Forget about Cristiano, Leo, it is QPR’s Matt Phillips you need to worry about

Forget about Cristiano, Leo, it is QPR’s Matt Phillips you need to worry about
Heckled by his own fans and edged out by Harry Redknapp earlier in the season, the QPR winger has been reborn under Chris Ramsey and only Lionel Messi has more assists across Europe’s top five leagues in 2015

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QPR’s Matt Phillips, left, has been involved in nine goals in his last eight games and his record of seven assists in 2015 is second only to Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. Photograph: Rex & Getty Images/BPI/Rex Shutterstock

Jacob Steinberg


There is a chance it was nothing personal. Perhaps it was merely a way for the Queens Park Rangers supporters to vent their frustration with their team. Perhaps it had nothing to do with Matt Phillips. He just had the misfortune to be in the wrong time at the wrong place and, at that particular moment, anyone in a blue and white shirt could have been the subject of the crowd’s ire.
In the wider context of QPR’s season, it was an insignificant moment and it is not why, with six matches remaining, they are staring at a return to the Championship. Yet when it comes to assessing Phillips’s short time in west London, it felt indicative of the esteem in which he was held by supporters.
It was 19 October and QPR did not have long left to find an equaliser against Liverpool when a high ball was launched towards the right flank, where Phillips was standing. Phillips jumped, but he looked like he was going through the motions as he leapt for the ball and it was hard to detect any conviction or desire about his attempt to win the header. It was the classic out-of-confidence winger’s challenge, the move broke down and those inside Loftus Road did not hold back in their criticism. Perhaps it was just an isolated moment of anger. At the time, however, it sounded like patience with Phillips was close to breaking point.
Liverpool ended up winning 3-2 after Steven Caulker’s late own goal and it was a while before Phillips featured again for QPR. Harry Redknapp kept him on the bench for the following six matches and his next appearance came as an 89th-minute substitute in the 2-0 home win over Burnley on 6 December. Phillips was in danger of becoming an outcast and he played only three more times before Redknapp resigned at the start of February, citing the need for immediate surgery on his knee. Coincidentally, the announcement came the day after the closure of a transfer window in which QPR failed to sign any “trriffic lads”.
Redknapp’s exit and the appointment of Chris Ramsey represented a fresh start for QPR and Phillips. The 24-year-old has been an ever-present in QPR’s past nine matches, only failing to finish the 2-0 win at Sunderland on 10 February, and he was excellent in Tuesday’s 3-3 draw with Aston Villa, scoring once and setting up goals for Clint Hill and Charlie Austin.
The forgotten man has become a key player for QPR. Phillips has been involved in nine goals in his past eight Premier League appearances; only Lionel Messi has more assists across Europe’s top five leagues in 2015. Messi has eight and Phillips is level with Wolfsburg’s superb Belgian winger Kevin De Bruyne on seven. Forget about Cristiano Ronaldo, Leo, it’s Phillips you really need to worry about. To put it in context, Phillips has created more league goals than Santi Cazorla for Arsenal, Gareth Bale for Real Madrid, Arjen Robben for Bayern Munich and Ángel Di María for Manchester United since the turn of the year.
The glitziest highlight on Phillips’s showreel is his spectacular long-range blast against Crystal Palace last month. Yet that was a consolation in a shambolic 3-1 defeat that had many people preparing the relegation obituaries for QPR and what has been truly impressive about Phillips’s form in the past two months is the way the 24-year-old has blossomed into an effective member of Ramsey’s team
He has always been capable of reaching this level and it is just a shame QPR have had to wait this long to see it. He was one of the best players in the Championship when he was at Blackpool, who could be a thrilling side when they had Phillips on one wing and Tom Ince on the other. The Scotland international scored 12 goals for Blackpool in 2011-12, when they reached the play-off final – they lost 2-1 to West Ham United and Phillips wasted two early chances – and there was excitement when QPR signed him two summers ago.


After all, Phillips has always known how to make an entrance. He joined Blackpool from Wycombe Wanderers in August 2010 and when he made his Premier League debut in a 2-1 defeat against Blackburn Rovers a month later, he had an immediate impact, scoring two minutes after coming off the bench. “Hopefully there is a lot more to come from that boy because he has got some bits and pieces that would grace any level of football,” Blackpool’s then manager, Ian Holloway, said. Although Blackpool were relegated on the last day of the season, Phillips played 32 times. He clearly had the talent to succeed in the Premier League.
He was a star at Blackpool but settling at QPR was not straightforward. Expectations were higher than at Bloomfield Road and injury struck just when he was starting to put together a good run of form under Redknapp last season. Phillips was out for three months and he was not involved as QPR secured promotion via the play-offs.
At the beginning of this season, Phillips was in and out of the side, on the bench one week, in from the start the next, never lasting the 90 minutes. He looked lost whenever he played and Redknapp was less than keen. In January, QPR tried to sign Callum McManaman from Wigan Athletic and offered Phillips as part of the deal.
Phillips rejected the move, resolving to knuckle down and fight for his place, and Ramsey saw what Holloway spotted in that exhilarating debut against Blackburn five years ago. Whatever the reason was for those jeers that flew his way during the Liverpool game, QPR fans like Phillips now.
Total assists in Europe’s top five leagues since 1 January 2015
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 8
Matt Phillips (QPR) 7
Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg) 7
Franco Vázquez (Palermo) 5
Dimitri Payet (Marseille) 5
Marek Hamsik (Napoli) 5
Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) 5
Emil Hallfredsson (Verona) 5
Gonzalo Castro (Bayer Leverkusen) 5
Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) 4
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) 4
Romain Hamouma (Saint-Etienne) 4
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) 4
Álvaro Morata (Juventus) 4
Ángel Di María (Manchester United) 4
Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich) 4
Max Kruse (Borussia Mönchengladbach) 4
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 4
Xavi Hernández (Barcelona) 4
James Rodríguez (Real Madrid) 4
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) 4
Alexander Farnerud (Torino) 4
Pablo de Blasis (Mainz) 4
Julien Féret (Caen) 4
Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace) 4
Jonathas (Elche) 4
Felipe Anderson (Lazio) 4
Carlos Bacca (Sevilla) 4
Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) 4
Pablo Sarabia (Getafe) 4
Javier Pastore (Paris Saint-Germain) 4
Mesut Özil (Arsenal) 4
Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich) 4
Mario Mandzukic (Atlético Madrid) 4
Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona) 4