I think the guy has done very well. It’s a brilliant story
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Madrid did not attack us much last night and he still got caught out a couple of times, Lovren got abused for playing better.
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Lovren was a £20m purchase who was meant to be a starting player. Phillips is a homegrown freebie who is way down the pecking order.
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So that’s how they are judged 
Not how good they are.
Well, yes.
There’s a world of difference between what you should expect from an expensive purchase and a homegrown “youngster”.
One of the problems with modern life is that everything apparently needs to be explicit, black or white; nuance and grey areas no longer exist.
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I think there’s a difference between saying someone did as well as they could be expected/worse than they should have and saying someone was good or bad. Phillips is doing far far better than anyone could realistically have hoped for. But I think too many are saying he puts in good performances. Think we should be thankful for everything he is doing for us, be even more thankful that a Dyche, Fat head Bruce or big Sam I am will probably end up giving us far more cash than we should ever have got for him this summer. He’ll always be one of those well thought of cult figure types now and fondly thought of and welcomed back here. I just see far too much hyping up and it worries me how far it could go.
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Did alright and a bit better than in some other games, though also was highly at fault for Real’s best chance of the game when they hit the post.
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I think everyone agrees that Phillips would never be first choice in a club like ours. But… you have to be pretty decent to “more often than not” do a solid job against good teams.
And yes, Nat does deserve praise for elevating his game and improving all the time. No one (or at least, no sane person) is saying that Phillips is on the same level as VVD.
But similarly there are not many players without top league experience that can come into a situation such as ours and perform at a decent level. That deserves commendation.
I’ve heard more comparisons to Lovren. Would I rather have Lovren or Phillips? It’s become more debatable. Preferably neither, but let’s admit we could have benefited having him this season.
And if we do make 4th place and CL spots, Phillips would have been a big part of that effort.
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Good post, not suited to our play, most times he wins a header he barging into their player and very surprised the refs haven’t been giving fouls against him, two set pieces against Real away and he fouls their defenders both times resulting in frees out to them at fault for two goals in first leg. I seem to be watching different games to other people. Yeah he’s home grown and 24 years old.
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Yes, the last few games he has really come on. He seems to be on a high, confidence boost, he also seems to be the go to defender atm. However I think we need to acknowledge it is just that a high even so his flurries forwrd are quite exciting (compared to watching Thiago and Gini) reminiscent to Matip and Gomez.
A mixed bag really at times he did very well and on others I thought what the fuck is he doing (then he was up against quality). The thing is between them, Nat, Ozan and Alisson, they did a good job on the whole.
I think we’re in a no lose situation with Phillips. If he wants to go then we’re going to get a good fee for him because he’s shown he can cut it in the PL, no question about that, and in a system that is unsuited to him given his lack of pace. If he stays we’ve got a good squad option. The sort of guy JK can throw on last ten minutes when the aerial bombardment begins or can fill in for a run of games and do a decent job.
I’m seeing comparisons with Lovren in this thread and all I can say is that if I’d been watching Degsy play like this guy has the last few games I’d have been raving about the transformation.
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Milly post match interview mentions Phillips having a great game and that’s for me what he did, we forget that the oppositions focus is to score goals, theoretically, and Real had very few chances.
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He can end up with us like Wes Brown or John O’Shea with the Scum (both functioned as names on the bench for most of their career).
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No qualms with saying he is doing better than expected and Madrid did not score but let’s they did have two big chances and Phillips was quite poor for both. Again, people choosing only to see the good and avoiding mention of everything else.
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All they needed to do was not concede, they needed goals in first leg and Nat helped them with two.
I think Nat has more than shown he is good enough to be a squad player next season. As suggested above, he would be a nice option as an extra defender if required for the last 10-15 minutes of games. He could see game time in the cup competitions and as a back up for injuries.
How some people can be so desperate to get this guy out the door when we have the likes of Keita, Ox, Adrian, Origi, Tsimikas and Rhys Williams in the “first team” contributing absolutely nothing and likely soaking up a lot more in wages.
Nat is a 4th/5th choice CB, there have never been any grander expectations of him, so judge him at this level. Show me any 4th/5th choice CB at any team in the top 5 leagues in Europe who, if playing against 13 time European Champions Real Madid, won’t be “at fault” for them having a chance or two. Be fucking realistic.
If Nat wants first team football, let him go with our blessing. However, if he’s happy to stay and be 4th/5th choice then we should be very pleased.
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Agree. He deserves a place here more than Ox, Keita, Origi and Tsimikas combined currently.
There are calls for selling Mane here as well, so anything is possible.
Although, I think most here appreciate what he brings for us and also understand his limitations.
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The question for Phillips and Kabak shouldn’t be about how well they’re doing under current circumstances. Yeah, both have done better than expected, credit to them.
Is their level enough to send us back to the level we were operating at between 2018 and 2020? If the answer is no, why would anyone be desperate to keep them?
They shouldn’t be rewarded with a long term place just because they’re doing well (relatively) in the current moment.
Nobody thinks Origi should be here next season and he’s done far more than both of them combined for this club at the highest level.
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