HOURduring the European Championships in the summer of England he was proclaimed “Yorkshire Pirlo”, but with Calvin Phillips at Leeds United now, just three months after the start of the Premier League season.
Phillips was recalled Marcelo Bielsa at half-time Brighton on Saturday, and early reports suggested he was injured in the first 45 minutes.
But Phillips started the game – as well as against Tottenham last weekend – at the center of the Leeds defender. Against Brighton, he then transitioned into a more natural midfield role in the first half before being pulled off at half-time.
Bielsa’s decision to remove the England national team raised eyebrows in the English press, and many people speculated that something was wrong between the coach and the player.
“I think something is wrong,” Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports. – He was definitely worked out in detail in defense, but I saw him go into midfield.
“I listened to the interview he gave after the game with Tottenham, where he had to hold back several times. He’s an England midfielder, he doesn’t want to play as a defender.
“He wants to do the same job as for England. He will know what people are saying about him, the big clubs are courting him, he doesn’t want to play as a center-back for Leeds.
“It definitely seems to me that now there is a clash between him and Bielsa. If I were Bielsa, fighting with the players would not be the right thing to do when the results are poor. Something is wrong at Leeds. “
Redknapp kept asking BielsaLeeds’ current leadership, and suggested that his body language is not what it should be.
However, the Argentine coach had an explanation for his decision, saying that he made the wrong choice before the game.
“It was a change because I thought that the characteristics of Pascal [Struijk] were better suited to the game, ”Bielsa said after the Brighton game.
“His playing position had a lot in common with Tottenham and I thought that forming a back four with Llorente, Phillips, Cooper and Firpo would help us neutralize them.
“We started the game like that, but it was the wrong decision. After that, Phillips moved to midfield, and it is very likely that this adaptation did not help Calvin, as he played well as a center-back. “