Speaking recently on a video posted on the Leeds United Live Facebook page, Beren Cross criticised Kalvin Phillips’ performance against Everton on Sunday.
In the fixture, which saw Leeds run out 1-0 winners over Carlo Ancelotti’s side, Phillips registered impressive statistics, making two tackles, two interceptions, completing one dribble, 18 long balls and one key pass, as well as making a total of 84 passes in the fixture, ending the match with a 92.9% pass completion rate.
All of these metrics culminated in the £19.8 million-rated 24-year-old earning a WhoScored match rating of 7.42 – ranking him as the club’s third-best player in the fixture, and the fourth-best player on the pitch from either side.
However, despite this, speaking on a video posted on Leeds United Live’s Facebook page, Cross stated his belief that the England international had played much better games for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, and that Everton’s midfielders were afforded too much time on the ball in spells.
He said: “Phillips is getting a bit of praise after the game, his passing stats in the Everton half were very, very impressive. [In] the game as a whole, I felt that Phillips did do very, very well but I thought I’d seen him play better.
“I do think that Everton, when they were at their most threatening, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure were getting a lot of progression through the centre of the pitch and I did feel that maybe [Mateusz] Klich and Phillips could have done a touch better with stopping their runs through the middle of the pitch.
“Allan, I vividly remember, picked the ball up and his own half and made it all the way to the Leeds box before shooting wide or forcing a save from [Illan] Meslier, and a defensive midfielder shouldn’t be doing that.
“Michael Keane was another who brought the ball out from the back and the pitch just seemed to open up for him and he just basically just kept running until he got beyond the centre circle.
“So, I think they were good but I’ve seen Phillips and Klich play better.”
Was Kalvin Phillips your Man of the Match against Everton?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Beren Cross’ comments regarding Kalvin Phillips…
From Cross’ comments, it is clear that the journalist was not overly impressed with both Phillips and Klich’s performances in the match, and that he had seen both of the midfielders play better than in the Everton fixture.
However, while Cross’ personal analysis of the game is something that is hard to compare to WhoScored’s metrics, as there is no statistic for whether or not a player allows an opponent too much time on the ball, for example, in our opinion, Phillips impressed in almost everything he could be measured on, so we feel the journalist’s comments are slightly harsh on the midfielder.