Kalvin Phillips admits Pep Guardiola’s criticisms of his weight were ‘hard to take’ after the City boss slammed the England star for returning from World Cup duty ‘overweight’
- Kalvin Phillips spent much of the World Cup on the bench with a shoulder injury
- Manager Pep Guardiola later joked that Phillips had a ‘perfect’ and ‘sexy’ body
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Kalvin Phillips admitted that it was difficult to hear Pep Guardiola’s criticisms of his weight following the World Cup, and insisted that he felt he was not overweight in the first place.
Bayern Munich summer target Phillips was part of Gareth Southgate‘s England squad to travel to Qatar last winter, as the Three Lions fell at the last-eight after a 2-1 defeat to France.
Phillips – who had played all but 25 minutes of Euro 2020 – was left on the bench for much of the tournament with a shoulder injury.
Upon his return to his club side, he was slammed by the Spanish boss for a perceived lack of fitness, with Guardiola claiming he had reported back in an unfit condition to be part of the City squad.
‘He’s not injured – he arrived overweight,’ Guardiola said. ‘I don’t know [why]. He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.’
Pep Guardiola received criticism for his comments about Kalvin Phillips’ weight in December
The midfielder was part of the England squad at the World Cup with England despite an injury
The 27-year-old has endured a difficult start to life at Manchester City after joining from Leeds
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Phillips has since hit back at the comments, ahead of the release of a new documentary detailing his rise from the Leeds academy to the World Cup with England.
‘To be honest, it was a little hard to take [the criticism], just because of how much it was oversized and how many people started talking about it,’ the player admitted to BBC Radio 5 Live. ‘I know the manager made his comments but I respected them.
‘I, for me, wasn’t overweight, but obviously the manager saw it in a different way. I took it, did my best to try and get as fit as possible and I was on the bench for the Leeds game straight after that. I was fit for every game since then.
‘It was just one of those things where it was a misunderstanding between me and some staff members. You will see a lot more of it in the documentary and how I got into it all.’
Guardiola’s comments initially sparked outrage, with a number of figures including Alan Shearer and Richard Keys criticising the ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss.
However, player and manager appeared to have mended the relationship soon after, with Guardiola joking that Phillips has a ‘perfect’ and ‘sexy’ body just a few days later following the backlash.
It has been a far from perfect time for Phillips at City following his £45million move from Leeds last summer, with the midfielder playing just two full games in the Premier League.
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The ex-Leeds star was part of Guardiola’s Treble-winning squad although he only featured in a limited capacity
