Speaking on his YouTube channel, The Overlap, Gary Neville has given his verdict on Kalvin Phillips, stating that he’s not at all like Jorginho or Marco Verratti on the ball.
England came unstuck against Italy on Sunday, and one of the key things heading into the game was the midfield battle.
Jorginho and Verratti absolutely ran the show, and while Phillips tried his best to have a similar impact in the middle of the park, he simply wasn’t able to as that’s not his game.
What’s been said?
Neville was giving his verdict on England’s midfield compared to Italy’s.
“If you look at our midfield options last night – we have Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips, who I think are our best two midfielders at the moment,” Neville said.
“One of them is centre-back like in Rice, even though he was outstanding, and Kalvin Phillips is good on the ball but he’s certainly not a Jorginho or Verratti in terms of how they play.”
The Yorkshire Pirlo
Jorginho may be Andrea Pirlo’s spiritual successor for Italy, and Phillips may be known as the Yorkshire Pirlo, but the two players aren’t similar in any way, shape or form.
Perhaps it’s a cultural thing in football. As a Brazilian-born midfielder, the Chelsea 29-year-old. plays at a rapid tempo and he’s always seemingly one step ahead of his opposition, while Phillips plays in a style that is more about running hard and tackling harder.
Yes, Phillips does have the tendency to play a Pirlo-esque diagonal pass, but his game on the ball isn’t quite at the level of Jorginho or Verratti’s.
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