s manager David Moyes described it as “the second half change that was meant to offer some “defensive solidity” as his side looked to close out the game. He did not want to be drawn into analysing Phillip’s performance, but he admitted it “did not work.” It was obvious who he was talking about.
But as much as this defeat will have hurt Moyes, he was not going to throw one of his players to the wolves. He will recognise the warning signs, he will know Phillips struggles are mental as well as physical. There is no point kicking someone who is already down.
There remains a good player in there somewhere and Moyes must try to coax him back into form, not join in the chorus of disapproval for his January signing.
Phillips was brought on to offer some protection to a defence that was being put under increasing pressure by a desperate home team fighting to save their season. He neither offered protection off the ball or assurance on it.
Indeed, it was his lack of awareness during a goalmouth scramble that allowed Newcastle back into the game when he failed to get to the ball quickly enough. Anthony Gordon nipped in front, their legs got into a tangle and referee Rob Jones was urged to aware the spot kick after a VAR intervention. It was rough on Phillips and West Ham fans will argue the penalty should not have been given as Gordon initiated the contact by wrapping his leg around Phillips from behind. Equally, though, the West Ham player did not get the ball and did take him down.
If that was unfortunate, Phillips’ inability to keep hold of the ball played into Newcastle’s hands. He completed just three out of nine attempted passes and that invited the home side to keep attacking. That is damning for a deep lying midfielder who is there to keep things simple.
And it was Phillips who failed to stop Harvey Barnes from scoring the winner, beaten far too easily by the Newcastle winger, who was able to cut inside on to his stronger right foot and smash a shot into the far corner from the edge of the area.
West Ham needed Phillips to have an impact on the game when he came on. He did, but only in a negative way.
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
