Kalvin Phillips has shared to GQ Magazine how Leeds boss, Marcelo Bielsa, first expressed which position each player would play when he first arrived at the club.
The Leeds midfielder shared how he patted him on the head and simply uttered the words ‘number four’, which made him question whether he has got the ‘wrong player’, as he perhaps expected number eight or ten.
Before Bielsa walked into Elland Road, Phillips saw himself as a forward-thinking midfielder and not someone who sits deep and dictates play.
Well, Bielsa saw something in the boyhood Leeds fans game, and fast forward to today, and it has transformed Phillips out on that pitch.
Nonetheless, Phillips shared how Bielsa would tell each Leeds player what their role would be when he first joined, as he also used Kemar Roofe as an example.
“He put his hand on Kemar Roofe’s head and said ‘number nine’, for example,” said Phillips.
“He put his hand on my head and said ‘number four’. I was expecting number eight and I looked over as if to say, ‘What? I think he’s got the wrong player.'”
“I was never going to say no to him, because of his reputation.”
Well, Phillips game has been well and truly transformed under Bielsa and he is now one of the best defensive-minded midfielders in the country.
He is currently on England duty where he is hoping to make the 26-man cut for Gareth Southgate’s squad for the upcoming European Championships.
England’s midfield is stacked with talent, but given that there aren’t many defensive minds like Phillips in the squad then he should see his name on that final list.
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