Leeds United Chat • Could Kalvin Phillips line-up for England in Euro 2020 this summer?

Leeds United hit prime time this week and the 6.15 million viewers were dazzled by the Whites first half performance as they outclassed Arsenal. If you hadn’t known beforehand it would have been difficult to tell which the Premiership team was, and which one usually plied their trade in the Championship. Leeds dominated the ball and dominated the shot count in the first half and were unfortunate not to go in at half time one or two goals up. The second half saw Arsenal fight back and win with a scrappy goal but Leeds had already made their impression, with one player in particular standing out.

Arsenal had a midfield worth hundreds of million of pounds on display but Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips shone above them all. World Cup winner Mesut Ozil’s name may have been on the team sheet but he was nowhere to be seen, comprehensively dealt with by Phillips. Adrian Durham commented on Talk Sport the next day, “Kalvin Phillips is the player Granit Xhaka probably dreams of being.” His first half stats were incredible; 89% pass accuracy, 16 forward passes, 3 key passes and 4 tackles won. The nest midfielder on the pitch by a mile.




Durham also raised a point Leeds fans have been stating for a while, “If he had been in the Premier League this season, I think he would be in the England squad!” It’s a fair point, Phillips has been outstanding for Leeds for the past 18 months, the ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’ has been a revelation since Marcelo Bielsa arrived at Leeds and reinvented him into one of the best defensive midfielders in the country. A lad who struggled to get into a mid-table Leeds United side three seasons ago is now bossing games week in, week out and Monday proved he can go toe to toe with the best in the world too.

But will Phillips get a chance to take on the best in the world this summer with England? Has he impressed enough to get a call up for Euro 2020. The England squad largely picks its self these days but there are still question marks over the defence and holding midfield role. Gareth Southgate has alternated between Declan Rice and Harry Winks but neither has impressed enough to make the position their own. With Phillips positional sense, tackling and distribution both short and long could he be an outside contender for a spot in Southgate’s Euro 2020 squad?





The only thing going against Phillips is that he plays in the Championship but that may not be the barrier it once was. Chelsea’s Mason Mount who is a regular in the England squad now made his debut as a substitute in the 4-0 win over Bulgaria whilst on loan in the Championship at Derby. Tyrone Mings is a contender to line-up alongside Harry Maguire in defence after making his England debut back in October having played all of last season in the Championship for Aston Villa.

England have two friendlies in March against Italy and Denmark, if Phillips continues playing as he is it may be difficult for Southgate to ignore him for those fixtures. If this summer is too soon Phillips will be playing for England sometime soon, let’s hope that’s after he’s helped get Leeds promoted to the Premiership.

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