Chelsea defensive midfielder scouting series part three: Kalvin Phillips

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Chelsea’s German midfielder Kai Havertz (C) runs with the ball as Leeds United’s English midfielder Kalvin Phillips (R) chases after him during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Leeds United at Stamford Bridge in London on December 5, 2020. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images /

2. Play style

Phillips actually plays in a possession oriented side, and because we’d be discussing his last two seasons (from the beginning of last season till date), one of Phillips’ seasons is from the Championship. Leeds playing a high-pressing, high possession-based game means that Leeds players would have had less defensive actions to do last season, though they may have a little bit more defending to do this season. They’ve still maintained a relatively high possession count, for a newly-promoted team anyways. Phillips’s Leeds has averaged 57.6-percent possession since the start of last season, compared to Kante’s 58 percent. Phillips plays for a Premier League side that presses quite a lot, and he’s therefore no stranger to team that requires its players to keep up a high work rate. He doesn’t allow opponents time on the ball, either.

Unfortunately fbref.com doesn’t have in-depth match data on the English Football League Championship so there’s only available data in certain areas of Phillips’s play in one season: the Premier League season. It’ll therefore only be fair to also look at only Kante’s current season in the same areas.

Leeds United leads the Premier league this season in pressures and successful pressures per 90 this season. Phillips leads Leeds (yeah I know) this season in pressures per 90 (21.6) and successful pressures per 90 (6.64), for players with up to 15 appearances. Leeds is famous for their energy and pressing, and the data shows that Philips is very much at the core of that. Chelsea is also a pressing team and Philips would fit right in.

light. Related Story. Chelsea defensive midfielder scouting series part one: Introduction

Compared to Leeds’s Philips, Kante has averaged 19.4 pressures per 90 this season so far, recording 6.74 successful pressures per 90 on average in that time. Clearly, Kante is better at pressing. Kante and Phillips’s teams are quite close in possession averages this season, 58.9 to 55.7-percent respectively. Yes, Kante’s is higher, but not so high that we’d expect significantly less defensive actions from him, so those pressing numbers are at least logical, and it only shows that they’re both exerting as much energy as a coach like Tuchel would like.

Out of possession, it’s clear Phillips is used to the culture Tuchel is trying to create at Chelsea: a high-pressing style of play, as well as winning the ball back as soon as it’s lost (as discussed under Defensive Actions). Kante and Phillips are also quite close in recoveries (picking up loose balls), 12.5 to 12 per 90 respectively. Mind, recoveries are not defensive actions necessarily. Phillips is very much the modern defensive midfielder, he’s incredibly aware, reads the game well, and is very confident hitting long balls when he sees men in space or running in behind to start attacks. His long ball accuracy and number of key passes is an indication of Phillips prowess in possession.

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