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While one local boy assumed the role of the protagonist, another provided the comedy subplot. When Leeds-born Erling Haaland scored a brace on his first appearance at Elland Road, Kalvin Phillips, who has spent more time on the Yorkshire turf, was the unused substitute led into chants that amused him . Deemed overweight by Pep Guardiola last week, allowed to return to the squad if unused, the hometown crowd started with “Kalvin Phillips, eat what you want”. They switched to chants of “you fat bastard” and “you’re too fat to play for Leeds”. Phillips took it all in stride and was then serenaded, in traditional fashion, as “the Yorkshire Pirlo”.
It was all affectionate; in the pantomime season, there was a grave element. With his Manchester City career still yet to get off the ground between injury, a World Cup and Guardiola’s public criticism of his condition, he may well rank as the highlight of his campaign.
At least, unlike some former Leeds players, he retains a place in his former club’s affections. At least this time Guardiola praised him, even if it was excessive. “She has the perfect body, so sexy,” said the City Hall manager, who can be prone to sarcasm and exaggeration.
If you can draw an unflattering comparison with Haaland, the summer signing who has proved ubiquitous, whose 26 goals almost equate to one for every two minutes Phillips has spent on the pitch, just 54 so far, there there’s another kind of contrast with another English recruit, another expensive signing who didn’t settle in immediately but who, unlike the former Leeds man, has played frequently. However, Guardiola has a tendency to improve footballers, but so far Phillips’ best form has been for Marcelo Bielsa and Jack Grealish for Dean Smith.
Grealish may seem like the anti-Haaland. They are defined by their stats, but in different ways. For the Englishman, the big number is his transfer fee, for the Norwegian, his goal tally. “The numbers are incredible, but I have a feeling he won’t just come here for the numbers,” Guardiola said of a man who, with 20 Premier League goals already, is on course for 53 in the top flight. Grealish, meanwhile, arrived at Elland Road unassisted this season: to the Premier League, to the Champions League, to City, to England. Given the galaxy of attacking talent and Haaland’s knack for scoring, setting up goals seemed harder than some. Kevin de Bruyne, after all, had 14 assists before Christmas, and if he can be a monster, Haaland had three assists, and he’s not capable of providing them himself.
Then, after 22 games without an assist, Grealish bagged two in a 13-minute spell. He has now created as many City goals this season as John Stones and Sergio Gómez, neither of whom play the same role. If Grealish has been hampered by the finishing of his teammates (indeed he has the fourth-highest expected Premier League assist among City’s squad), perhaps he had a bit of late luck when Illan Meslier should have saved Haaland’s second goal. Instead, poor handling led to Grealish’s second assist, although the encouraging element was that it came in a two with the striker; perhaps an understanding is being forged. His first, however, was all his work, reading Liam Cooper’s poor pass, breaking clear, giving Haaland an open goal instead of shooting over.
“It shows the quality of being generous,” Guardiola said. “He is so humble and [it was] the perfect support for Erling.”
However, the illogical element was that statistically Grealish’s best game of the campaign was far from his best in other respects. He may have scored two goals in the second half, but he should have scored two in the first half. Two shots were fired high into the Yorkshire sky; one of them was a horrible foul. A year and a half into his City career, Grealish has yet to master that key element of the winger’s success under Guardiola: the run and the finish.
Jack Grealish celebrates with Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland
(AFP)
“In the first half he missed chances, he has to improve on that and his mentality and be aggressive there, ‘I’m going to score, I’m going to score,'” his coach said. “He must be more ambitious. He must score more goals and be competitive because he has the quality to do so.”
It marked a change in tone. Grealish can be endearingly open and has often admitted he should score more goals. Guardiola has tended to deny this; for him, it seemed too simplistic to judge a British record label on its final product.
But with one goal and two assists this season, he remains light. Haaland has assured that it has hardly mattered this season, but the productive understanding had been between De Bruyne and the forward, not between the signing of the record and the top scorer. The numbers have rarely added up to Grealish in his City career and although he was ultimately off the mark for the season, Guardiola admitted as much. And it seemed like a more pertinent comment than his assessment of Phillips’ physique.