Many of Manchester City’s players have had outstanding campaigns this season – but one man has really struggled.
City are challenging for three trophies, with the likes of Phil Foden, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne when fit all shining.
But there is one player who has really struggled, and that player is Kalvin Phillips.
The 28-year-old really struggled for minutes at the Etihad once again this season and in January, he completed a loan move away from the club as expected.
He signed for West Ham United, and the hope was that he would put his City struggles behind him and turn a corner.
That has not been the case, and a pretty worrying statistic has now come to light…
Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips statistically the lowest-rated Premier League player
Phillips left City and joined West Ham on loan in the hope of getting more game time and turning around his form.
After all, it is the European Championships this summer and Phillips wants to be selected in Gareth Southgate’s finally squad.
But it has been a terrible start for Phillips at the London Stadium. He made errors leading to goals in his first two appearances, and got sent off against Nottingham Forest. In West Ham’s game against Burnley he was hooked at half-time, and he did not get off the bench against Aston Villa recently.
This term, Phillips has made 10 appearances in the Premier League with City and West Ham.
His continued struggles have meant that he is actually currently the lowest-rated player in the WhoScored database so far, with a rating of just 5.91. This database includes 290 players who have all made at least five appearances.
Phillips must dig deep amid struggles
It is a real shame that Phillips hasn’t yet been able to get going at West Ham.
On paper, it was a good move for him, and it had been reported that David Moyes has long been an admirer of the player.
But you can tell he is not playing with any confidence, which is understandable given what happened with him at City.
It’s not nice to see Phillips struggling this much, but he must now try and dig deep for the next couple of months because there is a lot at stake for him. He’s just missed out on the latest England squad, with Southgate admitting his form simply had not been good enough.
If he wants to be on that plane to Germany this summer – and there is definitely still a chance for him – he has to turn things around. He needs to try and forget everything that’s happened recently, and just try and start afresh in his own mind.
If he can bring back the Leeds United version of himself, he will stand a great chance of getting back in the squad and going to Germany.