Pep Guardiola has confirmed that one player is in contention to make his first start since joining Manchester City in the summer when they face Southampton in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday evening.
Kalvin Phillips has been hampered by a shoulder injury and only briefly featured for 14 competitive minutes since signing.
However, after returning from international duty, Guardiola believes he is now ready to play.
“He is ready,” said the Catalan. “Of course he needed time for tactical aspects, but he is ready. We are delighted with that.”
Guardiola also praised Phillips’ work ethic as well as his intelligence and ability to understand complex tactics.
“He was educated at Leeds with Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch but especially with Marcelo and the commitment to every training session and game,” added the City boss. He believes it shouldn’t be too hard for players to adapt to their style of play either.
“For me it is not hard,” said Guardiola. “The way we play is so simple; run without the ball to help each other, be in the positions to get the ball in a better condition than if you’re not in the right position.”
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
