Mueez Ajao
– Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips missed the Carabao Cup fourth round win against Liverpool after returning to the Etihad “overweight” from World Cup duty with England.
– Phillips, 27, was not named among the substitutes for the 3-2 win against Jurgen Klopp’s team and is unlikely to be considered for the squad for City’s next game — the Premier League trip to former club Leeds on Dec. 28 — after disappointing Guardiola with his physical condition following a month training with England in Qatar.
– “He’s not injured,” Guardiola said, when asked about Phillips’ absence from the match-day squad against Liverpool.
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– “He arrived overweight. I don’t know [why]. He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.”
– Having arrived from Leeds in a £45 million transfer in July, Phillips has made only four first-team appearances for City due to a long-term shoulder injury and registered just one minute of Premier League action for the club.
– And although Phillips is now back in training with the Premier League champions, Guardiola says he won’t play until he is back to full fitness.
– “No, no, no, no,” Guardiola said. “Absolutely. That’s why he cannot play. When he will be ready, he will play, because we need him, we need him a lot.
– “It’s a private conversation with Kalvin.”
– Guardiola, meanwhile, was full of praise for the performance of Kevin De Bruyne against Liverpool.
– The Belgium international returned to City following his country’s group stage exit from Qatar 2022 and Guardiola said the 31-year-old has the “fire inside himself” to perform at the top level straightaway.
– “He arrived, the first training session he was back I was not here but I was told it was brilliant and against Liverpool, he was outstanding,” Guardiola said.
– “Kevin just to find the right fire inside of himself, just to be a little bit, grumpy or upset to play his best.
– “When this happens, what a player, assist to score a goals, I know it is not easy to find every three days this consistency but today he has something inside that says I am going to it.
– “It is Mr Kevin de Bruyne, what can I say, eight years he has done everything for this club, an absolute legend, he will be remembered forever as one of the greatest players of this club.”
