West Ham United: Anton Ferdinand makes ‘one of the worst’ Kalvin Phillips claim
Anton Ferdinand has described the debut performance of Kalvin Phillips at West Ham as “one of the worst” he has seen in terms of the midfielder’s ability on the ball.
Phillips was made to pay for a mistake a little over two minutes into his London Stadium bow against Bournemouth last Thursday (1 February).
The Englishman was making just his third Premier League start since the beginning of last season, having struggled for minutes at parent club Manchester City.
Speaking on the Vibe with Five podcast [4 February, 12m 19s], Ferdinand said: “It was one of the worst debuts I’ve ever seen in terms of ball retention in those first 25 or 30 minutes.
“He lost the ball about five times after that [mistake] – 10-yard passes.
“You’ve got to get him fit. You can train as much as you want – you only get fit playing games.”
Slow start for Kalvin Phillips at West Ham
The hope was that Phillips would hit the ground running after a frustrating time of things at Man City, but that has not been the case so far.
That early error against Bournemouth, from just his second touch in a West Ham shirt, understandably made the headlines come full time.
Phillips completed 83 per cent of his 35 passes [WhoScored] – only three others boasted a better return – so he did recover somewhat.
However, the 28-year-old also had a disappointing afternoon when being brought on as a substitute against Manchester United.
He once again made an error as he lost possession in midfield and the Red Devils had the ball in the net moments later.
As Ferdinand says, it is a case of getting Phillips on the field as often as possible so he can iron out these errors and get up to speed.
West Ham have paid too much in loan fees and wages for Phillips not to use him, so fingers crossed he is match ready very soon.
In other West Ham news, an update has been shared on the London Stadium future of manager David Moyes after the loss at Old Trafford.
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