Leeds United legend Eddie Gray has showered heaps of praise on Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips and believes that he plays a crucial role in Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
The local Leeds boy is a key player for the club after he made his senior debut in 2014. Gray has praised the Leeds central midfielder and has said that he plays a crucial yet an unsung role for Bielsas’s side.
The 22-year-old’s importance to the team can be assessed from the fact that he has featured in every minute of Leeds’ 2018-19 campaign.
Unlike other players who featured in the opening two games who were given rest against Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Cup, Bielsa has used Phillips on Tuesday night in the 2-1 victory against their Championship rivals.
Bielsa prefers an attacking system, and Phillips is key to his plans. He holds things tight in the middle of the park and provides a safety belt in front of the back four as a deep lying midfielder.
He does the ugly defensive work allowing creative players to exert their influence. He plays an unsung role in the side, and Leeds legend Gray believes that he is ‘important’ to how the system works.
“Kalvin Phillips is important I feel to the system and the way he (Bielsa) wants to play,” Gray told LUTV.
“He gives freedom to Saiz and Hernandez to go forward and try create things. You’ve got to have players in the side that are willing to fill in for players and you can see Kalvin if full-backs are out of position he’ll get in.
“You get players like that, that sometimes go a little bit unsung but the players who play with him realise his value to the side.”
Philips is enjoying his football at Elland Road, and could develop into a fantastic midfielder under the tutelage of a world class manager like Bielsa.
Leeds will be looking to maintain their winning run in the Championship when they face Rotherham on Saturday at Elland Road.
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