Phillips was a key player for the Whites for many years, both in the Championship and in the Premier League. His
level grew as his boyhood team returned to the top division after a 16-year hiatus.
On his first season back, he was a key player of the team that finished tenth in the league.
While the squad’s success dipped the following season, he continued to string together outstanding games,
eventually culminating to his move to City.
Things haven’t gone so well for him at the Etihad. Phillips has made 29 appearances for City in the last year and a
half, the most of them from the bench.
He has only played 89 minutes in the Premier League this season.
While City is flying high at the top of the league and has won every Champions League game they’ve played thus far,
Phillips will take little comfort from that, having primarily watched from the sidelines when the club achieved the
treble last season.
His old teammate Bamford believes the transfer to the club will have been a culture shock.
“It’s difficult for him because he’s coming from probably one of the top players at Leeds to Manchester City, where
the best player in his position [Rodri] is like a metronome. “There isn’t much you can say to him,” he stated on My
Mate Is A Footballer.
“When he joins the team, they’ll always make comparisons between them. He’ll clearly look at what he can do to get
back into the game, whatever that means for him.”
Indeed, Phillips is not helped by the noticeable reduction in quality from Rodri to him.
He’d have thought he could make it to that level after moving from Leeds, but the gap remains obvious, which is
probably why Pep Guardiola isn’t too concerned about playing him, knowing there’s a world-class player ahead of
him in the pecking order who doesn’t need to develop.
