I've been thinking of analogies of what his job is: He's keeping the bbq alight while Pablo cooks up a fantastic paella. He's keeping everyone off the stage so the Kaiser Chiefs can belt out some tunes ...
Couldn't resist could you Milky, always looking for an opportunity to try and get revenge, bordering on the obsessive...........still.................which shows how many times I've shot you down in flames.
Don't get me wrong Blono, wasn't having a dig at you, which is why I said "I don't know who said it". I personally don't think Phillips is the class act many say he is. Most of what you hear and see are people just repeating "Parrot fashion" what they've read and heard. I've asked many times on here what's so special about Phillips, no one can come back with a realistic or legitimate answer. All I can put it down too is it's emotional, and the fact he's a Yorky, nothing else. I agree with you, Phillips does A job, and that's about it............not worth no where near 30 mil cos he doesn't provide 30 mils worth of football or impact. If Phillips is worth 30 mil, Pablo at 34 is worth 60 or 70 mil. Pablo is a far greater asset to the team than Phillips is. Phillips sideways, backwards and back to same player passes are the reason his passing percentage is so high, they don't really highlight the facts. If me and you stood 10 yards apart and just passed the ball to each other we'd have a 100% passing accuracy. Forshaw started in Phillips position before he got injured. Forshaw got the ball and made runs forward at the opposition defence putting them on back foot forcing them to back peddle. A team back peddling is very vulnerable. Bielsa has seen things in Forshaw and now pushed him further up front as an attacking mid, he did a great job against BC and created an impact, and I think he's going to be a key player for us as an AM. If Phillips goes to prem league, he'll end up going the same way as others that left us, like Wood, Byron, Cook and some others, then end up down pecking order. I got a feeling Phillips himself senses that, and if he does move, it'll be for the money..........which is the wrong reason. Fans in prem league won't put up with his continual sidewards, backwards and back to same player passes for long. I've copped the flack for my opinions on certain players in past, Mowatt was one of'em. I said he'd end up in lower leagues, he did. BPF at Burnley, I don't think so, unless a decent keeper coach shakes everything out of BPF's head and starts again. Leeds fans are best in world in my opinion, they are passionate and emotional, but passion and emotion can, and does override logic.........
Revenge, revenge mwah ahaha You can’t shoot much down in flames when you’re firing a water pistol LL. But come on, fill it up from the garden tap and fire away. - You could do a poll? - You could point me to a YouTube video from the Philips is **** society - Or you could accept that your opinion, which you’re welcome to, is not exactly the consensus on him... which was the point I was making. Doesn’t make you wrong, just different
Forshaw never started in Phillips position before he got injured, Phillips started in the defensive roll against Stoke
Foreshaw gets a bad press on here. He’s a decent footballer, been a bit injury prone which probably hasn’t helped consistent form. He was excellent at brizzle on Sunday. The criticisms of Phillips by LL can be applied to every defensive midfielder ever, they were certainly labelled at batty. What Phillips has, is an ability to break up play, intercept. He’s strong off the ball and in it. He has excellent touch, control, good vision, decision making and a range of passing. When he first came to the team he was rubbish in my opinion (though every midfielder struggled in that team). But he’s matured into a very good player. Would he do as well in another side with a different style of play? Who knows, but he does a very good job for us.
Burnley have a rep for turning unheralded championship keepers into top keepers/ internationals... Pope, Heaton. Kind of suggests, they have both a good goalkeeping coach AND can spot talent in the first place.
Phillips only real limiting factor is a lack of pace. Might get found out at top level. But for us..... tip top!
But does he lack pace, or is he simply clever enough in his positioning never to show what kind of pace he has? I honestly don't know. I can't recall him being burned by anyone pace-wise, but this may be because he's always in the middle of the extremities of play, so long runs just don't happen with him. Happy to be educated, but truly have never questioned his pace myself.
I'm not saying he is slow btw. If we look at Sundays game for example, Kasey Palmer left him for dead a couple of times. I know Palmer is quick at Champioship level but my point is that the higher level you play at the quicker the game is. You're quite correct, his game intelligence is good. Not sure it's good enough to make up for him not being the quickest against top level guys.
Will take note & observe. As I've said, it's slipped by me before. Than again, I think of the likes of Batty. He wasn't exactly blessed with pace either.
I think that's why he fouls alot. Alot of people say 'that's a clever foul' or 'he took a booking for the team there' but on the odd occasion he gets turned and someone gets away from him he doesn't have the pace to recover. He gets out of jail because we pack the midfield and one of the others usually gets back and helps out. As I say, from my view, it's his only limiting factor. I could see him playing for a really big club if he had that zip about him!
I think emu is right, he lacks a yard. It only gets shown up if he gets caught in possession, turned or has to chase back if the team is caught in transition. It’s generally not critical in his position but I agree yes one thing that could hinder him at the highest level.
When he was in the U23’s I thought he was very, very slow. Now he looks reasonable, most of the time. I assume the reason is he’s learnt to compensate and he still lacks underlying speed. But I accept I could be wrong, it’s just an assumption based on how he used to look.
Not sticking up for Phillips, just offering a possible reason... Is he instructed to get a foot in, a tackle, break up play but if the opposing player is clever enough to get past him as long as their is a defender behind him watch for the next runner or make sure he cuts down the angle for a simple pass? For the record, I think Phillips lacks decent pace but I’d never thought of it being anything else prior to WJs post
