Kalvin Phillips has gotten off to a very rough start at West Ham United. His loan stint, from Manchester City, has gone from bad to worse. He’s been very unimpressive, to say the least, and that has elicited some colorful commentary from the world of football punditry.
Phillips will be eligible again to face Everton on the weekend, after having served a one game suspension in the win over Brentford last night.
West Ham United at Everton FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Mar. 2, 2024, at 3pm Goodison Park, Liverpool, UK
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
West Ham Preview Content: Team News Starting XI Prediction
Google Result Probability: Everton 47% Draw 27% West Ham 26%
.PL Position, Form Guide: Everton 15th, 25 pts, DDLDD West Ham, 8th, 39 pts, WLLLD
But the last time he featured, in the 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on the preceding weekend, he picked up two yellow cards rather quickly. That got him red-carded, sent off, and suspended for the next clash.
Said former referee and now Sky Sports pundit Mike Dean: “He’s just been cautioned for getting involved with [Nicolas] Dominguez for no reason whatsoever. Then two minutes later he’s just flicked the ball over him has [Morgan] Gibbs-White and he’s just caught him on top of the foot. Stupid, your second yellow card. And he’s just wasting his time playing, he doesn’t even look interested for me.”
While Dean said Phillips doesn’t look like he even cares right now, former Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves player Jamie O’Hara called him “a bag of potatoes.” LOL!
O’Hara said the following to Grosvenor Sports:
“Kobbie Mainoo needs to be capped by England. I would get him in the next England squad – we’ve got the Euros coming up in the summer and Kalvin Phillips looks like bag of potatoes at the moment, you just can’t play him at all.
“England have a problem because Phillips looks even more unfit than he did at Manchester City – they need a centre midfield player and they can’t keep playing Jordan Henderson.
“England have an issue in that area and they need to figure it out. I’d definitely give Mainoo a chance to see what he’s like and whether he can handle the big stage – which he’s shown he can do for Manchester United.
“In terms of having another midfielder to play alongside Declan Rice, he’s the best performing one at the moment and deserves a chance.”
In other Hammers team news items, Lucas Paqueta (calf injury) could be in contention for this clash, but it may come a bit too early.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.