Marcelo Bielsa has hailed Kalvin Phillips ahead of Leeds’ clash with Arsenal tomorrow, and said the defensive midfielder has one ability that is ‘not normal’ in football.
The Yorkshire Evening Post quote the Argentine as saying: ‘Without Phillips we played the best game we’ve played since I’ve been manager (at Villa), but in the same manner Phillips is a player that brings something to the team in every way.
‘He is a player with a big capacity to recover the ball. He’s a midfielder who is able to find passes which are not normal for someone.’
Bielsa is spot on – there are few players in the England international’s position that can do what he does.
Phillips has picked up the nickname of ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’ which tells you all you need to know about the passing abilities Bielsa alludes to.
The 24-year-old – who earns £30,000-a-week according to the Mirror – registers 5.4 accurate long-range passes per game in the Premier League this season as WhoScored shows.
Additionally, Phillips averages two key passes per game in the Premier League, and records 53.6 passes every 90 minutes with a success rate of 82.8%.
His defensive work is still excellent, recording a fantastic 3.4 tackles per game, although he is not the hard-hitting lump that many might associate a defensive midfielder to be.
Phillips is both tough-tackling and cultured on the ball, a combination that Bielsa has rightly noticed is ‘not normal’ for a player in his position.
Luckily for Leeds and the ex-Marseille boss, the £50 million-rated man is now fit again after struggling with a shoulder issue over the past few weeks.
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