Kalvin Phillips was sent off during Leeds United’s defeat to Nottingham Forest on New Year’s Day.
Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that he is not going to be too critical of Kalvin Phillips after his red card during Leeds’ New Year’s Day defeat to Nottingham Forest, insisting that he does not want to see the youngster take the physicality out of his game.
The Whites were handed back-to-back defeats after losing 4-2 at the City Ground. But, while much of the drama came in a pulsating second-half, it was all set up by a first 45 minutes that could not have gone much worse for Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
After going a goal down, Leeds felt aggrieved that Jack Robinson was not sent off for the home side. And the situation got worse for the visitors when Phillips made a very poor challenge a few minutes before the interval and was dismissed.
Phillips has been one of Leeds’ best players this term, even if his form has dipped slightly since he had to take a more disciplined centre-back role following Liam Cooper’s injury. So not only were Leeds missing a key man, but the red card opened up some big gaps in the defence.
But while Phillips certainly made Leeds’ job more difficult, Whelan insisted that he would not look to be too harsh on the 23-year-old given how he plays the game.
“I’m not blaming him. He’s an honest lad. He hasn’t gone in there maliciously to top somebody. He’s a physical player and I love that about him. I never want to change that or take that away from him,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.
“It was mistimed, that’s all it was and it’s left the lads in a hole, because you’re 1-0 down, down to 10 men but we came back, we showed some spirit, showed some heart, showed some hunger for the game. We turned it around on its head, but when you’ve done that, you need the cleverness.”
In previous years, some fans may have argued that they would not be surprised by seeing that side of Phillips’ game. Before this season, he had collected 19 yellow cards and two reds.
However, this term, Phillips has clearly improved his discipline also. Five cautions in 26 appearances for a player in his role is not a bad return at all, and Tuesday saw his first red card of the campaign. Given how well he has done since Bielsa’s arrival, it would surprise no-one if that was also the last time Phillips is given his marching orders this season.
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