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Unused sub v Liverpool, late sub v West Ham – 26 y/o must be patient for minutes [Opinion]

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Read Man City was critical of Manchester City’s decision to spend £42m on Kalvin Phillips as it was likely he’d only be cover for Rodri. Two games into the new season and that’s exactly how it’s looking for the 26-year-old.

Phillips was an unused substitute in City’s Community Shield defeat to Liverpool and managed just two minutes off the bench in their 2-0 win over West Ham United, so he’ll have to be patient for opportunities.

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5th or lower

Pep Guardiola doesn’t substitute Rodri in games unless he’s injured or more attacking players are needed, so it’s unlikely Phillips will be brought off the bench to replace the Spanish international. He didn’t feature much in pre-season either, so it’s not been a dream start in Manchester.

Rodri has played 179 minutes of football from a possible 180 this campaign. Last season, 29 of the 26-year-old’s 33 Premier League appearances saw him play a full 90 minutes.

Phillips is likely to be given opportunities in the Champions League group stages and domestic cups, but that won’t be enough to keep him happy. But unless injury strikes to Rodri, it’s hard to see why Guardiola would start the Englishman over the highly-rated Spaniard.

In other news, Pep Guardiola’s show of faith in Jack Grealish wasn’t vindicated

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.

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  • Stanley James Duncan says:

    Hi Crippy, off the mark again. Pep will evolve his team to accommodate Rodri and Phillips. Rodri will go further forward. Pep if you had been paying attention experimented with Fernandinho and Rodri.

    Philips has signed a long term contract and his presence may help win many trophies.

    You say he Philips won’t be be pleased. Why? He’s at City and he needs time to bed in. It’s not like he can’t be improved.

    Play all the games when fit and win nowt or play a third to a half of matches and win trophies.

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