West Ham United: Kalvin Phillips causes England selection headache after ‘nightmare’ start
Gareth Southgate has been given a selection headache for his next England squad after Kalvin Phillips suffered a nightmare start to his West Ham career, according to The Standard.
The newspaper reported via its website on 21 February that a hat-trick of errors in his first few games at the London Stadium has cast doubt over his place in the international squad.
It was then said that Jordan Henderson’s move to Ajax, and the strong form of both Ross Barkley and Kobbie Mainoo are bad news for the Manchester City loanee.
Will Kalvin Phillips be handed an England call-up?
One of the main reasons for Phillips making the switch to West Ham was that he had been told by Southgate that if he wanted to keep his place in the England team, he would have to play regular football.
Now, though, that regular playing time has come littered with errors that may have dented his ambitions even further, with other options for his position stepping up their performances.
Robbie Savage recently tipped Mainoo to fill the space left by Phillips, with the Manchester United teenager earning high acclaim for his impact on Erik ten Hag’s side since stepping up from the academy.
Criticism of Phillips has been rife after his poor start at the London Stadium, with Graeme Souness going as far as to suggest the midfielder is not even a Premier League-level player, insisting you can’t base his level off of his England displays.
Hopefully, the only way is up now.
In other West Ham news, Thomas Tuchel could be set to replace David Moyes.
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