Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily Podcast, Kalvin Phillips has opened up on how he felt when Marcelo Bielsa told him that he wanted to play in a more defensive role.
The midfielder has certainly flourished since changing position, earning promotion with Leeds and becoming a fully-fledged England international before he’d even played a single minute in the Premier League, while also earning all sorts of praise from pundits.
However, despite becoming a brilliant defensive midfielder, the 25-year-old has said that he was quite disappointed that he was to be played in a deeper role.
“I was a little bit confused at first, because the season that the manager first came in I’d got a few goals and a few assists, so you know I was a bit gutted to be honest, but obviously the manager coming in and the calibre of the guy he is and how many people respect him and rate him
“He said to me straight away that he wanted me to play in that position and I never really wanted to say no, but even if I did want to say no, I couldn’t really say no anyway, so I just kind of accepted it.”
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Never ever question Marcelo Bielsa.
This is a man who has been hailed as the best coach in the world by Pep Guardiola, so he definitely knows what he’s talking about.
The Yorkshire Pirlo has gone from strength to strength since working under Bielsa, and he’s got a lot to be grateful to the Argentine for.
We can understand why Phillips was gutted to be moving position, his goal haul in 2017/18 indicated that he was just coming into his stride as a box to box midfielder, but it’s clear now that he’s much better as a defensive player.
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