Leeds legend Eddie Gray has highlighted the major impact of midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
Eddie Gray has raved about Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips and claimed he plays an unsung role in the side.
The central midfielder has featured in every minute of the club’s three opening games this season, including the 2-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
He has provided the perfect cover in front of the back four as a deep-lying midfielder, which also helped inspire impressive league wins over Stoke City and Derby County.
The 22-year-old enforcer is a product of the club’s academy and he does the ugly defensive work in the centre of the park.
Phillips has quickly become a mainstay under manager Marcelo Bielsa since his summer arrival and Leeds legend Gray believes he is essential to the system.
“Kalvin Phillips is important I feel to the system and the way he (Bielsa) wants to play,” Gray told LUTV.
“He gives freedom to Saiz and Hernandez to go forward and try create things. You’ve got to have players in the side that are willing to fill in for players and you can see Kalvin if full-backs are out of position he’ll get in.
“You get players like that, that sometimes go a little bit unsung but the players who play with him realise his value to the side.”
Phillips will be delighted with his start to the campaign on an individual level and he is enjoying some of his best ever form in the first team at Elland Road.
He will surely be involved at the weekend when the Yorkshire giants host Rotherham in the league and provide the platform to allow creative players such as Samuel Saiz run riot in the final third.
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