After being singled out for criticism in Manchester City’s 2-0 loss to Southampton, Pep Guardiola defended Kalvin Phillips.
Six months after joining the Blues from Leeds, Kalvin Phillips got his first competitive start for the team, but it was a night to forget. Also, he battled in midfield and was one of those responsible for both goals allowed. The England international was criticized by analysts for his subpar performance, but Guardiola claimed that there was no single person to blame for the loss.
“He needs time, a lot of time injured,”
said, Guardiola.
“It’s not about Kalvin or this player or the other one, when you have nights like today it’s the responsibility for everyone. First the manager of course, but everyone.”
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Pep Guardiola support Man City player Kalvin Phillips
Furthermore, after the team’s weekend 4-0 victory over Chelsea, the manager had urged them to continue their forward momentum. Instead, they made seven substitutions and endured a lack-luster performance that saw City fail to register a shot on goal for the first time since 2018. Kalvin Phillips did not play good. Although it was obvious that Southampton was the superior team, Guardiola denied that this was because his players lacked grit or determination, saying instead that they were not prepared for a new challenge.
“It’s not one player. The players who came in from the bench were the same,”
he said.
“We tried to introduce something new. Everyone. When you have this type of situations you have big big problems. People say we didn’t fight, it’s not about that. It’s because we were not prepared to get in this competition to play the semi-finals, we were not ready.”
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