The recent international break has added further fuel to the fire that some players deserve more consideration for Gareth Southgate’s England squad, including Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips.
The calls come after another underwhelming performance in an England shirt from West Ham youngster Declan Rice, with many wondering why Phillips hasn’t been considered for the holding midfield position for the Three Lions after consistently top drawer performances under Marcelo Bielsa.
It has to be said that Rice’s inclusion is justified from his club efforts, but with the showings in European qualifiers, it begs the question why Phillips hasn’t been given at least a chance in the squad to showcase his talents.
In our latest FLW Duel, we take a look at whether Southgate’s current preference needs some reconsideration and who is performing better - Kalvin Phillips or Declan Rice.
Both players are regular fixtures of their sides in holding midfield, with Declan Rice plying his trade in the top tier of English football, and Kalvin Phillips just below in the Championship. The sides they play in are having contrasting fortunes in their divisions, however, with Leeds remaining title hopefuls and West Ham sitting just two places above the relegation zone.
Both players have shown over the past 18 months that they are improving every week and are an integral part of the way their systems work. At West Ham, Rice is tasked with being an energetic defensive player utilised to break up opposition attacks and retain possession, while Phillips’ role at Leeds is more evolved in the transition from defensive play into creating attacks for the Whites.
In Rice’s 12 league appearances, he is yet to score or assist a goal which is understandable for a player in his position, while Phillips has got one apiece in goals and assists in 16 games despite typically sitting between the two centre-backs.
When it comes to how the players are in possession, this is a key attribute for a holding midfielder in an England side pushing for European glory. The West Ham man edges this area with a very high 92% passing accuracy to Phillips’ 85.3%, but these figures don’t tell the whole story with the latter attempting forward passes on a much more regular basis, as Leeds push to unlock stern defences each week.
Defensively, the pair excel compared to most in their league, but Phillips takes this category as he averages winning 63.6% of his defensive duels compared to Rice’s 58.5%. Both win more than they lose showing how competent they are in that regard and that should be the case as they are both the shield in front of their back four. Also, Phillips just edges the number of interceptions this season with 59 to Rice’s 56 but this is in four more games than the Premier League man.
One thing that must be taken into consideration with these figures is the difference in the dynamic of the games these two play in, with West Ham struggling at the moment, and Leeds dominating the majority of games they play in. What this means is there is more license for Phillips to take risks with passing due to Leeds’ superior possession, while Rice will be tasked with just keeping the ball, as well as having less chance to make interceptions, but having easier opportunities to win defensive duels.
The Verdict
While these stats do not prove conclusive as to whether Phillips is the outright candidate to take Rice’s place in holding midfield, it does prove that he is more than capable of doing so in the coming years, especially as his destiny seems set on the Premier League, with Leeds or without.
The debate becomes much more pertinent when taking into account Rice’s England performances, which are nowhere near the same level, in a side showing levels of dominance in matches that Kalvin Phillips has become accustomed to since Marcelo Bielsa’s arrival.