Kalvin Phillips has made a fantastic start to Leeds United’s season, but is he Marcelo Bielsa’s most important player?
With Marcelo Bielsa at the helm and Leeds playing some of the most attractive football in the country at times this season, it is becoming a much more enjoyable to be a Whites fan.
Samuel Saiz has been sensational, Mateusz Klich’s turnaround is remarkable, Pablo Hernandez is enjoying one of his best spells since coming to England and Kemar Roofe is looking like the kind of striker that could inspire Leeds to promotion. And it is difficult to think of a single member of the supporting cast who has not produced some form of magic at some stage during the early weeks of the season.
But while the fans could make a very good case for any player to be considered the most important in Bielsa’s side, it may be difficult to argue that any player is more indispensable at the moment than Kalvin Phillips.
A look on Twitter after Tuesday’s 3-0 win against Preston North End would show one fan calling Phillips the ‘Baresi of Yorkshire.’ Phillips still has some way to go before he has any pundits considering mentioning him in the same breath as the legendary defender, but the role that Bielsa has him playing makes it easier to understand why some fans are comparing him to world-class names amid the excitement of another win.
Heading into this season, Phillips could probably be summed up as a tenacious midfielder who can sometimes get carried away but also has a potential touch of quality in the final third. He scored seven Championship goals and collected 13 yellow cards last season.
And moving to a deep-lying holding role that often becomes a third centre-back, many may have expected Phillips to already be well on his way to matching or surpassing his tally of cautions from last year.
But he has been booked once this season.
Nevertheless, Bailey Peacock-Farrell is nowhere near as busy as he was during the run towards the end of last term that saw the goalkeeper act as Leeds’ saviour on numerous occasions. Phillips has to take some of the credit for that.
Phillips is using his tenacious spirit effectively this season, but he also continues to produce moments of magic that have devastating consequences up the other end of the pitch.
He is yet to score this campaign, but it was his stunning pass that allowed Tyler Roberts to score a sumptuous lob against Preston on Tuesday, and he is now one assist away from matching last season’s total of three in the league, and it is noticeable how much more dangerous his distribution is.
Phillips is connecting the scarily-exciting attack with the much more assured defence superbly. And his control not only allows the likes of Saiz and Klich to largely concentrate on driving forward, but it also gives Luke Ayling and Barry Douglas the freedom to abandon their positions when Leeds are attacking. Even Pontus Jansson popped up in the Preston box during an open play attack this week.
Phillips is not going to be the next Baresi, but given the impact that Bielsa is having on him already, is it really too much to suggest that he could one day be as important to Leeds’ side as the great Italian was to the greatest of AC Milan teams?
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