In the second part of this series, we discussed Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi and how he would fit into Chelsea’s midfield should they decide to go after him. Ndidi is more of a traditional defensive midfielder and therefore would be best utilized in a midfield three or in a lone defensive midfield role. The fact that he plays for a team that is not as possession oriented as Chelsea may also make people hesitant to value him as a midfielder in a team like Chelsea.
In this part of this series we’d be discussing another defensive midfielder that is perhaps more progressive and plays in a more possession oriented team than Leicester City: Leeds United’s 25-year-old Kalvin Phillips. Philips joined Leeds United’s academy aged 14. He rose through the ranks and has already made 188 senior appearances for the club, albeit most of them we’re in the Championship. Many sources have mentioned Chelsea lacking chance creation from central midfield and Phillips might just be the one. He has a superb passing range, all from defensive midfield and he always makes the right decision in possession. He’s not afraid to play a risky long ball to try and break pressing lines.
Phillips will be compared with Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante, as Kante is currently Chelsea best player in the role, and is quite a competent one at that, though the Frenchman has been injury prone recently. Phillips might just be more of a creative defensive midfielder. Phillips should also offer Tuchel the versatility required to use more than one formation, perhaps in the same game. Part one highlighted the profile of defensive midfielder Chelsea needed and Phillips seems to meet a substantial portion of the requirements.
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.
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.
3. Defensive actions
Phillips has led Leeds this season in interceptions per 90 (1.7), like Ndidi, Phillips has often played as the lone defensive midfielder for in a 4-1-4-1 flat formation. He ranks second in the team for tackles plus interceptions per 90 (4.1). Interestingly he has also averaged exactly that since the start of last season. Compared to him, Kante has averaged 5.3 tackles plus interceptions per 90 since the beginning of last season, which is quite impressive considering that Kante plays in a more possession based team, so should – at the very least – be averaging less tackles plus interceptions per 90 than Phillips.
Phillips doesn’t clear the ball very often, same as Kante, which is not uncommon with possession-based sides, as Phillips clears the ball 1.6 times per 90 to Kante’s 1.34, in the time under scrutiny. Kante also leads Phillips in blocked shots per 90, 0.23 to 0.13, which is really not surprising seeing as they’re defensive midfielders for high possession teams. It is worth noting though, that Kante has led Phillips in most defensive actions so far, despite his team averaging more possession in the time under scrutiny. That said, Phillips puts up very good defensive numbers in his own right.
Kante gets dribbled past a lot less than Phillips though, 1.17 to 1.4 per 90. This is could be because Leeds play a very high line and are often vulnerable when hit on the break. Leeds is not a good defensive unit, in fact this season they’ve scored as much as they’ve conceded. Those dribbled past numbers aren’t so bad though, as Phillips has won 55-percent of his ground duels in the period under scrutiny, winning an average of 4.5 ground duels per game. He out-does Kante in this area, because Kante completes less ground duels per game (4.4) but also at a much lower rate (49-percent). Again, weight and height differences factor in when considering ground duels won over a long period of time, Phillips rises to 178cm at 72kg, while Kante rises to 168cm at 68 kg.
Phillips winning more ground duels at a higher rate is worth noting, as it could be an indication that he’s simply better at it than Kante. It could also be because he attempts less ground duels per game, though that can also be an indication of a player who picks his moment to engage. It could also be just the size difference, though Kante is likely stronger than Phillips.
4. Passing
As mentioned earlier, playing as a central midfielder in Tuchel’s system requires you to recycle possession, keep hold of the ball and distribute the ball well, meaning that players playing that role need to make lots of passes per game. Chances can be created from any area of the pitch as long as passes are made at the right time and there’s movement from other players.
Central midfielders are important for transitioning play and recycling possession, as well as defending in Tuchel’s system. Therefore, playing that role requires being comfortable in defensive situations and on the ball. They also have to be press-resistant to some extent.
Phillips is very good on the ball. In the period under scrutiny, Kante (53.6) has averaged more passes per 90 than Phillips (45). Kante (86-percent) also has a higher passing completion percentage per 90 than Phillips (84-percent). Phillips, though, seems to try riskier passes, and that perhaps shows the ways in which Phillips is more creative than Kante. Phillips has averaged 1.6 key passes per 90 in this period, while Kante has averaged 1.2. Phillips also attempts and completes far more long balls than his Chelsea counterpart, completing 5.3 long balls per 90 in this period, compared to Kante’s 2.6. Kante though, attempts a lot less, but completes a higher proportion of his long balls, 67-percent to Phillips 59-percent. Note that a 59-percent long ball accuracy is still quite impressive, especially when you consider that he completes as much as 5.3 long balls per 90. Those are ball-playing centerback numbers in their entirety, in amount and in completion rate.
Phillips made four through passes last season (passes that put a player one-on-one with the keeper or passes that put a player through on goal), and has made three this season. Kante made none in the period under scrutiny. In terms of contributing to attacking play this season, Kante wins out in progressive passes, making 4.3 progressive passes per 90, compared to Phillips 3.91. This number could also be simply logical, as Kante plays in a side that makes a lot more passes per game than Phillips. Kante also wins out in terms of progressive carries this season, with 4.56 progressive carries per 90 and 1.44 carries into the final third, compared to Phillips 2.21 and 0.6 carries in the final third per 90 respectively.
It is also worth noting that Phillips has a lot less of the ball than Kante, averaging 66.3 touches per 90, compared to Kante’s 77.2. Phillips also has similar shot creating actions per 90, 2.09 to Kante’s 2.05, while playing a deeper position than Kante.
5. Conclusion
It is still yet to be seen if Tuchel would stick to a 3-4-3 next season, but whatever formation he decides, Phillips clearly has the technical know-how and work rate to excel in either a central midfield role in a two-man midfield, or a defensive midfield role in a 3 man midfield, or even a lone defensive midfielder role. His long ball accuracy means Phillips would also be an option in breaking opposition lines, as well as utilizing the pitch with accurate switches of play.
He created six clear cut chances in the Championship last season and has created four clear cut chances already in the Premier League this season. Kante created one last season and has created two this season. Phillips’s chance creation numbers show that he will be another outlet for creating chances, and in a 3-4-3 this will reduce the load on the three attackers.
Moving to a 3-man midfield with Phillips at the base, would allow Tuchel to include more attacking players in the line-up. Philips would not be cheap though, he’s English and he came through Leeds United’s academy. He’s made 188 senior appearances for them and is an England international. He’s a key player for Leeds and is clearly technically gifted. Leeds will not easily part with Phillips, and Chelsea may have to pay a premium to pry him from their clutches. His contract runs till 2024 as well, which gives Leeds United the bargaining power.
Statistics are updated to April 23, 2021. Data is extracted from FBRef.com, WhoScored.com and Sofascore.com