Manchester City won the treble last season - but not everything was as rosy behind the scenes, or even in the media...
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips has revealed he found it difficult to hear his manager Pep Guardiola call him "overweight" in the media last season.
Guardiola dropped Phillips for a Carabao Cup last-16 tie in December 2022 against Liverpool because he wasn't fit enough for the game.
Before the game, Guardiola said: "He's not injured. He arrived overweight. I don't know [why]. He didn't arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play."
Guardiola was unhappy with Phillips' supposed lack of fitness (Image credit: Getty Images)
Phillips started just four games for Manchester City in all competitions during the 2022/23 season, despite joining from Leeds United for £45m last summer. He has now responded to his manager's comments, though, suggesting that while it hurt to hear, he worked as hard as possible to prove him wrong.
"It was a little hard to take just because of how much it was oversized and how many people started talking about it," Phillips told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"For me, I wasn't overweight, but obviously the manager has seen it in a very different way. I just took it and did my best to get as fit as possible.
"I was on the bench for the Leeds game straight after that and I was fit every match since then. It was just one of those things, it was a misunderstanding from me and some staff members. You will see a lot more in the documentary."
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That documentary, Kalvin Phillips: The Road to City, charts the Englishman's first season at the Etihad Stadium and will air on Amazon Prime on July 19.
Phillips made just four Manchester City starts last season (Image credit: Getty Images)
After struggling to break into the Manchester City first team, speculation has suggested Phillips will leave in search of more regular minutes in the 2023/24 season. West Ham United have been the most heavily linked club after losing Declan Rice, though the 27-year-old looks determined to be a more important member of Guardiola's squad.
"At Leeds it was very different for me because I was playing every single game and I knew that no matter what I would probably be in the starting line-up," he said. "Now it has kind of changed, where I am not expecting to be in the team or expecting to start.
"But if I don't start I am going to push to try and get myself involved a lot more. Obviously I would love to play a lot more, be involved in the team a lot more and winning games, but I know how difficult it is and I hope this season is a lot better for me in that way."
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
